Tara Stoinski Returns (primatologist)
4/29/20261 hr 35 min
Tara Stoinski (A Gorilla Story) is a primatologist, conservationist, and CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Tara returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up outside Philadelphia, her academic path from Tufts to Oxford to Georgia Tech, and balancing motherhood with a career studying gorillas in Rwanda. Tara and Dax talk about documenting rare gorilla dominance battles, the challenges of filming endangered animals in the wild, and how gorilla social structures differ from chimpanzees. Tara explains the importance of long-term behavioral research, how early life trauma can impact animal behavior, and why strong social bonds are key to survival in both gorillas and humans.
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Clips
Showing 10 of 12Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDax Shepard· Host0:00
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert, Experts on Expert. I'm Dax Shepard, and I'm joined by Monica Padman.
Monica Padman· Host0:06
Hi.
Dax Shepard· Host0:06
And today we have returning prime-ontologist Tara Stoinski. She is the CEO and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, and she worked closely on this incredible documentary that I saw, really importantly by the director of My Octopus Teacher.
Monica Padman· Host0:26
Yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:27
And Chimp Empire.
Monica Padman· Host0:28
Yes.
Dax Shepard· Host0:29
Maybe my favorite animal doc I've ever seen. Uh, and this new documentary is called A Gorilla Story, and there's the most insane footage in it. What they captured over these couple years they were filming is incredible. It's so good. She's so knowledgeable. And, um, you know, these are highly endangered, beautiful treasures on Planet Earth, so if you're inclined, please go to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and support that. Please enjoy Tara Stoinski. We are supported by Quince. I'm pretty picky about what I wear, not in a fashion way, more in a if-this-bugs-me-even-a-little-I'm-out way. And this time of year always makes me wanna reset a bit, clean things up, keep my closet simple. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are thoughtful, and the pricing actually makes sense. Quince makes high quality everyday essentials using premium materials, like 100% European linen, and their insanely soft