The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Jane Goodall on Studying Chimpanzees & Fighting Climate Change

Episode Date: October 4, 2020

Iconic conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall reflects on her lifelong study of chimpanzees and talks about her role as a leading voice in the fight against climate change. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News, listened to 60 Minutes, a second look

on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Dr. Jane Goodall, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Well, thank you so much for inviting me to join you. I feel like it's not even my invitation to give. You are somebody who has been in the heart to to to to to to the the the to the to the the to the to the the to to the to the to the the to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th.. the thi. thi. the the. the. the. the. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi I feel like it's not even my invitation to give. You are somebody who has been in the hearts and minds of so many people across the globe. You've been studying our primate cousins

for six decades now. I mean, arguably we know more about the world of primates because of you than we ever would have, had you not gotten involved. Have we learned everything there is to know about our primate cousins? I don't think so. I mean, you know, after 60 years we're still learning new things about the same chimpanzee community. And especially when we're now entering the fourth generation, you know, they can live to be

about 60 years old. But studied them all this time, you know, you can see the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the effect the, the, the, thirty, thirty, thirty, thirty, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, th. th. th. th, th. th. th. th. th. And 60 years old. But studied them all this time, you know, you can see the effect of different kinds of mothering. You can look at, now we can detect the fathers by doing DNA analysis from their fecal samples, so we can say, well, does the paternity have any influence on the personality of the child? All questions like this are absolutely fascinating. I've always wanted to know, how did Jane Goodell at 26 years,, to decide, to decide, to decide, to decide, to decide, to decide, to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be the effect, to be the effect, the effect, the effect, the effect, the effect, the effect the effect the effect the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different the effect of different, the effect of the effect of the effect of the effect of the effect of the effect, the effect, the effect, the effect, the effect, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the effect, the effect, to be to be to be the effect the effect to be the effect of their their their their their their their their their their effect of their effect of their effect of the effect of the effect of the effect of the effect of to be. All questions like this are absolutely fascinating. I've always wanted to know,

how did Jane Goodall at 26 years old decide, you know what, I'm gonna go and study chimpanzees and what makes them tick and who they are? Well, it actually all began when I was 10 years old, growing up in England, growing up in the days before TV and computers and cell phones spending time outside. Then when I was 10 I read Tarzan of the Apes, and I decided I'm going to grow up and go to Africa and live with wild animals and write books about them.

Everybody laughed. How will you do that? You don't have much world war two is raging and you're just a girl. But my mother, my amazing mother, she's right here behind me, she just said if you really want something you're going to have to work really hard, take advantage of every opportunity and if you don't give up maybe you'll find a way. And that's the message that I take to young people around the world, particularly in disadvantaged communities. We seem to be the only species particularly in disadvantaged communities.

We seem to be the only species that, at an alarming rate, destroys our environment. You know, we don't see any other animals doing this. We see a natural balance in nature. We see an understanding of one thing affecting the other. But it feels like more and more, and you discuss this from the perspective of an animal researcher. Habitats are being destroyed. The world is changing. Do you see those effects within the chimpanzee communities that you so often frequent? Well, no, but you know something.

I think if they developed an intellect along the lines of ours, they would probably do exactly the same. And I feel that what we're doing to destroy the planet is ours, they would probably do exactly the same and I feel that what we're doing to destroy the planet is because we can do it. We've got ourselves into this situation where we can cut down a forest just like that. And what's the result of it? Well, we basically brought a pandemic on ourselves, and we've basically brought about the climate crisis. We've done that, and it's high time that we step back and say, gosh,

we, don't we care about the future of our children? Don't we care about the health of the planet? Because we're part of this natural world, not separated from it. You have become even more famous over the past few years, not just for your research and your work, but also as being an outspoken climate change activist. Over the past few months, in fact, we've seen your social media explode with people just engaging with you and connecting with you and you really have become one of the loudest voices calling for change when it comes to our fight to stop the climate from getting warmer.

What do you think people don't understand in the conversation? I think people are burying their heads in the sand. I think, you know, even climate change deniers have begun to say, well, yes, the climate is changing. I mean, you can't the thin change, th you can't th you can't th you can't th you can't, the sand. I think, you know, even climate change deniers have begun to say, well yes, the climate is changing. I mean, you can't deny it, can you? I mean, you cannot deny the fact that temperatures are hotter. You can't deny the fact of these terrible fires that are ranging in so many parts of the world. You can't deny that the ice is melting, and you can't deny the the ice is melting and you see the ice on the tops of the mountains disappearing snow and you can't deny the drought. So yes but there are still some

people who say yes yes but that's just natural. It's nothing to do with us. Well those are people who refuse to listen to science because the scientists have proven that the levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, have risen exponentially and in a way never seen throughout the whole course of evolution. So what do we say to them? I don't know if they refuse to believe it, but young people, they're beginning to understand it, they're beginning to understand that it's our fault. But, you know, there's a tendency now for people to lose hope

because some scientists are saying, we've reached the tipping point, it's nothing we can do. That, I refuse to believe in. We've got a window of time. If we get together, then then at least start to heal some of the harm we've inflicted. What would you say to a young person who has lost hope, a young person who wants to change the world but feels like they cannot?

Yeah, well, that's why I started this roots and tutu. Because I was meeting young people like that when I said, no no you're wrong. And the main message of this program is that every single day we live we make some impact on the planet. And we get to choose what sort of impact we make, what do we buy, where did it come from, did it harm the environment, was it cruel to animals, we can choose. However, those living in deep poverty and there's so many of them, they can't choose. They're going to destroy the last trees to try and grow food to feed their families or feed the last fish. They're going to buy the cheapest junk food because they have to survive. So changing the gap between the haves and the have not, alleviating poverty, thinking

each one of us about our environmental footprint, these are the things that really matter now. Everybody can get involved. If you roll up your sleeves and you say, well, I can't change the world, but I can clean the stream and then that stream water will run clean into the river. And there are many other people cleaning streams, and the river's getting cleaner and cleaner, and eventually water into the ocean. Then you know that all around the world there are people tackling the same things that you care about.

Then the cumulative effect of individual action starts to hit you. And then you feel helpful. It's when you take action that you leave this feeling of despair and the helplessness. I hope as many people take action as possible. I thank you for changing not just my life, but I think the lives of many, many millions of people around the world. Dr. Jane, thank you so much for joining me on the show. Well, thank you, and you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the same the same the same the same the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the same the millions of people around the world. Dr. Jane, thank you so much for joining me on the show. Well, thank you, and you're doing exactly the same, Trevor, Trevor No. So shake on it.

Thank you so much. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central Act. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.

But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.