Human Footprint
pbs documentaries

Human Footprint

Earth has never experienced anything like us: a single species dominating and transforming the planet. Biologist Shane Campbell-Staton travels the globe to explore our impact. Because while we may tell ourselves what it means to be human, the clearest vision of who we are emerges from what we do. In that way, Human Footprint tackles the biggest story of all – the story of who we really are.
IMDb 7.020236 episodesUHDTV-14
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Episodes

  1. S1 E1 - Strangers in Paradise

    July 4, 2023
    55min
    TV-PG
    Invasive species are reshaping the world’s ecosystems, but who’s to blame? Shane wrestles a python, hunts a wild pig, and gets sucker-punched by a carp to answer the question: in the Age of Humans, how does our species decide what belongs? In this episode of Human Footprint, Shane investigates how these Strangers in Paradise become “invasive” in the first place… and what we can do about it.
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  2. S1 E2 - Top Predator

    July 11, 2023
    55min
    TV-PG
    There’s a killer inside us. Our biology, culture, technology, and economy have transformed our species into the greatest predator the world has ever seen. From Yellowstone to Mozambique, Shane explores our global impact as the planet’s Top Predator.
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  3. S1 E3 - Man's Best Friend

    July 18, 2023
    55min
    TV-PG
    We call them man’s best friend. But there’s more to our ancient alliance than friendship. Humans have transformed dogs from their wolf ancestors into a dazzling array of breeds, from beautiful to bizarre. And just as we’ve left our human footprint on dogs, they’ve left their pawprint on us… and the world we both share.
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  4. S1 E4 - The Replacements

    July 23, 2023
    55min
    TV-PG
    For every human alive 12,000 years ago, two thousand of us live on the planet today. As we multiplied, people spread around the world, conquering virtually all the planet’s ecosystems. But we didn’t do it alone. In this episode of Human Footprint, Shane meets “The Replacements:” a group of animal and plant species that accepted humanity’s helping hand, hitching their destinies to our own.
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  5. S1 E5 - The Urban Jungle

    August 1, 2023
    55min
    TV-14
    The modern city might just be our ultimate invention: a whole ecosystem built by us, for us. In The Urban Jungle, Shane meets three species thriving in the city. He goes on a rat hunt led by a pack of terriers, lassos city-dwelling lizards, and helps collect urban coyote scat. Along this journey, Shane reckons with our complex history in cities, and envisions a new and wilder urban future.
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  6. S1 E6 - The Ground Below

    August 8, 2023
    55min
    TV-PG
    This episode hits close to home as Shane unravels the history and science of cotton, a crop that reshaped a landscape, a culture, and the very DNA of the American people. Shane explores how a prehistoric coastline laid the foundation for the cultivation of cotton, which became a cornerstone of the American economy. Along the way, Shane begins to realize, “This part of the Human Footprint… is me.”
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