'Human' tells our origin story, from southwest Turkey to New Mexico

Ella Al-Shamahi digs into the history of Homo sapiens in a five-part BBC series.

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TOM HAYWARD BBC / BBC Studios PALEOANTHROPOLOGIST Ella Al-Shamahi sits next to a fossilized human footprint in "Human."

It can seem of late that the experiment in evolution we call Homo sapiens has gone horribly wrong, notwithstanding my ability to touch type letters that make words that make sentences, and perform all the little operations that feed them into this thing we call a newspaper. "Humanity" is a word we use to describe what is supposed to be our essential nature caring, compassionate, self-sacrificing. But you don't have to look far to see its inverse people being irrational, superstitious, fearful, cruel. That sapiens is Latin for "wise" can just seem like an ironic joke.

How did we get here-for better and worse? The early millennia of our species' history hundreds of thousands of years is the subject of "Human," an exhilarating five-part BBC series premiering Wednesday as part of the PBS series "Nova." (Support your local station.) Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi presents in the British style, narrating in person as she travels the world, anywhere traces of our prehistoric ancestors may be found, exploring caves, pressing through jungles, scampering up mountains, sailing on the Nile, crossing deserts and snowy wastes - often seen from far above with apparently no one else around for miles. (How did she get there, you may ask yourself.)