I had this incredible job and I was travelling around the world and I was talking to the most

fascinating scientists all over the world marine biologists and I was hearing about the relationships

that they had with the environments that they worked in and the animals that they worked with

and I felt a bit voyeuristic and what I found on that first dive was suddenly I felt like I was inside something

and I was experiencing it directly.

And that switched something on in me.

And I wanted more and more of it, I guess.

Because that's a strange thing about journalism.

Often you are a filter for things rather than having those experiences yourself,

unless I suppose you're a conflict journalist and you're right deep inside of things.

But I don't know, maybe I was looking for my own voice and I felt like through these experiences I was having underwater, I was starting to find it.

When it came to making the film,

nothing about it made sense saying yes to that opportunity to doing that. There was no money.

I had this really good job. I had a big scholarship opportunity at that time as well, which I

had to turn down. But the minute I read the treatment that Craig sent me, it was like the easiest

decision I've ever made. It was like every part of my body, there was just no way I was

going to say no. And that doesn't happen often in life, where you have a big decision to make

and it's just so clear what you need to do.

Today's guest is Pippa Erlich, the co-director of the Academy Award-winning documentary,

My Octopus Teacher.

Back in 2016, Pippa had what many people would consider a dream job.

She was traveling the world as a marine journalist with an ocean-facing room. But when she

...