Jane Goodall on Optimism, Hope and Conservation

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Sony Music

Society & Culture

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We said goodbye to Jane Goodall, who passed away yesterday at 91 after a life that inspired millions. I feel so grateful to have had the chance to speak with her back in July 2022, a conversation I’ll never forget. Today, in honour of her incredible legacy, I want to re-share it with you. ___________________________________________________________________ The legendary Jane Goodall is a scientist, conservationist and humanitarian, whose 60-year study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania challenged and overturned much of the conventional scientific thinking at the time. Her tireless work over the years - she is now 88 - has won her a legion of admirers, including David Attenborough, Leonardo di Caprio, Prince Harry and Greta Thunberg who calls Goodall ‘a true hero’. She joins me to talk about the resilience of hope, whether chimpanzees have a sense of failure, her own failures in language, correspondence and motherhood, and her belief in the next generation. This was one of the most enlightening podcast interviews I've ever had the privilege of doing. Please listen! ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction and Tribute to Jane Goodall 01:47 Early Life and Career 04:14 The Concept of Hope and Optimism 08:55 Groundbreaking Work with Chimpanzees 15:16 Challenges and Triumphs 20:22 Reflections on Failure and Success 29:18 The Power of Imagination and Early Influences 30:22 Exploring Animal Friendships 32:43 Roots and Shoots: A Movement for Change 37:37 Spiritual Experiences and Beliefs 44:58 Challenges and Failures 49:48 Reflections on Parenting and Influential Figures 54:26 Messages of Hope and Resilience 🔗 LINKS: Jane Goodall Institute: https://janegoodall.org/ https://www.janegoodall.org.uk/ Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, it's Elizabeth here, and apologies for the quality of this audio. I'm on book tour at the moment, and so this little introduction is brought to you by the medium of voice note.
0:23.5	But it was important to me and to all of us to reshare this episode with the legendary Jane Goodall,
0:32.6	who very sadly passed away this week. We wanted to reshare this conversation because it was such a meaningful
0:41.3	one for me and such a mind-expounding one for anyone who listens. Jane's message about the
0:49.5	resilience of hope is needed today more than ever and we must continue to spread her message and her work
0:56.9	even in the aftermath of her passing. So I really hope that you get a lot from listening or
1:03.6	perhaps re-listening to this episode. In it, we talk about what she learnt from chimpanzees about
1:09.8	failure. We talk about the quality of hope and how
1:13.2	necessary it is. We also delve into her own perceived failures in correspondence, that's right,
1:20.1	letter writing, and in motherhood. She really was the most fantastic woman and taught me so much
1:27.4	over the course of this chat. Thank you so, so much
1:31.1	for listening and thank you to Jane Goodall for all the work that she left us with.
1:42.8	Sophie Tom and the kids are standing by the luggage carousel waiting for Sophie's bag.
1:46.9	Looks like she's going to be wearing Tom's clothes for a week, but she's not worried.
1:50.5	Their HSBC Premier bank account has comprehensive worldwide travel insurance
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2:20.2	Okay, so I've got some news to break to you that I think is going to make you stop in your tracks.
	...

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