Primatologist Joan Silk has spent decades following individual baboons from birth to death, documenting how friendships, conflicts, and early life experiences shape their lives. In this conversation, we explore how grooming, coalition support, and even simple grunts help baboons repair fights and maintain social bonds. We talk about why female baboons have intense relationships with their mothers but more contentious bonds with sisters, what happens hormonally when a close partner dies, and how early adversity can make it harder to form strong social ties later on.

We also draw parallels to human life: bullying and social exclusion, the energy cost of maintaining friendships, the vulnerability of pulling back during hard times, and the moment when a relationship moves beyond tit‑for‑tat reciprocity into something more stable. If you’re curious about the biology of friendship, the psychology of conflict repair, and why our social worlds matter for how long we live, this episode is for you.

Chapters:

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but we’re relentlessly reminded that romantic love ought to be the most important relationship in our lives. But in this conversation, evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford, provides a more nuanced idea.

We explore where humans sit evolutionarily between monogamy and polygamy, why pair bonding may have evolved as a protective strategy in large social groups, and why romance includes friendship and requires continued investment to remain stable. If we treat romantic partners as permanently secure family members we risk neglecting the very behaviors that sustain long-term bonds.

If you want to explore more of Robin's work check out a few of these titles:

Friends

Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language

How Many Friends Does One Person Need?

The Social Brain

You can keep up with me on Instagram (@RealDrJen) and check out Wild Connection TV on YouTube where I bring science to life. And check out my Substack for more writings.

How do we live well in a world we cannot control?

In this episode of Wild Connection, I'm joined by Massimo Pigliucci, evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author, and one of today’s leading voices on modern Stoicism. We explore stoicism not as emotional detachment or passive acceptance, but as a practical philosophy designed to help people navigate uncertainty, loss, and moral complexity with clarity and intention.

Drawing on ancient Stoic thinkers and contemporary life, Massimo explains the four cardinal virtues as tools for everyday decision-making. 

Books by Massimo Pigliucci:

How to Be a Stoic

A Handbook for New Stoics (with Gregory Lopez)

Think Like a Stoic

Beyond Stoicism

Nonsense on Stilts

Massimo’s Substack 

Next week, Wild Connection launches a special series on love and relationships, beginning with evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar, whose work on friendship, bonding, and group size helps explain why connection is not optional, it’s biological.

You can keep up with me on Instagram (@RealDrJen) and check out Wild Connection TV on YouTube where I bring science to life. And check out my Substack for more writings.

What if the building blocks of life are not unique to Earth?

We explore the five major revolutions that transformed how we understand the universe from Newton’s gravity and Einstein’s spacetime to dark matter, dark energy. And there are still unanswered questions that shape modern astrophysics. Along the way, Ersilia reflects on why curiosity, humility, and wonder remain essential tools for science, and how shifting our perspective beyond an Earth-centered view can deepen our sense of belonging in a vast, evolving cosmos.

From the soil beneath our feet to the chemistry between the stars, this episode invites listeners to consider how deeply connected we are to the universe, not just as observers, but as participants made of the same ancient material.

You can order a copy of Dr. Vaudo's book (and you should) here and keep up with all things astrophysics here.

In this episode of Wild Connection, Dr. Jennifer Verdolin speaks with author and essayist Tamara Dean, whose book Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless explores what it means to live in relationship with a place. From the beauty and hardship of rural Wisconsin to the floods, fires, and tornadoes that test both landscape and spirit, Dean shares how community, storytelling, and attentive living can transform adversity into belonging. In this episode we reflect on the practice of slowing down, listening to the land, and learning from the species who share it with us.

Our conversation also reveals how small acts like writing a neighbor’s story after a flood or watching fireflies are opportunities for connection and renewal.

Keep up with Tamara Dean on Facebook 

If Tamara’s reflections inspire you to deepen your own sense of place, explore my Reconnect with Nature course on Audible and companion workbook Rooted in Nature, designed to help you rediscover your connection to the natural world. Next week, the journey continues with astrophysicist Ersilia Vaudo, taking us from the ground to the stars.

You can keep up with me on Instagram (@RealDrJen) and check out Wild Connection TV on YouTube where I bring science to life.

Conflict doesn’t stop at people. It also impacts forests, rivers, and species that share our world. In this conversation, Dr. Jen and Dr. András Hárs explore the UN’s complicated role in peacekeeping and environmental protection, weaving together personal stories, global politics, and the overlooked casualties of war: ecosystems and wildlife.

From the Central African Republic’s endangered gorillas to the sustainability dilemmas of COP climate conferences, we talk about the tough issues: Who holds peacekeepers accountable when misconduct occurs? Can international law evolve to treat the environment as a victim of war? And what lessons should we carry forward to ensure peace is sustainable for humans and nature alike?

Keep up with Dr. Hárs on LinkedIn

To learn more about the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), visit: @RealDrJen

YouTube: Wild Connection TV

Want to support the show and our work at Wild Connection? Visit www.wildconnection.org to learn more and get involved.

Fungi are everywhere , in the soil, in the air, in our food. Quietly they sustain life but also may unleash devastation. In this episode of Wild Connection, I chat with environmental toxicologist and author Emily Monosson about her latest book Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic. From the Irish potato famine and the rise of Candida auris in hospitals, to bats felled by white-nose syndrome and amphibians lost to the chytrid fungus, fungi are reshaping ecosystems, agriculture, and human health.

Guest Bio:

Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic (W.W. Norton) – available at your local independent bookstore, directly from the Publisher or on Amazon.

Connect with Emily Monosson on LinkedIn.

You can keep up with Dr. Jen on Instagram (@RealDrJen) and check out Wild Connection TV on YouTube where she brings science to life.

What if a river is alive? What would it say about our world today? About the way we treat water, land, and each other? This question is at the heart of Robert Macfarlane’s latest book, Is a River Alive? On this episode Robert invites us to reimagine rivers not as background scenery or mere water channels, but as living entities, storytellers, and deserving of rights.

To keep up with Robert check out his website: https://www.robertmacfarlane.com

or connect with him on X: @RobGMacfarlane or Instagram: @RobGMacfarlane

If you want to purchase a copy of Is a River Alive you can do so by getting it direct from the publisher Norton or on Amazon

If you enjoyed this conversation and want to cultivate your own wild connection, check out my new Audible course Reconnect with Nature packed with simple, science-backed ways to bring nature back into your daily life, plus a companion workbook, Rooted in Nature, to guide your journey

And of course connect with me 

Website: http://www.jenniferverdolin.com

Instagram:@realdrjen X: @realdrjen and @wildconnectpod

Wild Connection TV: @wildconnectiontv4022

What can animals teach us about empathy, intelligence, and connection? In this episode of Wild Connection, bestselling author Sy Montgomery shares her journey and explores what chickens (and other animals) really know.

With over 30 books to her name, from The Soul of an Octopus to How to Be a Good Creature, Sy invites us to see the world through the eyes of others

You can keep up with Sy and check out all of her books by heading to her website: https://symontgomery.com/ or on Instagram @Sytheauthor

If you want to host a book club using one of Sy's books and have this podcast episode as a companion or connect deeper with the content, I've created a downloadable Listener's Guide to accompany the dispose. You can find it on my website at www.jenniferverdolin.com/blog

If you want to watch the video on prairie dogs that came up in this episode you can see that here on my YouTube channel. 

If you enjoyed this conversation and want to cultivate your own wild connection, check out my new Audible course Reconnect with Nature packed with simple, science-backed ways to bring nature back into your daily life, plus a companion workbook, Rooted in Nature, to guide your journey

And of course connect with me 

Website: http://www.jenniferverdolin.com

Instagram:@realdrjen 

Join me in conversation with conservation legend Ian Redmond, whose groundbreaking work with Dian Fossey and lifelong advocacy for great apes and elephants has shaped global conservation. We talk about his early days in the forest, his current work with Ecoflix, and the power of storytelling in saving species.

Recorded in September 2024, this episode offers a rare window into the past, present, and future of wildlife protection.

Learn more about Ecoflix: www.ecoflix.com

Follow Ian on X @4Apes

 Don't miss the next episode featuring Sy Montgomery!