Jane Goodall’s early research studying chimpanzees helped shape the self-understanding of our species and recalled modern western science to the fact that we are a part of nature not separate from it. From her decades studying chimpanzees in the Gombe forest to her more recent years attending to human poverty and misunderstanding, she reflects on the moral and spiritual convictions that have driven her, and what she is teaching and still learning about what it means to be human.

Jane Goodall is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and its youth program, Roots & Shoots. She has been the subject of many films and documentaries, including Jane Goodall: The Hope. Her books include In the Shadow of Man and Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org

This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Jane Goodall on What it Means to Be Human” Find more at onbeing.org.