Nathan H. Lents: The Sexual Evolution

Evolutionary biologist Nathan H. Lents joins us to discuss his latest book, The Sexual Evolution, about the secret sex lives (and sexual diversity) of animals with science writer and author of Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex, Rachel Feltman.

Nathan H. Lents knows what makes humans unique—and it’s most definitely not our sexual diversity. A professor at John Jay College, Lents has spent his career studying what makes us, well, us, and contrary to what the culture warriors want people to believe—diverse sexual behavior is not a new development, or even a human one. It didn’t just emerge from a progressive culture; it’s the product of billions of years of evolutionary experimentation throughout the animal kingdom. It’s not a modern story, a Florida story, or even a human story. It’s a biological story.In The Sexual Evolution, Lents takes readers on a journey through the animal world, from insects to apes, revealing what the incredible array of sexual diversity can teach us about our own diverse beauty. Nature, it turns out, has made a lot of space for diverse genders and sexual behaviors. And why? Because when it comes to evolution—diversity wins. This is not just a political or social message, instead it’s rooted in science and cultivated from understanding the full breadth of sexuality that exists throughout the world. With shades of both Frans de Waal and Esther Perel, Lents’s storytelling is as fascinating as it is topical, offering eye-opening stories about the diversity of animal life, while relating it to our own sexual journey as a species. At once a forceful rebuttal to bigotry and a captivating dive into the secret sex lives of animals, The Sexual Evolution is the rare book of pop science that leans into the controversy. Sex, the reactionaries say, should only be for procreation between a man and a woman, anything else goes against nature. Well, nature would like a word with them.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Nathan H. Lents is a professor of biology at John Jay College, CUNY, and the author of Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals and Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes. He has appeared as a scientific expert in a range of national media, including The TODAY Show, NPR, Access Hollywood, 48 Hours, and Al Jazeera America. He lives in Queens, NY.

Rachel Feltman is a science writer, editor, and speaker; the former Executive Editor of Popular Science; host of the hit science podcasts The Weirdest Thing I’ve Learned This Week and Science Quickly; and the author of Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex.

This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on June 23rd, 2025, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL).

This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).