Episode 13 with Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall, the woman who taught us everything we know about chimpanzees. Six decades ago, she started her groundbreaking research on chimpanzee behavior in Tanzania, and at 87 years-old she remains an avid high-profile campaigner for animal and nature conservation.

Speaking from her family home in the English countryside, she shares what chimpanzees can teach us about parenting. She touches on the importance of children bonding with nature and why that is important for the survival of our species, and the importance of hope as we move into the future. At the end, she has a message for every parent.

Image source: © Geurin Blask, The New York Times

Listen now

PARENTING AND CHIMPANZEES

[On chimpanzees] “There are good mothers and bad mothers. The good mothers are protective but not overprotective and the main thing is they are supportive.”

“Don’t worry if a child gets dirty hands and then eats something. It builds up the child’s immunity, that’s why so many people [today] are allergic.”

[On chimpanzees] “For the first 3 to 3.5 years the infant will be almost totally dependent on the mother. During the 5 years before the next baby is born, the older child will share the nest with the mother. Ride on her back, gradually less often. Suckle, gradually less often.”

“The message to new parents is that how you treat your child is going to be very important not only for the development of that child, but the role that the child will play in creating a better future.”

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

“I believe there is a window of time and every day we get to choose what sort of impact we have.”

“Every single major religion that ever has been, I think, is that if you go to the roots of the religion, the purity of it, it has the same golden rule: do to others as you would have them do to you. Today, it’s desperately important that ‘others’ includes animals and mother nature.”

“Help [your child] understand that everything they do has an impact. That we’re all interconnected. One little good deed can lead to many other good deeds. Help them understand that when you’re kind to someone it makes you feel good.”

CONNECTING WITH NATURE

“We’ve lost our connection with the natural world and forgotten that we’re part of it and depend on it.”

“The biggest problem with our children today is that they are now wedded to electronic devices. Some children never get a chance to bond with nature. We need to have our children reconnect with nature so that they learn to love it and then want to protect it.”

Listen now