and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture the selling author and scientist dr jared diamond joins me for the first half hour of our conversations in the great minds will discuss his world famous books that shed light on how we as humans have evolved and how our societies see or feel. bad news for those who want to see the economy recover the job numbers are a dud weak job growth the unemployment rate crept up forty again now sitting at a disappointing nine point two percent so it's just just the ammunition republicans need for their debt limit a hostage negotiation. for tonight's conversations and great minds i'm joined by dr jared diamond a renowned scientist bestselling author whose books have changed the way we all think about human history he's one dozens of awards for his work in his books including the third chimpanzee guns germs and steel and collapse our must reads if you want to understand how humans and cultures have evolved into what we are today currently he is a professor of geography and physiology u.c.l.a. jared diamond joins me now from our studios in los ang

jared diamond joins me now from our studios in los angeles welcome dr. how are you i am i am well thank you i hope the same is true of you. brilliant really if i could take you you brilliantly merge science and culture in a way that the average person can understand reading your reading or writing what stimulated your earliest interest in these areas. preps the different interests of my parents my mother was a pianist she was also a great linguist and a teacher and i got my love of writing from her my father was a physician and a experimenter so i got my love of science from him but i began birdwatching when i was seven years old and then i grew up during world war two with maps of europe in the pacific on the wall of kins to show the changes in battle and so i became interested early in science in the one hand and in writing in history in the humanities on the other hand it's an extraordinary synthesis of the breadth of your work is is remarkable your second book why sex is fun evolution of human sexuality seems in some ways out of sync with the rest of