In this episode of Beauty At Work, host Brandon Vaidyanathan speaks with renowned author and science writer Matt Ridley about the role of beauty in evolution. Drawing from Darwin, Wallace, and Ronald Fisher, Ridley explores how sexual selection — not just survival, but attraction — shapes the natural world. From peacock tails to human creativity, he makes the case that beauty is a driving force in nature’s grand design.

Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything. His book on “How Innovation Works” was published in 2020, and "Viral: the search for the origin of covid-19", co-authored with Alina Chan, was published in 2021.

You can watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/hZVMV8CPWXQ

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To learn more about Matt’s work, you can find him at: https://www.mattridley.co.uk/

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This episode is sponsored by the Templeton Religion Trust (https://templetonreligiontrust.org/)

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