0:00

Hey there! Did you know Kroger always gives

0:03

you savings and rewards on top of our

0:05

lower than low prices? And when you download

0:07

the Kroger app, you'll enjoy over $500 in

0:09

savings every week with digital coupons. And don't

0:12

forget fuel points to help you save up

0:14

to $1 per gallon at the

0:16

pump. Want Want to save even more? With

0:18

a boost membership, you'll get double fuel points

0:20

and free delivery. So shop and save big

0:23

at Kroger today! Kroger, fresh

0:25

for everyone. Savings may vary by

0:27

state. Restrictions apply. See site for details.

0:31

This episode is brought to you by

0:33

Visit Williamsburg. In Williamsburg, Virginia,

0:36

there's never too much of a

0:38

good thing. Whether you're a foodie,

0:40

a golfer, a history buff, a

0:42

shopaholic, an outdoor enthusiast, or a

0:44

thrill seeker, you'll find what you

0:46

came for here and more. So

0:49

ask yourself, So ask yourself, what is it you want? what is it

0:51

you want? Discover Williamsburg

0:53

and plan your trip at visitwilliamsburg.com.

0:56

Thank you, Leo. This can work.

0:58

Boston. Somewhere

1:05

in the universe, on

1:08

the edge of a spiraling galaxy,

1:10

orbiting a flaming ball of gas,

1:13

is a tiny world that came into being

1:15

4.6 billion years ago. On

1:19

this world formed seas and land

1:22

and life, and eventually the island

1:24

of Borneo. There, in

1:26

the mangroves, evolved a group of

1:28

hideous monkeys. The

1:31

local people call it Orang Belanda,

1:33

which means Dutchman. Because they

1:36

say its face reminds them

1:38

of a sunburnt European. Proboscis

1:41

or proboscis monkeys. Beer

1:44

bellied, beady eyed, and

1:47

they have squidward noses. Nobody

1:49

but me. Wide, flappy,

1:51

shaped like a pear. When people

1:53

think of the proboscis monkey, they

1:56

think of this nose. ABC

2:00

poll ranked the proboscis, a word referring

2:02

to its nose, one of

2:04

the five ugliest animals in the

2:06

world, just after blobfish. Just

2:10

behind blobfish. You

2:12

know, what a lot in life to have. But

2:17

Ben and I have taken a liking to

2:19

the monkeys ever since we learned about them.

2:22

And almost everything we have

2:24

learned about the proboscis monkey,

2:26

we learned from memes. Like

2:29

the fact that male and female

2:31

proboscis monkeys actually have different noses.

2:34

Noses that look surprisingly like Disney

2:37

characters. So this person,

2:39

they wrote up here, they said,

2:41

have you ever thought about how

2:44

the sexual dimorphism of modern Disney

2:46

characters has perfectly paralleled the sexual

2:48

dimorphism of the proboscis monkey? And

2:50

like, so you'll see like a male

2:53

character, and he's got like big long

2:55

nose. Nose, okay.

2:58

And there's Elsa. Her tiny little

3:00

button nose. Yeah. Yeah.

3:03

We found this meme and many, many

3:05

more on a popular Facebook group with

3:08

a specific approach to nature. My name's

3:10

Rhett Barker. I live in Panama City,

3:12

Florida, and I started Wild Green Memes.

3:15

Wild Green Memes for ecological

3:17

themes. It is one of

3:19

the nerdiest places I have visited on the

3:21

internet. And that's saying something folks. So

3:26

founded by biologist Rhett Barker in 2017,

3:28

the Facebook group has about 770,000 members, almost

3:33

200,000 more on Instagram

3:35

and TikTok. Many of

3:38

the members, like Rhett, are scientists. Many

3:41

more are just, as they might say, ecological

3:44

fiends. If you

3:46

could sum up the vibe of Wild

3:48

Green Memes in a few words, it

3:51

might be something like... Relentlessly optimistic. Yeah,

3:53

relentlessly positive works too. As

3:55

the name implies, this is a place

3:57

for wildlife enthusiasts of a particular... The

4:01

kinds of folks who spend as much

4:03

time outdoors as they do online. And

4:05

it's a place for memes about all

4:08

kinds of animals and plants and fungi

4:10

and bacteria. You probably see memes that

4:12

went viral from here. Some

4:14

are funny to just about anyone. Others?

4:18

We talk about extremely esoteric ecological

4:20

concepts a lot of the time,

4:22

but the topics range from that

4:24

to I Saw a Frog Today.

4:27

For instance, one meme shows an

4:30

image of Gandalf, hand outstretched, casting

4:32

a spell on somebody. The text

4:35

reads, Brazilian Wandering Spider,

4:38

as in Gandalf is the spider. Below

4:40

that is an image of a

4:43

possessed King Theoden, the target of

4:45

Gandalf's spell. The text over Theoden

4:47

reads, Proboscis Monkey. Theoden

4:50

is the monkey and he tauntingly says to the

4:52

spider, You have no power here.

4:57

Get it? Oh, geez,

4:59

congrats if you did, because you

5:01

would first need to know that

5:03

wandering spiders apparently cause erections in

5:05

male victims. And you'd also need

5:07

to know that male proboscis monkeys

5:11

already have perpetual erections.

5:15

I didn't even know that was an actual thing. So

5:17

painful. That does not sound comfortable.

5:22

You said it was nerdy. That's

5:24

absolutely nerdy. To picture wild green

5:27

memes, imagine logging onto the morass

5:29

of irrelevant posts and political rants

5:31

that is Facebook. And

5:34

then imagine navigating to this

5:36

thriving community of nature fans

5:38

where hundreds of thousands of

5:41

people are interacting through an

5:43

endless feed of sometimes indecipherable

5:45

memes, starring odd

5:47

looking organisms each with scores of

5:50

comments that themselves digress

5:52

into multi-leveled inside jokes.

5:56

It's fun. Gaskar,

6:00

the crypto-prachta ferro. A

6:03

scientific name that, as we

6:05

learned, means ferocious, hidden anus.

6:08

And then there's a pride meme about

6:10

the way male gourami fish fight. They

6:12

kiss. It's adorable. There

6:14

are inside jokes that even insiders don't

6:17

get. I'll be gone and I'll come

6:19

back and be like, why are people

6:21

posting pictures of scallops and

6:23

writing, but can they why on it? That

6:25

makes no sense at all. On

6:29

the less esoteric side, you may be

6:31

familiar with the meme there are many

6:33

benefits to being a marine biologist. Have

6:35

you seen that one? The image macro

6:38

initially featured a bunch of sea turtles

6:40

with those words superimposed. This meme

6:43

started on Tumblr and then it

6:45

exploded on wild green memes. People

6:47

added the words to images of

6:49

friends relaxing in a tent underwater

6:52

or Sally Hawkins kissing the fishman

6:54

in that movie, The Shape of

6:56

Water. There are

6:58

many benefits to being a marine

7:00

biologist. We wind up getting the rest

7:03

of life kind of filtered through

7:05

a wildlife association. Wild

7:07

green memes even has several spinoff groups,

7:10

almost to like green memes have become

7:12

a genre of the internet. Rhett

7:14

Barker says he never expected it to

7:16

become so popular. Still, he

7:19

gets it. Because the

7:21

reality of nature right

7:23

now is anything but

7:25

relentlessly optimistic. We're

7:27

living in an epoch many scientists

7:29

describe as the sixth extinction. Today's

7:31

children will likely see thousands of

7:34

animals disappear in their lifetime. Quarter

7:36

of all mammals are considered endangered. For

7:38

example, about 40% of

7:40

all amphibians are considered endangered. Farming and

7:42

fishing and mining, as well as the

7:45

use of fossil fuels, or as one

7:47

scientist put it, this time

7:49

we're the asteroid. So

7:51

Rhett says people need

7:54

memes. Nature needs

7:56

memes. Media and discussion

7:58

about this. topic has

8:00

been largely negative, very doom and

8:02

gloom. But I think that

8:05

there's also room to just

8:07

be excited about nature and to

8:09

be positive. And maybe that's right,

8:11

because Wild Green Memes is doing

8:13

its part to save the world

8:16

one meme at a time. I'm

8:24

Dean Green Meme Russell. I'm Ben

8:27

ecological fiend Johnson. And you're listening

8:29

to Endless Thread. We're

8:31

coming to you from WBUR Boston's

8:34

NPR monkey reserve. Lot

8:36

of proboscis hanging about. Today's

8:38

episode, the psychology of conservation

8:40

online and how people are

8:43

using hope and fear

8:45

and humor to repair the

8:47

natural world. Can memes

8:49

save the planet? Seriously, we

8:52

wanted to know. Today,

9:01

Rhett Barker has a few jobs. One

9:04

as moderator of Wild Green Memes,

9:06

another as a biologist for Florida

9:09

Fish and Wildlife, and

9:11

another about one month a year

9:13

I go and do film gigs. And

9:15

when he says film gigs, he

9:18

doesn't mean like, you know, making

9:20

a commercial for the local bistro.

9:23

Rhett is talking about like James

9:25

Cameron style, 20,000

9:28

leagues under the sea, epic nature docks.

9:31

Rhett has gone to the middle of

9:33

the Pacific Ocean to operate robo cameras

9:35

in the deep unknown. There's

9:37

some stuff that was just like impossible to

9:39

describe down there. For example,

9:42

there's a thing that genuinely looks

9:44

like someone cut the head off

9:46

of a rubber chicken and it's

9:48

swimming around in the ocean. But

9:50

then it also turns upside down

9:52

and little arms come out and it walks

9:54

along the bottom. It's called

9:57

a Headless Chicken Monster. And Yes,

10:00

There's a mean for that. Rec. Grew

10:02

up in Florida. He's. Always been an

10:04

H Above. The. Way he sees the

10:06

environment though. Has. Shifted over

10:08

the years, I started out to

10:10

a large extent been upset like

10:13

as a kid, events about the

10:15

problems that exist. If.

10:17

You were a kid in America

10:19

and the nineteen eighties and nineties.

10:22

You probably remember hearing through parents

10:24

or teachers about as a dream,

10:26

the Exxon Valdez, the ozone hole,

10:29

ponders and eagles. The public image

10:31

of nature was of virginity. Death.

10:34

It made him so he found

10:37

himself gravitating to a particular brand

10:39

of wildlife. Queries:

10:47

Even when and Jeff Corwin i

10:49

feel like they're nature programs in

10:51

particular had a positive slant. I

10:53

don't care how much of an

10:55

unnatural fear of snakes is foiled

10:57

up in your body, you can't

10:59

help but a look at this

11:01

creature and see a beautiful. When.

11:05

Read: got to college the University

11:07

of Florida. he majored in wildlife

11:09

a college he in conservation as

11:11

the next Steve Irwin. Maybe he

11:14

learned how to handle gators and

11:16

execute prescribed burns? He bonded with

11:18

his peers than they graduated and

11:20

as kind of my friend group

11:22

from undergrad started to dispersed across

11:24

the country, we wanted to have

11:26

a way to continue to see

11:28

each other regularly. Which is better

11:31

when have something to do rather

11:33

than just been in a group.

11:35

Chat. It was funny seventeen. Meme

11:37

groups were kind of a thing

11:39

back then, so that's what they

11:42

did first with Florida specific names

11:44

and jokes about certain professors. The

11:46

group was public though, and students

11:48

at other universities got wind of.

11:50

While green meme is for an

11:52

ecological themes, suddenly a group of

11:54

a huge turned into one of

11:56

a few thousand and it didn't

11:59

stop there. Things really blew

12:01

up because there was an internet

12:03

wide mean trend to make moth

12:05

means someone took a picture of

12:07

a moth. The moth what's particularly

12:09

expresses to humans for some reason

12:11

and as a result people started

12:13

making means about it. This. Is

12:15

happening mostly on Reddit. Pictures.

12:17

Of Mods combined with the words

12:20

I Like Lamp. Things. Like that.

12:22

The. Math Meme is made it

12:24

to while Green and people

12:26

followed. Would. Came next is

12:29

a good window into the culture

12:31

of the group to capitalize on

12:33

the internet wide moss trends read

12:35

in. The other moderators started rejecting

12:37

any posts that weren't moth related.

12:39

Eventually people started asking why are

12:41

there just my names and this

12:44

group then read made a post

12:46

implying that he had been ousted

12:48

by a. He

12:50

replaced the group photo with a limp. People

12:52

kind of lost their minds that that. Pretty

12:55

soon they were too many Moss

12:57

Means so as a joke the

12:59

mud started allowing Means about Fats

13:01

and other predators to you know

13:03

control the moth population and as

13:05

a result of it the group

13:07

groove to around ten thousand and

13:09

a few weeks. While Green Means

13:11

had started as pure silly fun.

13:13

And then read says as it grew

13:15

and grew and grew it turned into

13:18

a community using meme to learn about

13:20

nature and connect with it in a

13:22

deeper way which does sound nice man.

13:24

also maybe a little starry eyed. I.

13:27

Mean the he are just

13:29

means so seriously what ten

13:31

means do oh come on

13:33

come on he says a

13:35

good stuff man. The

13:40

field of conservation psychology came out

13:43

of the green movement of the

13:45

Nineteen fifties and solidified a few

13:47

decades later in the nineties when

13:49

Chicago's Brookfield Zoo hired a psychologist.

13:54

At the time this was a

13:56

weird idea. Zoo wanted Dr.

13:58

Sarah Sanders to about. It

14:00

is educational program. Sanders had bigger

14:02

questions in mind about the role

14:05

of zoos and how they includes

14:07

people. In other words, what makes

14:09

us care about creatures in a

14:12

sound obvious that nature has been

14:14

through hell since the dawn of

14:17

us. We considered mammoth to extinction.

14:19

Clear cut for us to build

14:21

farm subsidies, poison water from the

14:24

air sea. Un estimates one million

14:26

species, not individual animals. Bird species

14:29

are at risk. Of extinction

14:31

humans broke it says

14:33

he must. Texas Conservation

14:35

Psychology asks and typically

14:37

how do we get

14:39

ourselves and six to

14:41

save me. The.

14:45

Rule of emotions. Can.

14:47

Really help or hurt or

14:49

the movement. River. Gupta

14:51

is a conservation psychologist with the

14:54

Hudson River Foundation and environmental nonprofit

14:56

in New York City. We.

14:58

Asked her to check out wilde green means

15:00

for us. What? Did she think I

15:02

just want to know if we can save

15:05

the planet with means. Brides.

15:08

Braids See wasn't wowed.

15:11

I thought for sure I get a chuckle out of

15:13

you when I asked me if we could save the

15:15

planet with meme. And

15:19

I guess that answers your question to

15:21

some extent. rage my non answer. Ripper.

15:24

Was a little hard to pin down. You

15:26

know she's an academic. That's

15:28

obviously. Little bit more complicated

15:31

you now makes them a yes

15:33

or no. Answer. So I'm going

15:35

to again. I was gonna hope

15:37

trial lawyer proof of yeah and

15:39

sniffles, right? And. Then.

15:41

Again, maybe we were to direct. Maybe

15:43

we were a little to other know

15:45

mimi. So. He backtracked a bit.

15:48

What? Is the best way to reach people. Is

15:50

it hope? Is it fun? Is. It

15:52

fear. Fear. Messages

15:55

have typically. Not

15:57

been really helpful. Person.

16:00

We I am a fan

16:02

of this year method yet

16:04

deemed death and destruction. Russell

16:06

says they usually will retire

16:08

true. But. I know that if

16:10

I were to tell you that on average

16:12

dozens of species go extinct today or that

16:15

half of the coral reefs are gone, you

16:17

might to now. Oh sorry what I'd say.

16:21

Maybe you want to now, but you'll

16:23

feel bad because you are just one

16:25

person. so what are useless? Do about

16:28

it? Everything is so urgent

16:30

and catastrophic, so. There's.

16:32

A sin us cities there's

16:34

a sense of helplessness from

16:36

been able to tackle these

16:38

issues as such a grand

16:40

scale, one person on an

16:42

individual or events groups by

16:44

themselves can deal with. So

16:46

it's about though, Rupert says

16:49

hope on the other hand, is

16:51

much more motivating. But then

16:53

let's get to meet his as

16:55

you were asking which brings in

16:57

another layer of complexity in.much. Humor.

16:59

Race research in conservation psychology

17:02

suggests that humor presents a

17:04

new way of thinking about

17:07

him is often a hopeful

17:09

that six. You have, we're to

17:11

a different set of mind. way the same

17:13

okay like and feeling better at this. Moment

17:16

Compared to the moment before I

17:18

have seen the me right? If

17:20

humor downplays the overall issue, it

17:22

doesn't accomplish anything beyond those good

17:25

feelings. It needs to be somewhat

17:27

directed. You need to parent with

17:29

a seem to care about and

17:31

a thing to do for instance

17:34

means that center around. The.

17:36

Animals in it's present

17:38

to sans can foster

17:40

online absence lake. Donating

17:43

money just and then of that

17:45

data sang And that is exactly

17:48

what while Green means and others

17:50

are trying to do, How.

17:53

Will get to that in a meme. It.

18:07

your brain needs support and new

18:10

Ali brainy chews are a delightful

18:12

way to take care of your cognitive

18:14

health made with scientifically backed ingredients like

18:16

Thai ginger, L-theanine and caffeine. Brainy chews

18:18

support healthy brain function and help you

18:21

find your focus. Stay chill or get

18:23

energized. Be kind to your mind and

18:25

get these new tropa chews at ali.com.

18:29

These statements have not been evaluated by the

18:32

Food and Drug Administration. This product is not

18:34

intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any

18:36

disease. This episode

18:38

is brought to you by La Quinta by

18:40

Wyndham. Your work can take you all over

18:42

the place like Texas. You've never been, but

18:44

it's going to be great because you're staying

18:46

at La Quinta by Wyndham. Their free bright

18:49

side breakfast will give you energy for the

18:51

day ahead and after you can unwind using

18:53

their free high speed wifi. Tonight La Quinta,

18:55

tomorrow you shine. Book your stay today at

18:57

lq.com. Hey,

19:07

I'm Candice Lim and I'm Rachel

19:10

Hansen. We're the hosts of I

19:12

CYMI's Late Podcast about internet culture

19:15

and we want to help you

19:17

make sense of the need to

19:19

know internet stories of the week.

19:21

Consider us your internet historians of

19:23

past, present and future of

19:26

the good, the bad and the truly

19:28

unhinged. From nuanced takes on

19:30

stories we're all closely following to

19:32

the ones you wished you heard

19:35

about. In case you missed it,

19:37

that's I CYMI, the podcast that's extremely

19:39

online so you don't have to be.

19:41

Follow and listen now. It's

19:48

hard to be someone who does funny

19:50

animal drawings and not run into wild,

19:52

great memes. Rosemary Mosco

19:54

is a science cartoonist. Yes,

19:58

a science cartoonist. She

20:00

draws what she calls and

20:02

loved creatures. Anything that

20:04

slimy. I love salamanders

20:06

and frogs. Also

20:08

pigeons and pulsars. Which

20:11

are massively important to the environment

20:13

that also ran out on their

20:16

own, say, cool. That makes

20:18

proboscis monkeys problem seems. hims

20:20

rosemary his first reaction when

20:23

she saw Wilde Green means

20:25

ah, it's the use. The

20:29

use making their billion in honestly

20:31

that was my reaction to.omit as not

20:33

me I like I've just turn my

20:35

ball cap around backwards and I said

20:38

hello fellow said oh man doesn't surprise

20:40

me. Rosemary.

20:44

Is never considered herself a

20:46

professional meme maker and tell

20:49

I. Had friends who would send me

20:51

screenshots every time they were post to one

20:53

of my cartoons and say are you made

20:55

it your Ottawa Agreed means. She. Sees

20:57

herself as a kindred spirits in

20:59

the green meme world. Humor can

21:01

be a valuable tools He says

21:04

that something she learned first hand

21:06

when she was just starting. Out

21:08

I felt like if I wasn't serious,

21:10

people would not. You know, not pay

21:12

attention and not think that I had

21:14

credibility. And then I had this really

21:17

funny moment where I made a charts

21:19

sort of a cartoonish chart at that

21:21

aimed to help people figure out what

21:23

to do when they found a baby

21:26

bird outside of. The nest. Often people

21:28

have no idea what to do when

21:30

they see a baby bird that's dropped

21:32

out of the nest. Dude.

21:34

Cut it. Do. You call

21:36

someone. So. Rosemary made

21:39

two versions of the same cartoon

21:41

to help educate people. Kind of

21:43

like a choose your own flowchart.

21:45

starting with. Is a visibly

21:47

injured? If yes, contact a

21:50

license Wildlife Rehabilitator If know,

21:52

ask yourself what does it

21:54

look like The series version

21:57

presented three options. Option One:

21:59

I. Closed. Put it back

22:01

in the nest Option to eyes

22:03

open and only mostly naked. Same

22:06

deal. parents won't reject shirts just

22:08

because you touch them. Option Three:

22:10

Feathered but an awkward flapper era.

22:12

Leave it alone. It's fine. it's

22:14

just figuring it out. The funny

22:17

version added a fourth option. So

22:19

what does it look like was

22:21

like Jurassic Park joke? You know,

22:23

If you if your baby bird has a

22:25

sickle claude it's tell him who isn't like

22:27

attacks view them. steers are you. Sitting. Bursary

22:32

worried the joke with muddle the

22:34

overall message but she posted both

22:36

versions anyway. Kind of a be

22:38

serious money testing if you will.

22:40

mans. The funny version was the one

22:43

that everybody downloaded and people reach out to

22:45

me every spring and say I saved a

22:47

baby bird or you know I left a

22:49

baby bird alone the didn't need help and

22:51

in because of your chart with the dinosaur

22:53

on. It. Humor

22:56

can make sachs stickier. I experienced this

22:58

with the Priebus his monkey and I

23:01

will never forget some other specs. Rosemary

23:04

Says A Humours also more

23:06

likely to prompt conversation about

23:08

subjects often deemed too sad

23:10

or politicized for every day

23:12

to chat. It's a social

23:14

lubricant. We don't necessarily all

23:17

have the sense that were really concerned

23:19

because people aren't talking about it at,

23:21

which is why I think. It's important.

23:23

For us to make means and cartoons

23:25

and talk about it as me you

23:27

know many many climate scientists and communicators

23:29

to tell us to please start talking

23:31

about at bring it into the national

23:34

consciousness so that we can start pushing

23:36

harder. For talking

23:38

about something, learning about it sat

23:40

alone won't save the world.

23:42

So what about many? In

23:48

twenty eighteen, Aston Biological Preserve

23:51

fell on hard times. The

23:54

private nonprofit in North Florida is

23:56

home to endangered radiated tortoises and

23:58

vulnerable go for. Prague. It

24:00

operates on an annual budget

24:03

of thirty thousand dollars, all

24:05

donations. That. Year they were

24:07

barely getting by. When. While

24:09

Green Meme Scope and Er Ret Barker

24:11

heard it got me thinking. Well.

24:14

We have this group that's grown

24:16

to around ten thousand people. Most

24:18

of them are nature enthusiasts. Maybe

24:20

we could do a fundraiser and

24:22

help this nonprofit? This

24:26

is a group that excels and we're

24:28

They wanted to do something more creative

24:30

than a kickstarter. They. Settled

24:32

on a charity bow. I don't

24:34

want to say in fighting, but

24:36

there's like competition between like a

24:38

bird or as and. For

24:41

the and biologists are like

24:43

geologists and people who study

24:45

living things. this is Curtis

24:47

Certain, another wow green modern

24:49

meme maker who also teaches

24:51

science and summer kiss and

24:53

after school programs. Criticize:

24:55

The idea was to pit people against

24:57

each other based on their interests like

24:59

you can be in trash mobs because

25:02

you love goals and raccoons were lazy

25:04

boy because you like me, that be

25:06

me, I'd be I'd be and leafy

25:08

boys and pretty sure and that's how

25:10

that's how you joined the gang by

25:12

just saying is he saying I want

25:14

to be on wifi boys and now

25:16

you're Now You're at it. The idea

25:19

was that you would donate to be

25:21

biological preserve in the name of your

25:23

chosen group. The group that raise the.

25:25

Most got bragging rights. Rec

25:27

would do regular livestream updates.

25:29

The front runner is herpetologist.

25:31

game. Although if

25:33

anyone passes herpetologist gangs I will eat

25:35

one of these gross cookies that made

25:37

out of olive oil and salt instead

25:40

of sugar in butter. The

25:42

first time I visited Wilde Green

25:44

Means was in the middle of

25:46

a charity battle and I honestly

25:48

had no idea what was happening.

25:50

People were posting insults that made

25:52

no sense and also were about

25:55

frogs and cranberries or like the

25:57

to can war which honestly maybe

25:59

had nothing. The do with the

26:01

battles again. That's just kind of

26:03

the vibe of this facebook group

26:05

which Curtis describes his this sort

26:07

of like. Playful. Gate

26:09

keeping of like oh you are

26:11

here for the to ten war

26:14

have course you don't know what's

26:16

happening Anyway, the first charity battle

26:18

raised nearly two thousand dollars enough

26:20

to keep the lights on at

26:22

asked him biological preserve herpetologist gang

26:25

one We spoke with the manager

26:27

of the preserve. It's hard to

26:29

overstate his gratitude. This is a

26:31

place that takes care of animals

26:33

and has helped preserve some sixteen

26:36

hundred acres of land managers sign

26:38

there. Is no paid staff because

26:40

frankly they can't fourth in the

26:42

years since that hear any type

26:45

of it's become an annual event.

26:47

In total, while Green Names has

26:49

raised almost sixty thousand dollars for

26:52

asked him biological Preserve money that

26:54

was used to install solar panels

26:56

among other things. To

26:58

the preserve, Wilde Remains was

27:01

practically a godsend. The charity

27:03

battle has been extended. The

27:05

money goes to of writing

27:07

projects including Amazon Rain forest

27:09

restaurants, funding pollination gardens, seizing

27:12

else in butterflies, on and

27:14

on. This.

27:20

May Shockey. There. Is very

27:23

little scientific research looking into

27:25

the effectiveness of internet means

27:27

for conservation. By very little

27:29

we mean one paper. We

27:32

found one scientific study that

27:34

assessed the power of means.

27:37

Published. In Twenty twenty it was

27:39

led by Magdalena Linda a conservation

27:42

researcher would be Polish Academy of

27:44

Sciences. Linda. Got the idea

27:46

to study Means during a postdoc fellowship

27:48

in Australia. She was homesick scoring Facebook

27:51

and came across a funny animal meme.

27:53

Written. In Polish. Featuring. Say

27:56

one is quite sure why the males

27:58

knows grows so big and. Indeed, it

28:00

sometimes seems almost to get in the way.

28:03

The proboscis mcgill that baby.

28:05

Oh. One of the main

28:07

problems in attracting donations for animals is

28:09

that humans are pretty judges. Research.

28:12

Shows that we give more to

28:14

campaigns showcasing large animals with forward

28:16

facing big eyes. very nice helps

28:19

cute noses to that's why the

28:21

mascot for the World Wildlife Fund

28:23

one of the biggest nature and

28:25

she owes is a panda we

28:27

are so shower. A

28:31

separate study at the Paris

28:33

Zola Jekyll Park asked people

28:35

to donate to specific animals.

28:37

Aramis, the jaguar raked in

28:39

eighty nine thousand euros. Zeit.

28:42

Go the Amazonian card to fish.

28:45

Got. One. Thousand Nine

28:47

Hundred Years. Other studies

28:49

have shown that donations have little to

28:51

do with whether an animal is endangered.

28:54

In. The U S physical traits

28:56

are better predictors of government

28:58

conservation spending then extinction risk.

29:00

perfect, which is a bummer

29:02

for the buses monkey. For

29:06

Buses does not attract a lot

29:08

of money, especially in Poland where

29:10

most people haven't heard of the

29:13

big nosed small i'd monkey from

29:15

Borneo. So funny. Memes changed that.

29:17

The meme study found that before

29:19

twenty sixteen when proboscis beams took

29:21

off in Poland, there were five.

29:24

News articles about the monkeys. After

29:26

the means, media coverage jumped sixfold.

29:29

Google searches spite the beams, got

29:31

as many likes as Ngl posts

29:33

with cute polar bears or you

29:35

know, whatever. Six Polish fundraising campaigns

29:38

grew from the means. They raised

29:40

six hundred and ten bucks. Not

29:42

much, but six hundred and ten

29:44

U S dollars goes a long

29:47

way In Borneo. And. These

29:49

campaigns were loose, unprofessional efforts. The

29:51

researchers concluded that if someone were

29:53

to use means in a more

29:56

directed way, They. Could pull

29:58

in a significant amount of money. Case

30:00

in point: after six years of

30:02

Wild Green Means charity battles, Her.

30:05

How much money do you think you've raised

30:07

by now? In total. It's

30:10

a little over a half million dollars as

30:12

of this year. Yeah. Wow

30:14

offer means. Yeah. Pretty

30:16

much yeah, Five. Hundred and

30:18

Fifty four thousand to be exact.

30:20

read says he never imagined this

30:22

messy nook of the internet to

30:24

ragtag group of are mine a

30:27

college he seems he never imagined

30:29

bade raise that much money in

30:31

six years. He. Started nonprofit

30:33

called while Green Future to

30:35

keep it going. Here.

30:40

Is one thing we didn't learn from

30:42

Wilde Green means about the province's monkey.

30:45

It's. Endangered. People

30:47

have fragmented the forests with palm

30:49

oil and rubber plantations. Populations have

30:52

declined seventy percent in the last

30:54

three decades, and between seven thousand

30:56

and seventeen thousand monkeys are believed

30:58

to be left in a while.

31:01

I mean, are you shocked that

31:03

that's not our while green name's

31:05

a place that, as read has

31:07

said, is relentlessly optimistic, relentlessly papa

31:10

to? I guess that's the thing

31:12

that always stuck out to me.

31:14

Here's a bunch of nature nerds

31:16

on lines. In if you were

31:18

to scroll through their seed, you might

31:21

miss that. We are living through one

31:23

of the sixth largest extinction events since

31:25

the Earth came into being four point

31:27

six billion years ago. You may overlook

31:30

litter. Climate is falling apart in to

31:32

me feels a little strange. I

31:36

don't think there's a way to be

31:38

sunny and positives that's not perpetuating denial.

31:41

Not all. Been. Found a friend.

31:43

he has his. Yeah,

31:45

Margaret Klein, Solomon feals similar

31:48

to me, sees a clinical

31:50

psychologist turned climate activist and

31:52

see heads up the Climate

31:54

or Emergency Fund which raises

31:56

money for non protest things

31:58

like that. She's not

32:01

as anti meme as she sounds.

32:03

Fair. Is room for

32:06

positive emotions and

32:08

meme. success on

32:10

but. Telling the truth

32:12

is. Just. Critically important

32:14

knowledge and donations from non

32:16

billionaires can only go so

32:18

far. Margaret. Says it is

32:21

actions that matter. And.

32:23

The poor blockers to

32:25

action are psychological and

32:28

cultural. Reboot: The

32:30

are other psychologist told

32:32

us seer prevents accent.

32:34

Margaret says that's totally.

32:36

Wrong figure is probably

32:38

the most reliable motivator.

32:40

It's the evolved mechanism

32:42

through which. We. Respond

32:44

to threats, Fear that you'll be

32:47

know that your house is burning.

32:49

That typically triggers a fight or

32:51

flight. Response to Margaret: we are

32:53

in burning house but don't smell

32:56

the smoke or drink and our

32:58

coffee saying this is fine if

33:00

this phenomenon called pluralistic ignorance. Which

33:03

means states humans evaluate

33:05

risk socially, not rationally.

33:08

If. The blame starts to shake, but the

33:10

captain sounds chipper. That usually means you're

33:13

going to be fun. But Ben, what

33:15

if the captain is just trying to

33:17

manage your emotions? Why? you gotta be

33:19

that way? The. Smarter.

33:22

Told us we can't say that

33:24

being blunt about our environmental crises

33:26

doesn't work. Because. We

33:28

have never been blunts. For. Years,

33:30

the reality of climate change

33:33

and biodiversity loss has been

33:35

shrouded in false debate. Until

33:37

we enter emergency mode is.

33:40

Fundamentally different from what we're in now

33:42

normal mode. Until we make that switch,

33:44

I really don't have any hope. When

33:46

Gratitude By was sixteen years old,

33:49

she gave a speech to world

33:51

leaders. She said it's adults, we're

33:53

always trying to give young people

33:55

hope. But. I don't want your health.

33:57

I don't want it to the helpful

33:59

I wanted. Panic I wanted to

34:01

seal the say or I feel

34:03

everyday. And then I wanted to

34:05

act. What? Does it

34:07

mean to act? Murdered. Told

34:09

us that Well, she supported the philanthropic

34:12

work of While Green Means. Yeah.

34:14

I guess I would say I.

34:17

Wish. I would love to see

34:19

this group supporting his The Time

34:21

it Loses. Like. Posting about.

34:24

Places. That people can join

34:26

or get trained or support. In

34:29

addition, To their light

34:31

hearted vibes. She. Also

34:33

felt silly for using the word

34:35

vibes which c'mon use that overtime

34:37

Seriously all the time. The.

34:40

Research about messaging is mixed.

34:42

Some study save her fear,

34:44

some hope. Both. Camps

34:46

tend to agree that whatever the

34:48

message it needs to give people

34:50

a specific way to get involved

34:53

misses a problem that individuals cannot

34:55

solve. On. Their own. But

34:57

the good news is. There's.

34:59

A rise, a nice. Grassroots.

35:02

Movement and they you have a critical

35:04

role to play in that movement. One

35:07

reason Margaret might value joining a

35:10

movement over donations to pollinate or

35:12

projects and saving the elf and

35:14

butterflies. Both things that she thinks

35:16

are great is the three point

35:18

five percent rule. Historically.

35:21

Is three point five percent

35:23

of a countries population participate

35:25

in mass protests. Those protests

35:27

have led to major change

35:30

when it comes to saving

35:32

nature. Individual donations are great

35:34

but small. Lasting change comes

35:37

from doing something together. I'm

35:42

not sure. I totally agree

35:44

with Margaret's gentle critique of

35:46

Wild Green means: maybe I'm

35:48

not thinking strategically. Maybe small

35:51

preserves and pollinate projects are

35:53

just been days compared to

35:55

hardcore in the street protests

35:57

Vm deluding myself, still thinking

35:59

that we can do both.

36:01

Can we do the to

36:03

do both? It's worth restating

36:05

to that. Many of the

36:07

members of While Bring means

36:09

our scientists who work on

36:11

conservation every death. And after

36:13

talking with Red we heard

36:15

through an acquaintance Six used

36:17

to hold political bonfires where

36:19

attendees would talk about animal

36:21

rights. He and other While

36:24

Green members are not ignoring

36:26

reality far from it. In

36:28

context of the Six Six.

36:30

Six him and climate change

36:32

something for not be happening

36:34

without human society has obviously

36:36

but at the same time

36:38

the truest and most natural

36:40

stewards of any landscape at

36:42

and the people that are

36:44

gonna fix this problem are

36:46

the people who live there.

36:48

To me while dream means seems

36:51

more like a safe place to

36:53

celebrate the good without the that

36:55

it's way of coming together with

36:58

other people to for some reason

37:00

get really excited about the fact

37:02

that scallops have two hundred eyes

37:05

and is exciting and that is

37:07

a beautiful thing or as co

37:09

mud curtis circumstances honestly just being

37:11

in this group as and free

37:14

so. There.

37:19

Is still something? That doesn't

37:21

sit right with me. And it's

37:24

more to do with me. I

37:26

think that means this relentlessly optimistic

37:28

outlook in a safe space. I

37:30

think that is wonderful. Necessary even.

37:32

But at some point in the

37:34

day all of us have to

37:36

step back outside into the unsafe

37:38

world. And on the outside, I

37:40

don't think we as a species

37:43

worrying. Conservation.

37:45

Is fundamentally an act of saving

37:47

nature from ourselves. It is not

37:49

something given so much is owed

37:51

and yet the work is fragmented,

37:53

under funded, and left up to

37:56

a few dedicated souls such as

37:58

Ret. It's. Not a know. Species.

38:01

Are going extinct. Ecosystems are

38:03

going extinct. Our. Planet is

38:06

changing for the worse. Know.

38:08

Meme can fix that. But.

38:11

People can. And. I think

38:13

they just like any great meme.

38:15

There are some key ingredients for

38:17

people to actually do something. A

38:20

meme starts with an image right and

38:22

in often add some humor and context

38:25

is a piece of a to. And

38:27

for us all the survive

38:30

and thrive with are changing

38:32

planet. we need some key

38:34

ingredients to. We. Need the

38:36

context the larger context. and

38:38

then we need to take

38:40

a specific image from that

38:42

context. And we need to

38:44

take action. And

38:46

if we're inclined to be too

38:48

overwhelmed by the bad news and

38:50

just give up, we won't take

38:52

action. So. I think we

38:54

need the humor. We need the

38:57

means. We need anything and everything

38:59

that is going to allow us

39:01

to not give up to do

39:03

something and inspire our fellow humans

39:05

to do something. And if that

39:07

starts with means. Call

39:10

me a green me, more it and

39:12

training and I'll be an ecological fiend

39:14

and guess and also you know full

39:17

to the other stuff to save the

39:19

planet. Angeles

39:25

thread is the production of Wd

39:27

You Are in Boston. This episode

39:29

was written and co hosted by

39:32

Me the Russell also me them

39:34

Brock Samson mix and sound design

39:36

by Matt Read. The rest of

39:38

our team is Emily Didn't tell

39:40

Ski Summer to Joseph Grace Tattered

39:42

Have like is and Emery sees

39:44

itself and The Threat is a

39:46

show about the blurred lines between

39:48

online communities and the next big

39:50

wellness trend Brazilian Wandering Spiders. If

39:52

you have an unsolved mystery were

39:54

untold history that. She wants to

39:56

tell set Us Up Endless thread

39:58

it wb you are. The word

40:00

and have year They everyone. And by

40:02

that I mean have day.