Tea time... with an ape?

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Picture this: You’re at a pretend tea party, but instead of sitting across from toddlers in tiaras, you’re clinking cups with Kanzi—an ape with the incredible ability to communicate with humans. NPR science correspondent Nate Rott talked to some scientists who did exactly that. But these scientists weren’t just having pretend tea parties with Kanzi for fun, they were trying to test the limits of his imagination – because humans’ ability to play out “pretend” scenarios in our heads and guess at the potential consequences of our actions is key to how we live our lives. And we might not be the only animals to do it!

For more of Nate’s reporting, plus videos of Kanzi, check out the full story on NPR here. Chris Krupenye’s study can be found here.

If you liked this episode, you might also like our episode on bonobos and the evolution of niceness, and what insights monkeys offer us for the evolution of human speech.

Interested in more science about our brains and their abilities? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from TED Health.
0:02.2	From smart daily habits to new medical breakthroughs,
0:05.1	find reliable information you won't hear anywhere else on TED Health.
0:09.5	This month, tune in to a special series featuring guests on the Science of Raising Kids.
0:15.0	Listen to TED Health, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:18.8	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:24.5	Hey, Shortwavers. Science correspondent Nate Rot here, filling in for Emily and Regina.
0:29.1	I want to start today by introducing you to a pretty remarkable and unique ape, who has been on NPR before.
0:36.3	Kanzi is a bonobo, a smaller cousin of the chimpanzee.
0:40.3	He's the world's most famous bonobo and a bit of a show-off.
0:45.3	Kanzi was born in captivity and he lived in research environments his entire life.
0:49.3	He died last year at 44.
0:51.3	R.A.P. Conzi.
0:53.3	And what made him so famous, what got him full-page pictures
0:56.7	and Time Magazine and National Geographic,
0:59.7	was his ability to communicate with humans using symbols
1:03.3	and his comprehension of the English language.
1:06.3	Here's a video National Geographic did of him.
1:08.6	Look right at the camera. Good boy.
1:10.5	You're doing so good. Just a couple more.
1:12.9	I realize as they talk to Conzi, he understands almost everything they say.
1:18.3	A study published in 1993 found that when Conzi was eight years old, he could outperform a
	...

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