The Jane Goodall Hopecast

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall speaks with Jenna Johnson, Head of Patagonia Inc. Through her work at Patagonia, Jenna brings environmental stewardship to the company’s technical innovation. She is also an avid rock climbing and trail sports enthusiast. In this conversation, Jenna recounts how her early experiences rock climbing fostered a connection to nature that has served her throughout her life and career. Her passion for environmentalism closely aligns with Patagonia’s mission to integrate creating clothing and gear to help all people get outdoors and connect with nature, while investing in active work to protect ecosystems. Jane and Jenna discuss Patagonia’s sustainability initiatives and the work they do to support and center marginalized communities to lead on core social and environmental issues. Jane shares that she is inspired by the amount of companies that are realizing the importance of creating supply chains, practices, and frameworks that reduce negative impacts, while also advancing positive initiatives at various scales. Jenna reminds us that working to heal our relationship with the planet is not only imperative but it can also be beneficial for all - including the bottom line. She reflects that “customers are voting with their dollars today and they’re increasingly expecting companies to really contribute to problem solving for some of these greatest challenges that are ahead of us.” At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear an archival clip in which Dr. Goodall tells the story of the young chimpanzees Pom and Prof, who travel along a forest trail until they encounter a surprising hazard.

This special bonus episode of the Jane Goodall Hopecast premiered at On Air Fest 2022. Join Dr. Goodall as she speaks with author, botanist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Dr. Kimmerer is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, at The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York. In this thoughtful conversation, Jane and Robin consider how much more there is to not only learn about plants, but to learn from them as well. They each share the ways their mothers encouraged their love of nature and their journeys through academia. They express their appreciation for science and the value of viewing the world through an analytical lens, but emphasize the totality of the “ways of knowing,” including millenia of wisdom shared from indigenous cultures. Robin reflects on how she merges her Indigenous knowledge and scientific curiosity to create a more holistic viewpoint. Jane recalls how her own imagination was sparked through stories and a desire to observe, which enabled her to push traditional scientific boundaries. The pair also focus on the urgent need to encourage a reconnection with the natural world through stories, in order to prevent the ills facing our world. As Robin succinctly puts it, “in my own evolution I have gone from scientist to storyteller because it feels like that’s what we need right now.”

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Goodall is joined by her good friend Ruth Mendelson, award winning composer, author and humanitarian (Ruth helped create the music for the Hopecast!). They have worked closely throughout their decades long friendship and Jane wrote the foreword for Ruth’s book, The Water Tree Way. Together, they listen to messages from Hopecasters from around the world about the ways Dr. Goodall has inspired them to dream up projects and efforts to help in their communities - proving that sometimes simple steps can make a big, positive footprint for the planet. Isabella, a 14-year-old from Bogotá, Colombia, shares that caring about animals and the environment is her motivation to create change. Louise from the UK reflects on the importance of education and how Dr. Goodall’s tireless persistence keeps her motivated in her activism. Ruth shares her conviction to be a part of the solution and Jane reminds us “how resilient nature is. Give nature a chance, perhaps a bit of help, and nature will come back.” Hey Hopecasters! Submit your own questions and comments for a chance to be included in a future Mailbag episode here.

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall speaks with Paul Polman, business leader, campaigner, and author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. He is also the co-founder and chair of IMAGINE, an organization that strives to build net positive companies that combat climate change, nature loss and global inequality. A leading proponent that business should be a force for good, Paul has been described by the Financial Times as “a standout CEO of the past decade.” In this conversation, Paul shares his journey to business leadership and how growing up in the socially conscious culture of the 1960’s fostered in him a sense of global empathy. From there, Jane and Paul discuss new, environmentally conscious trends in business. Paul sees that corporations hear consumer and staff demands for ethical business practices and understand the necessity of sustainability and social justice. Paul’s work with IMAGINE is to help find ways for these companies to turn those ideas into action internally and within the supply chain. Together, they reflect on the effects of unsustainable production, and globalization, and consider the role of corrupt governments and systems of inequality as perpetuating major problems, like the climate crisis. Finally, they consider the hopeful possibilities, and how to replace environmentally and socially harmful industries while fulfilling the needs of both consumers and laborers. Ultimately, Paul believes in our collective ability to protect our planet and hopes to “bring the heart of humanity back to business.” At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a clip of Dr. Goodall discussing the necessity of redefining corporate and governmental relationships with the natural world.

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall speaks with Alice Macharia, the vice president of JGI USA’s Africa Programs. Alice joined the Jane Goodall Institute in 2004 as a project coordinator for East Africa Programs, and has since served as both JGI USA’s Africa Programs Director and now Vice President. Alice’s investment in supporting and working with people to increase beneficial conservation and sustainable development outcomes has created generations of positive growth for people, wildlife, and ecosystems across vital program areas. In this conversation, Jane and Alice talk about the evolution and success they’ve both seen through the use of JGI’s innovative ‘Tacare’ community-led conservation approach. Though this is something now “buzzy” in the NGO landscape, Jane began this effort nearly 30 years ago when she realized that protection of endangered chimpanzees around Gombe would fail without the partnership of local people who were struggling with poverty and inequities. The resulting approach tackles conservation threats by using advanced science, training, and funding to collaborate with communities and understand their needs. These efforts facilitate solutions like land-use planning, forest restoration and protection, sustainable livelihoods, healthcare, education, and more. This adaptive and unique approach is now being scaled in new and wonderful ways in countries across the chimpanzee range including Uganda, DRC, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Mali, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, and Tanzania - where it all began. Alice also discusses her passion for empowering young women and girls - central to JGI’s work - and how it’s delivering on making their aspirations more attainable every day through scholarships, training, and more. Jane and Alice explain that the interconnectedness of individuals, communities, and ecosystems must be considered and addressed in order to create a harmonious path forward for all. As they share, this holistic mindfulness of community-led conservation, “enables people to take control of their environment, of their lives.” At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear an archival clip of Dr. Goodall speak about the urgency of acting together to fight climate change and how JGI’s community-led Tacare program has strengthened the resilience of both the environment and the indomitable human spirit.

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall is joined by Christiana Figueres, a globally recognized leader on international climate action. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010-2016, and played a major role in the formation of the landmark climate agreement known as the Paris Accord in 2015. Today, she is the co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast “Outrage & Optimism” and is the co-author of the recently published book, “The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis." As the world has its eyes on COP26, Christiana and Jane’s conversation offers a look at how individual action, such as small acts of kindness toward one animal species, blossoms into the collective action we need. When Christiana was 10 years old, she took a trip with her parents to the beautiful Monteverde Rainforest in her home country, Costa Rica. There, she encountered a magnificent golden toad that forever tethered her to the natural world. Once she became a mother, Christiana felt it was critical for her daughter’s to develop that same connection. When she took her daughters to that same rainforest, she was pained to discover that the golden toad that was endemic to that rainforest and was the catalyst to her deep love of nature had gone extinct likely due to the Climate Crisis. This experience, among many others, influenced Christiana’s decision to dedicate her life to addressing this existential issue. Christiana and Jane discuss how cultivating a connection to the natural world at a young age is critically important so that once folks become young adults and older adults, they remember the beauty and magic that we must systematically fight to protect every day. Listen to this hopeful conversation about how to turn awe and inspiration from nature into local and impactful action. At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a clip of Jane speaking as the UN Messenger of Peace at the Earth to Paris summit in Paris, France in 2015 about how making small, individual changes can have a big, collective impact.

In this episode of the Hopecast, Dr. Jane Goodall is joined by Rhett Butler, an award winning journalist and the founder and CEO of Mongabay, a nonprofit environmental media organization. Rhett and Jane’s conversation offers a look at how news outlets can inform the public of the detrimental effects of climate change and environmental destruction while also highlighting the many positive stories of effective action and change. When Rhett was 17, he went to Malaysian Borneo and had a magical encounter with a wild male orangutan in the rainforest, when the orangutan stood within 30 feet of him and paused for a few moments to look at him. Rhett came back home to California and kept in correspondence with the scientists there. Several months later, Rhett found out that that same forest he had that surreal experience in was pulped to make paper, and became an oil palm plantation. This experience, among many others, pushed Rhett to take action to spread awareness. What was once meant to be a book became what is now known as Mongabay. Rhett and Jane discuss how news outlets, journalists, and whistleblowers can hold corporations accountable and encourage individuals, as well as policy action to ultimately protect our one and only home. Rhett shares stories that Mongabay has covered that keep the public informed, center indigenous and local communities, provide success stories, and have even prevented further devastation from occurring. Listen to this hopeful conversation about how sharing knowledge with storytelling can create positive change for humans, wildlife, and the environment. At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a clip of Jane speaking about how a different future awaits us, one where rainforests are prioritized and protected, and how we can be a part of creating that future.

In the very special premiere episode of the Hopecast’s second season, Dr. Jane Goodall is joined by Dan Springer, CEO of DocuSign and sustainability thought leader extraordinaire. Dan and Jane’s discussion offers a unique perspective about what big tech companies should do in the fight to make this world a better place through investing in conservation, helping employees get engaged with volunteering, and finding tangible ways to address inequality. Docusign represents these efforts by saving millions of trees and eliminating the use of billions of sheets of paper. Their DocuSign for Forests initiative has also committed over $2.5 million to organizations doing critical work to preserve the world’s forests. During the episode, Dan and Jane discuss the importance of standing together at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and how Jane has often used this approach which reaches across industries and perspectives to make a bigger difference, together. Dan has become a tremendous partner to Jane and JGI, and also even went on to create a Roots & Shoots group, as part of Jane’s youth program Roots & Shoots, at DocuSign thanks to Jane’s “amazing persuasion skills.” Dan and Jane talk about maintaining hope through trying times and the essential increasing levels of recognition and action in the face of injustices. Listen to Dan and Jane’s incredible and illuminating conversation to learn more about the responsibility and opportunity for businesses to take action by connecting the heart and mind to drive positive environmental impact. BONUS: Check out even more from Dr. Goodall and Dan’s purposeful pairing here. At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a clip of Jane speaking about why her philosophy to “think locally, act locally” is so crucial to making the world a better place.

In this episode, Dr. Jane Goodall is joined by Dr. Rebeca Atencia, someone she deeply respects and has been working with for over 16 years. Dr. Atencia is the Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute in the Republic of Congo and Manager/Head veterinarian at JGI’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, one of the largest chimpanzee sanctuaries in Africa. Jane thinks of her, “the mother of the chimpanzees of Tchimpounga,” a sanctuary that has housed hundreds of rescued chimpanzees, all victims of the illegal pet and bushmeat trade in the region. In the episode, Rebeca shares about how she became inspired to rescue wildlife as a young child in Spain when she encountered a dedicated ranger saving baby animals from a forest fire. Jane and Rebeca weave together how their individual experiences led them to cross paths in a forest in the Congo, and how much Jane recognizes aspects of herself in Rebeca. Today, Rebeca embodies Jane’s passion and respect for every individual animal and is helping to carry forward Jane’s lifelong mission to ensure the dignity and quality of life for great apes, in the wild and in captivity. During the conversation, Rebeca shares an incredible story of a time when a chimpanzee did something remarkable that saved her life. Ultimately, the two talk about how they find hope in the people doing the work of rehabilitation, rescue, and advocacy today, and why these innately valuable, sentient, and complex beings are so worth fighting for. At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a rare archival clip of Dr. Goodall describing the profound moment she saw Dr. Rebeca Atencia save the life of the critically wounded chimpanzee, Wounda, and perform the first (known) ever chimp-to-chimp blood transfusion in Africa. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this Mailbag episode, Dr. Goodall is joined by Hopecaster and podcast executive producer Michelle Khouri as they hear from Hopecasters from around the world. Jane and Michelle listen to a heartwarming and encouraging call from an 8-year-old Hopecaster in China who shares her dream of being an astronaut, and whose love of animals and nature was inspired by Jane. In another message, a courageous young Hopecaster shares her difficult journey of immigration from Iran to the U.S. and her ongoing difficulties with this issue, and tells Jane that her reason for hope comes from the story of the anemone, a beautiful, delicate flower that grows in the most inhospitable areas. Jane shares with this Hopecaster that this flower is like the indomitable human spirit “that enables us to have hope, even in the darkest times.” Click here to submit your own questions and comments for a chance to be included in a future Mailbag episode. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Jane Goodall has an insightful and meaningful conversation with her good friend, Her Excellency Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, the Managing Director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. Razan has devoted her life to advocating for biodiversity protection solutions working both with governments all over the world and also with companies in the private sector. Jane and Razan reminisce over their eight years of friendship and collaboration, from establishing Roots & Shoots in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to traveling to the desert to learn about the conservation efforts started by the first Sheikh and Founder of the UAE, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Together, they discuss the importance of finding solutions that benefit communities and how modern society, just like nature, is most resilient when it is diverse. Razan distinguishes the crucial need to fight for action for both biodiversity and climate change and she shares a quote from one of her favorite authors, Elif Shafak, that echoes both her and Jane’s perspective on the future of this fight: “We need pessimism of the mind and optimism of the heart.” At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a rare archival clip of Jane reflecting on our planet's two "lungs." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Jane Goodall chats with longtime friend Azzedine Downes about wildlife conservation, complex reflections around the pandemic and our relationship with the natural world, and the importance of redefining success to focus on the health of the planet, other animals, and ourselves. Azzedine is the President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), where he works to protect wildlife across the globe everyday. In this episode, Azzedine and Jane tell stories from their years of conservation work around the world,, including learnings and ways to engage, listen, and collaborate for the good of all. They also discuss the “enchanting” pangolin, the most heavily trafficked animal in the world and one of the least known, and the importance of giving animals names to increase empathy and respect for their wellbeing. At the End of the Rainbow: Stay to the end of the episode to hear a rare archival clip of Jane talking about her first experiences with the pangolin on the Serengeti in 1957, a creature she calls “so worth saving.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.