Project Koko

We hit the road to meet Ndume, the last living gorilla who had been part of The Gorilla Foundation. But we're in for a wild surprise.

So... can we talk to animals? We look back at what we can learn from the ape language research experiments, and what it says about humans.

Koko addresses the world at the Paris Climate Conference - and she is not impressed with humankind. And when she passes away a few years later, her legacy is uncertain, and often hotly contested.

Penny Patterson focuses on Koko’s future, including trying to find her a mate. But former foundation staffers say behind the earnest headlines and cheery videos coming out of The Gorilla Foundation, Koko’s world is way more complicated.

The claws come out at a major science conference in New York, throwing into question the field of animal language research and the future of Project Koko.

Nim the chimp moves uptown into a picturesque mansion in the Bronx. But the experiment only gets harder to manage. And Dr. Herb Terrace reveals a shocking conclusion.

A rival ape language experiment takes shape. Herbert Terrace, a psychology professor at Columbia University, moves a chimp into a brownstone, names him Nim Chimpsky, and hires an entire team to teach him sign language. Can a chimp create a sentence?

Koko is learning signs at lightning speed, and Penny’s getting all kinds of attention for her work. But defining language isn’t exactly straightforward. And now, the San Francisco Zoo wants Koko back.

It’s the early 1970s, and grad student Penny Patterson sets out to investigate a big question: is language a uniquely human skill? So she begins an ambitious experiment -- with the help of a young gorilla named Koko. Pretty soon, Penny says Koko is learning sign language. But some doubt Penny’s version of events.

In 1972 a Stanford graduate student named Penny Patterson meets a young gorilla named Koko at the San Francisco Zoo, sets out to teach her sign language, and proceeds to turn the world on its head. This is the first season of our new podcast A Show About Animals. Drops November 3rd, 2021.