WHAT: Writer and musician Dessa continues her exploration of human behavior, instincts, and culture in season two of her podcast, “Deeply Human,” premiering today. In the weekly podcast, a collaboration of BBC World Service, iHeartMedia and American Public Media (APM), Dessa investigates our tendencies to create social hierarchies and to use intoxicants; she speaks to experts on monogamy, accents, and the dark forces at play in the way we perceive and pursue beauty.

In season two, Dessa, speaks to psychologists, animal behaviorists, mathematicians, historians, and one legendary DJ to ask the evergreen question: Why do you do what you do? Why does music animate our bodies? Why are we so keen to form social hierarchies? Why do humans use intoxicants? Throughout the season, Dessa is talking about monogamy, sleep deprivation, high fashion, avant-garde Japanese dance and overall, everyone’s favorite topic—you. In the debut episode, which launched today, Dessa investigates why we speak the way we do - how our accents and dialects serve us; hamper us; and might even, in rare cases, lead to life-or-death consequences. Listen HERE.

LISTEN: Season two’s first episode is available today, Feb. 18, on iHeartRadio, BBC Sounds, and all major podcast platforms. Binge all of season one now on iHeartRadio and everywhere else podcasts are available.

PODCAST EMBED WIDGET: <iframe allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="300" src="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-deeply-human-77473739/?embed=true" frameborder="0"></iframe>

About Dessa

Dessa is a rapper, singer, and writer who’s made a career of defying genre conventions and audience expectations. As a writer, she has contributed to The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and literary journals across the United States. As a musician, she’s collaborated with full orchestras, contributed to The Hamilton Mixtape on the invitation of Lin-Manuel Miranda, appeared on the Billboard Top 200 charts, and toured five continents. Dessa's work is driven by an interest in finding unexpected connections--between love and science; big ideas and mundane moments, instinct and philosophy. Her TED Talk, which investigates the neuroscience of love, has clocked more than 4 million views. Dessa’s delivery balances wit, tenderness, intellectual rigor, and poetic sensibility. She splits her time between Minneapolis and Manhattan. @dessa on Instagram, @dessadarling on Twitter/Facebook.

About BBC World Service

BBC World Service delivers news content around the world in English and 41 other language services, on radio, TV, and digital. BBC World Service reaches a weekly audience of 364m. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences. For more information, visit bbc.com/worldservice. The BBC attracts a weekly global audience of 489m people to its services available internationally, including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel, bbc.com/news, BBC Studios, and the international charity, BBC Media Action.

About American Public Media

American Public Media® (APM) is the national programming and distribution division of Minnesota Public Radio® and reaches over 17 million listeners with nearly 1,000 public radio stations and over 400 commercial stations nationwide each week. APM is one of the largest producers and distributors of public radio programming in the world, with a portfolio that includes BBC World Service, Marketplace®, and the leading classical music programs in the nation. APM Studios, a division of APM, offers a diverse array of podcasts featuring the best in food, culture, entertainment, business, and investigative journalism. For more information on APM, visit americanpublicmedia.org.

Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio, Nationwide DMA data, Persons 12+, Spring ‘21.