Marc Bekoff–professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who’s written or co-written more than 30 books; his latest, “Love in Their Hearts: A Celebration of Animal Emotions and a Guide to Compassionate Action,” features a foreword by the late Jane Goodall—recounts his long friendship and various professional collaborations with Dr. Goodall.
Mentioning he and “Jane” co-wrote a book for young readers, “Every Elephant Has A Name,” to be published in
early February, Bekoff enthuses about Goodall as a scientist, as a collaborator—possessed of a rigorous work ethic and meticulous attention to detail—noting her research and observations on chimpanzees in Gombe were both pioneering and still stand as an industry standard six decades later. He also points to Goodall’s lighter, more whimsical side–unseen by most people—and we discuss her fascinating (to me, at least) ritual of enjoying a nightly swig of Scotch. It began as a toast to her mother when Goodall’s travel schedule kept them apart, and later expanded to friends and colleagues, including Bekoff, sometimes carrying out the ritual over Zoom. We moved into discussing his new book, “Love in Their Hearts”– co-written by Jeff Campbell—prompted in part by Bekoff’s longstanding work in the realm of animal emotions, and his increasingly solidified perspective that nonhuman animals are sentient beings. (This overlaps work, and at least one book, he collaborated on with Jane Goodall.) In the hope of addressing a random selection of the animal emotions featured in “Love in Their Heart”—later, owing to substantial discussions, fruitful tangents, and wonderful listener calls, it turns out we didn’t get very far into the book—we start with the emotions explored in the first chapter: Joy, Delight, and Playfulness.These being feelings commonly witnessed among animals, both those living in our homes and in the wild, we
briefly touched on a handful of animals who exhibit Playfulness. Then, at my request, Bekoff eased into a rumination on the playfulness of two perhaps-unlikely ones: zebras and bees. Bees playing….We moved on to another section of the book, dealing with Sadness, Grief, and Depression. I pointed out that among the reasons I’ve been a card-carrying Elephant Nut for many years is that they are emotionally-sophisticated animals, who exhibit grief when a fellow elephant dies—observing funeral-like rituals to say Goodbye. Not surprisingly, elephants constitute a major element of that chapter. Bekoff weighs in on elephants, partly by recounting an experience in Africa, shared with Iain Douglas-Hamilton (considered, he says, the elephant equivalent of Jane Goodall), encountering a herd of elephants just after their matriarch had died, and acting notably odd. He shares comparable rituals he’s observed in other animals, including a handful of magpies interacting with—mostly covering with leaves—a magpie corpse. And so on. There’s plenty of compelling conversation here, laced with sparkling caller comments. What are you waiting for? Cue up the archive.
ALSO: I spoke with Sarah Richardson, Communications Associate at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, about “Menagerie at The Museum 2026,” the fourth edition of the Museum’s animal-oriented extravaganza, slated to happen Aug. 15, from 10am-4pm. First, Richardson provided a brief overview of The James and the various kinds of art exhibited there. She then describes “Menagerie,” which gathers an assortment of live animals and representatives from several of Pinellas County’s animal rescue and wildlife conservation organizations. The event, she notes, also provides an opportunity to learn about wild wolves in the special exhibition, “Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan,” a collection of Donovan’s stunning wolf photos, which also serves as a cultural study of two distinctly different packs of wolves. Richardson explains that “Menagerie at The Museum” has become an enormously popular event—this year’s “Menagerie” is sold-out, but, she says, some additional tickets may become available. (https://thejamesmuseum.org/events/menagerie-at-the-museum-2026/)
COMEDY CORNER: Andy Woodhull’s “The Hungry Penguin” (https://andywoodhull.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
AUDIO ARCHIVE:
Listen Online Now:
