It's All Good

Jane Goodall has seen some dark days, yet she retains an unshakeable sense of hope. We speak to the celebrated anthropologist about resilience, her forthcoming book—and why humans and chimpanzees really aren’t so different after all

- Coco Marett

.Jane Goodall is telling me a story from her childhood. One day, as a toddler, she brought earthworms from her family’s garden into her bedroom. Her mother came in to find her observing them intently. She was “wondering how they got around without legs”, Goodall says she told her mother. “While most mothers would get angry, my mother said to me, ‘Jane, these poor little worms, if we leave them here, they’ll die. They need to be in the garden’. So we took them back.”

This memory is interrupted when Goodall’s phone rings. Excusing herself, she picks up the call and tells the person on the other line, “I’ll call you back. I’m on a Zoom call, you see,” straining her voice as she draws out the word “zoom”. Then hangs up. “Sorry,” she says, “that was John Hare—or the man I call my camel man. His organisation is working to save the last of the wild Bactrian Camels in China and Mongolia.”

Digital correspondence isn’t her preferred method of communication, but in light of the coronavirus pandemic, video conferencing has become the new normal. Even late-night television has had to reinvent back-and forth banter with slightly awkward Skype calls between hosts and celebrities. As writers, being in rare positions where we’re able to meet our heroes—Goodall being one of mine—we always prefer to speak face-to-face. I make a comment to Goodall that, despite a near-global lockdown, at least technology allows us to carry on with our work and stay in touch with loved ones. She sighs, “Yes, I suppose so.”