Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Ever since Charles Darwin published On the Origins of the Species in 1856 people have been drawing lessons from the idea of evolution to human society. The lessons, however, have been many and varied.

Darwin's contemporary Herbert Spencer - whose The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection is still read today - was an enthusiastic promoter of eugenics.

Whereas the Russian anarchist prince and scientist Peter Kropotkin looked to natural selection to confirm his belief in the importance of mutual aid - the title of his important book.

Typically when you hear the words evolution and religion in the same breath it's in relation to the on going culture war in America between the Christian fundamentalists with their commitment to creationism and those who believe Darwin's theory of evolution has gone well beyond being a hypothesis.

But David Sloan Wilson (right), the author of Darwin's Cathedral, believes religion itself can be explained in evolutionary terms. We caught up with him while he was visiting Wellington recently.

And we talk to University of Auckland professor, Brian Boyd (left), about his recent book On the Origins of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. (Harvard University Press.)