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Are you ready to venture into the wild? On this episode of StarTalk, Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down with legendary primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. Neil is also joined by comic co-host Chuck Nice, biological anthropologist Dr. Jill Pruetz, and primatologist and All-Stars host Natalia Reagan, to discuss the work and legacy of Dr. Goodall. You’ll learn how Jane got her start as a 4-year-old and how she began her chimp research in the 60s with no formal training. You’ll hear how Jane patiently gained the trust of the chimpanzees she was studying, what she learned about social behavior, and the impact of one her greatest discoveries: tool use amongst chimps. We also ponder what makes us human, and whether spoken language is the last remaining barrier dividing us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Natalia visits Sarah Baeckler and Project Chimps – a 236-acre chimp sanctuary in Georgia. Neil and Chuck also participate in a game of “Chimp Chat” where they guess what chimps are saying based on their sounds. All that, plus, Neil takes a fan-submitted Cosmic Query from Jane Goodall herself, and he asks Jane a very important question in return: is she our best hope to communicate with aliens?
NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Into the Wild, with Jane Goodall.
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