Human Footprint: The Ground Below

Shane explores the Human Footprint of cotton, from ancient rocks to 21st-century politics.

In an episode that hits close to home, Shane explores the history and science of cotton. A prehistoric coastline from North Carolina to Texas laid the foundation for a crop that re-shaped our history, our culture, and even our DNA. Human Footprint: The Ground Below airs Wednesday, August 9 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Hosted by biologist and Princeton University professor Shane Campbell-Staton, Ph.D., this part-science, part-travel series takes viewers from high-tech labs to sweltering street markets, from farms to restaurants, and from primeval forests to the back alleys of New York to explore the ways humans are transforming the planet – and what those transformations tell us about who we are as a species. Human Footprint is a visually stunning series set to an original score by legendary hip-hop and jazz producer Adrian Younge.