The Sex Lives of Giant Pandas

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

Science, The Smithsonian, Tony Cohn, Art19, African American History And Culture, Exhibit, Dc, Exhibits, Pop Culture, Zoo, National Museum, National Zoo, Natural History, Air And Space, Smithsonian, Postal Museum, History Of The World, History, Sidedoor, Museum, Washington, Society & Culture, American History

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whether it's live on the Smithsonian’s National Zoo's panda cam or in front of a crowd, possibly no other animal's sex life is as closely watched as the giant pandas' is. And there's a reason. These cuddly-looking black and white bears just can't figure out how to mate. But, with a little help from science, the once-endangered giant panda is making a comeback. In honor of the 50th anniversary of giant pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo, we peep into the (not so secret) sex lives of pandas.

Guests:

Pierre Comizzoli, panda sex expert and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Lisa Stevens, AKA “Panda Lady”; former senior curator of mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Stephen Powers, panda fan

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.7	I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:24.3	Good evening in the early 1970s, this presidential message interrupted prime time television.
0:30.2	Now on address by the President of the United States, speaking live from Washington.
0:35.0	President Richard Nixon stepped up to a podium with a blue curtain behind him,
0:39.5	and from there he made an announcement that shocked Americans across the country.
0:44.7	No, it was not that he was resigning from office, but it may have been just as big,
0:50.1	possibly bigger. I have requested this television time tonight to announce a major
0:56.3	development in our efforts to build a lasting peace in the world. Nixon announced that he had
1:01.1	accepted an invitation to go to China and meet with Chairman Mao Zedong.
1:05.8	A Washington Post reporter wrote that, quote, if Mr. Nixon revealed he was going to the moon,
1:10.9	he could not have flabbergasted his audience anymore.
1:14.4	The meeting between the leaders of China and the United States is to seek the normalization
1:20.9	of relations between the two countries. The US and China had been fierce rivals since the late
1:26.2	1940s, fighting on opposite sides of the Korean and Vietnam wars. The US saw Chinese communism
1:32.6	as a threat to the very existence of democracy. We seek friendly relations with all nations.
1:40.1	It is in this spirit that I will undertake what I deeply hope will become a journey for peace.
1:52.0	Peace not just for our generation, but for future generations. On this earth we share together.
2:01.2	Thank you and good night.
2:02.5	And so, in 1972, Richard Nixon and his wife Pat went to China. They met dignitaries.
2:15.3	Went to the ballet.
2:19.0	And even visited the Great Wall. You would have to conclude that this is a great wall
	...

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