The great primatologist and humanitarian, Jane Goodall, died on October 1, 2025, at the age of 91. It is a joy and a comfort to revisit our last broadcast of her 2020 conversation with Krista. Jane Goodall began her epic work studying chimpanzees in the Gombe forest without even a college degree. The science she proceeded to do recalled modern Western science to the fact that we are a part of nature, not separate from it. She spent the last decades of her life on the road, often with the young, tending to human fear and misunderstanding. In this beautiful conversation from the pandemic lockdown, she shared the moral and spiritual wisdom that emerged in her extraordinary life — and the hope that, to the end, sustained her.
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On Being is a conversation that has been building for over two decades with wise and graceful lives — across spiritual inquiry and science, social healing and the arts. You likely know us through On Being with Krista Tippett, our Peabody award-winning show that began on public radio — now podcasting special seasons. We can be found in ears, and in conversations that matter, around the world.
We are animated by humanity’s ancient questions, newly alive in this century:
What does it mean to be human?
How do we want to live?
And who will we be to each other?
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W.S. Merwin’s “For The Anniversary of My Death” is a slim, precise poem — just 13 lines made up of 84 words — about the very weightiest of subjects, one’s future death. With it, Merwin has crafted an elegant vessel, a small and sturdy container to hold some of life’s big questions, uncertainties, and feelings. Are you ready to gaze at it, grasp it, sit with it? And as you contemplate death, he gently reminds, remain here — where there’s rain, birdsong, and life right in front of you.
Grounding Virtues
We speak together differently in order to live together differently. These six “grounding virtues” guide the On Being way of conversation. They are inspiring and grounding initiatives — analog and digital, institutional and communal — around the world. Read More.
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Our Libraries are thematic collections of writings and episodes from the On Being archive dating back to 2003. Wander the rows and scan the shelves.
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The Pause is a monthly Saturday morning companion to all things On Being, with heads-up on new episodes, special offerings, event invitations, recommendations, and reflections from Krista all year round.
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