Episode 11—Monsters and Humans: Surekha Davies on Science, Society, and Breaking Boundaries

Are monsters real?

In this episode of Useful Knowledge, host Patrick Spero joins author, historian, and self-proclaimed “monster consultant” Surekha Davies to learn about what she calls “monsterification” in human societies. A central theme in her 2025 book Humans: A Monstrous History, Davies suggests that while monsters like giants, cyclopes, and werewolves are not real, humans have used monster stories since time immemorial to separate categories and establish norms—the ultimate “us versus them” tradition. Learn about monsters, humans, society, and science in this episode. 

Surekha Davies is a historian of science, art, and ideas, and a self-proclaimed “monster consultant.” Davies is the award-winning author of Humans: A Monstrous History (University of California Press, 2026) and Renaissance Ethnography and the Invention of the Human: New Worlds, Maps and Monsters (2016), as well as numerous articles, essays, and book chapters.

Davies earned her Ph.D. in Combined Historical Studies at the University of London, and her work has been supported by numerous fellowships, grants, and appointments, including Franklin Research Grants from the American Philosophical Society in 2013 and 2018.