The Amazon Rainforest Fires

But I also know that you guys are some amazingly empathetic people, and I know you might be heartbroken over the recent developments in the Amazon as am I. And if you haven't heard about this issue yet, that's okay, since we'll explain what's going on, So please enjoy the show. Hey, everybody, welcome to Creature Feature, the show where we dive into the world of animals the world of people and realize, hey,

wait a minute, it's the same world. Wow. Deep. Today we're talking about the Amazon Rainforest, which, well, it's on fire. Is it time to panic? Yes? That really now is the time. But let's engage in some constructive panic. Today. We're going to get educated and motivated and inspiraated, inspiated. Yeah, sure, inspiraated. So the Amazon rainforest, why should we care? I know that's a dumb sounding question, but I think it's always

important to not take our world for granted. What is it about the Amazon that's so special, both in terms of its importance to animals and its importance to humans. So South America's Amazon rainforest is over two million square miles of rainforest. It's the largest rainforest on Earth. And that sounds like a hell of a lot of trees, but it's not really that much when you consider its function.

The Amazon rainforest is called the lungs of the Earth, as it provides over twenty of the entire oxygen supply on the planet. This is not only important for breathing, obviously, but it's also an important part of the carbon cycle and absorbing dangerous greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Right now, living Amazonian trees absorb hundreds of millions more CEO two than their dead trees release, but that could change at the burning and destruction of the trees continues. Alive, the

Amazon is our lungs, keeping the world healthy. Dead, it would become a decaying math that would accelerate global warming, possibly beyond repair. Between the nineteen sixties and seventeen percent of the Amazon has been destroyed, and right now the

fires and destruction is occurring at unparalleled rates. And that's frightening because if the rainforest reaches about deforestation, it could reach the point of no return where the hydrological that is, water cycle system would no longer be able to support the rainforest ecosystem. It's kind of like if someone cut off of your body, in most cases, you wouldn't really survive that. Aside from the global impact, the Amazon is

home to millions of people and animal residents. The rainforest is the ancestral home of over one million indigenous peoples of various tribes, and they are trying to fight the destruction of the rainforest and their home, which we'll discuss in more detail later in the show. It's also very literally the home to the most bio diversity on the planet. Ten percent of the planet's total species live in the rainforest.

There are sixteen thousand species of trees, two and a half million species of insects, two thousand species of birds and mammals, and thousands of species of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Well, we've got about an hour and a half. As long as we talk fast, we can probably get to all of them. Joining me today is Miles Great, co host of The Daily Zeitgeist. I'm sorry, I was drinking cold brew. I just come in very late. That's fine. It's a

it's a lot to take in. There's a lot going on. Yeah, then this is uh, this is the intersection of so many different things, this fire and the situation in the Amazon. So, you know, but I'm I'm I'm actually wanting to know more about the rainforest because all I know is, you know, in the eighties when people rainforest, man, I think that's when I can save on, say the rainforest. But why why say, Well, I mean it's pretty obvious. Uh, in

some ways, it's like we need them to live. Yeah, so the planet won't turn into a charred husk of inhospitable land mask. But there are parts of the Amazon that're becoming a charred husk of And like I said earlier, it's I think people when they think about like how big the Amazon rainforest is, it's like, oh, well, like even if there's like seven right now, we're at about seventeen deforestations like, well, that doesn't seem like that much.

But it's a living organism like an ecosystem is. You can think of it like a living creature because it it all interacts. Like I talked about, the water cycle is important to keep it functioning, and if you kill off a bunch of the forests that that evaporation water cycle breaks down. Um. So it is like taking a human being, like, well, if I just take away seventeen

of the human that's shouldn't make much of a difference. Yeah, I try doing that with you know, like, okay, then fine, let's take from your forearm down and one of your kidneys, right yeah, or like seventeen percent of your blood. You know it's fine, probably right, Well, let's see your blood. If your blood alcohol was pointing on seven, yeah, you'd be pretty fucked up. Actually if you let's replace some of your blood with alcohol and then see how you want.

Let's get the rainforest drunk or just wet the fire start. And I didn't know how to say that. I do that thing where I think people hate hearing the word moist, and I don't. It's weird. I almost ford tell people being like, oh god, I don't. I'm not sure what is wrong with thing. Get the rainforest moist, ye, get it wete wet moist. And if look, if the word itself is un it's a word. Look if you can't handle, if you're not mature enough to handle, that's talking about

getting the rainforest wet again. I mean, but maybe that's like my privilege of not having that thing where like a word like actually gives you some kind of thing that's true, like like the synesthesia of moist, causing some people to just cringe. Um. Well, so I want to talk about some of the incredible animals as promised, and

these are these are amazing. Some of them are only found in the Amazon rainforest and there some of the most I think because rainforests are there, that that ecological niche is home to so many different animals, birds of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, insects, plants, trees, You get huge amounts of diversity. And like I said before, the Amazon is the most bio diverse ecosystem on the planet.

So imagine, if you will, if you had superpowers and you're the invisible man, but you could just turn your skin invisible. Love it. I think there was actually did you ever watch the clothes become invisible to or just my sister skin? So I would have to be nude and your skin well right, but you just your skin, so all your organs and your bones and your various uh those would be visible. Yea yeah, Oh so you're okay. You're asking if I would become a c through human, right,

would you? Would you take on that superpower? Would you? Or just have no superpowers to just look like literally just straight through my skin and into the body. No, because I already go on web m D and invince myself I have some kind of cancer. But think of how like it would be so much easier for doctors to diagnose you with stuff like if your skin with c through, they could just see right into your organs and like like shift aside some muscles. Okay, then I

guess maybe for the savings on like specialist doctors visits. Yeah, let's go for it. I think did you ever see Venture Brothers that that TV show, like sporadic episode. It was like an adults from cartoon and they did it was like a parody of the superhero genre and they had the Fantastic Four, but the invisible woman could only turn her skin invisible, just like plasticized body. Yeah, she looked like she was like all her muscle tissue and

organs and stuff. I remember on Nickelodeon there was inside Out Boy, and that was a boy who literally just turned That was creepy, That was freaky and it was like it was claymation too right or yeah, or maybe that was no no yet Nickelodeon. Yeah, and he just looked odd. It didn't make sense because his bones were on top. Like it was claimation. You couldn't to you know, accurate. Also, imagine how weird pregnancies would be. Just like I feel

like a baby slashing around in there. Yeah, I mean I guess that would be fun for some people for a split second, but I think I would be very you know what. Also be if if my partner had sea through skin, I feel like touching them, I would be like, oh is that going to sting? Looks like I'm just touching directly onto their bare muscles. Excuse me?

Had my stomach charmed as I said that. I wonder if like we'd be more empathetic as a species of you could see through because it's like, man, you can just see how fragile the internal organs are and like punching someone. You could see that and you would truly see no race. That good point. Good point, you would. But people get racist and be like, I know your spleen of bluish purple Japanese. By the way, your quad looked? What boy? That? Yeah, well, we always find a way

to suck. We will find aginately, though, frogs don't suck. This is a segway. So I want to talk about glass frogs because they are actually see through and they they're expensive to the glass frog. Theyre's called glass frog. That's a real thing. Yes, it's a real thing. Oh I thought suddenly this was turning into like a crafts show. I feel like antique glass from like a balling that's like frog shaped. Thank you prefer speaking of my language

translating it to oh you mean a frog? Okay. So their family of amphibians, as you may know, who live in the Amazon. Uh, they're light green on the surface, but their bellies are transparent, and there a lot of their skin is actually transparent, um like on their toes in certain areas. I'm just gonna just gonna show you this picture. Oh no, see and again I would look at that and this is what you're saying. I would be like, I'll break this because everything is what is

transparent skin exactly. There's just no pigment. It's thin and there's no pigment exactly. Okay, I'm a scientists. You are there, you go your and like, see that's a pregnant one with all and you can see it's organs just all smashed in. There's that big red vein probably an artery. Okay, I'm not a doctrine. Probably yeah, what that uh, these are probably bones and then that's probably a big to

read that's going up from the groin um. And then that's that looks this looks like it's is that like an evolutionary like did that evolve to survive or that's just one of those things. It actually does have an

evolutionary purpose. So it's thought that the transparency, so when potential predators are looking like through a leaf, the light will actually pass through the leaf and their skin in such a way that they can't see their outline as clearly, so that they through the leaf, they just kind of look like a weird cluster of lumpy organs. Right, So so predators who are keyed into frog shape will look and it's like it just looks like a bunch of goo and then they don't see the actual frog evolutionists.

I feel like we talked about this every time I'm on here for the last time I was on here, where I'm just being like, okay, cool, I like how there was that one that had to see through skin and then like you know what, that's that's the one we're gonna go with. Yeah, let's just let's bread this into Yeah. I mean it's pretty incredible because has something

like just the simple function of do you stay alive? Okay, just create such insanity, like like you stayed alive and your skin is see through and we can see like your veins. You you win though, because you live? Like why does get all the sorry man? Because these passing is genetic material they're all their genetic materials to the next generation. These are also called the kermit frogs because their eyes are forward facing and so what do you mean, yeah,

tree frogs, their eyes are on the side to side. Um, So is that a trait because you need to have your wits about you. Yeah, so it helps them keep a eye out for um, predators. Here's an image of one of the ones that it really does look yeah, because it's got these it's got these bright white eyes and then the black pupils, which and then with the green skin it looks like Kermit because frogs their eyes aren't normally front facing like them, and immediately it warmed

my heart. They are adorable. From underneath, they look like some kind of lynch in special effects or like Cronenberg thing from a movie. But then from the front they are so cute. They are adorable. Um. And so the reason, i mean one of the reasons that this could be so like with tree frogs, that those side to side eyes give them a panoramic view of potential predators. These front facing eyes helped the glass frogs zero in on

prey right in front of them. They open their mouth, I mean, like the Kurmit frog puppet, just like keep it open and then just like go forward like a pac man. Yeah, exactly. The something No, No, they just they're just they're just eating with their mouths. I mean, they have a tongue, um, but not like you know, get ghost or whatever, right, I mean, most frog tongues aren't actually that long. They don't like those fucking adwis.

I know, I know it's but I mean, like chameleon tongues, they've got some length, they've got a yawn those times. I like those videos where like like reptile ologists what are they called herpetologists? Great, yep, like use them as just like fly traps, because I've I've seen just all kinds of videos where they're just holding it up, like where there's a flannel window and just the precision. It's

that's when I know, that's when I almost believe in God. Yeah, I mean I think that if God is a chameleon, though, that would be the speaking of cool eyes that like their their eyes like go off in different directions and they have an incredible yeah, an incredible visual processing center in their brains. Um. And then with frog guys, when frogs swallow, their eyes actually um kind of dipped down into their heads and help push the food down their throats. Okay, um,

so that's a cool party trick for the frogs. Yeah, I wish. I I don't know, maybe maybe that would be a good good skill to have. Yeah, I do not chew my food well, so that would probably help. You could like take a frog and just like shove the frog down your throat and maybe and just pray that it becomes part of me. Right, Like a little lady who swallowed the frog to push the food down with the eyeballs. That's how that song goes, like swallowed the frog to eat the dog and she died and

then she died. So from a different from unrelated. Yeah, Actually the foods you ate there, they are food born illnesses, very unrelated, not because of shoving up the entire frog. Yeah. So so glass frogs and the amazon. Also another reason to love them is they lay their eggs on the underside of leaves above water, so that when their tadpoles hatched, they just paratrooped down into the water because they're they're amphibious, so that means they partially live in the water. And

then they have that terrestrial form so um. And then males from the fleishman glass frogs species. Uh, they actually babysit their eggs until they hatch. So they'll chill out with the little babies on a leaf until they hatch and drop down into the water. And they started popping in there like all right, good out when you have legs and feet, it's like it's like, like, where where's our dad? Like it's like I'm right here, I'm just invisible. Yeah. Just just do you look at you? You're you don't

even we don't even look alike. We don't look like anything. We just look like organs exactly. Uh So I want you to look at an image and tell me what you think this animal is. That's an animal? Is a spider? I love spiders. Yeah, but to me it looked like like a satellite image of maybe a mountain town at night. But it looks but it looks like like the spiders. Is that that's the thing, right, Yeah, there's something. Yeah. I think it was just all this the streaks coming

off of it that I thought were roads. It does look like one of those maps where like you light up a city at night. Yeah, but a very poorly planned city like eight streets that just kind of converging on spider Lake streets. Well what if I told you this isn't a spider and it's not a city. It is actually a sculpture made by a spider. Um, fuck you what, It's a skull. It's just like a decoy spider they built. It's actually from a decoy building spider, which is a spider of the Amazon that builds a

decoy of a larger spider. Oh so that's even the artist behind that work as much as much smallers. So this is about Um, I'm gonna zoom in on this so you can see it more clearly. This is really about authorship. And yeah, so you can see uh uh it's so you can see like it has eight legs, it has what looks like an abdomen, and you can

even see like what looks like mandibles. Um. And the this is about an inch big, and then the spider who built it is about a quarter of an inch, so it's like four times as big a tour the artiste of the big spider Um a metaphor though too, like your ego and like how we use that to protect ourselves? I mean really there's this spider contaste. I mean the the exactly the metaphor gets deeper too, because the like you suggested, the decoy is to protect it

from predators. Um. And they h they also they not only make this thing that looks like a spider, they shake the web to puppet it so it looks like it's moving. Uh. You look devastating while I was like it sounded like a busting act or something where it's like and then it does it to like vanilla ice, just like yeah, do dude, do do do do And then it builds a small hat for you to put money in so it can Oh, it's not that as if it's full on doing puppeteering, because he in my mind,

I like to go fully fantistic. Each a spider thread is like attached to one letter pretty close, pretty close, or there's like a crew of seven other spiders, like which leg are you onto? We call ourselves imagineers understudy. For the abdomen, you have to be the until you get to the legs. Really, so this is part of the genus genus of spiders known as Cyclosa which um. A lot of these members of the species are capable of doing uh what's called as a web sculptures um

and or web decorations. But the decoy building spiders the only known species to build a replica of itself but bigger, basically like the Wizard of Oz guy where it's like he's this tiny little guy and then like the Wizard of I was like paring no attention to the tiny spider. The tiny, delicious spider behind the web curtain. How often does that the decoy spider get attacked? It effective, Well, this was just discovered in so there's not a huge

body of research about it. Um. They see and again this speaks to the density of diversity and the Amazon where it's like, yeah, we figured this out seven years ago. It's there's so many species will probably never even know existed because they'll probably go extinct before we ever. Um, which is sad. But back to this crazy, crazy spider who builds a bigger spider. So this decoy but you're wondering what it's made out of, right, it's not web nope.

Uh so it's made out of debris like dead plant matter, egg shells or egg casings or even dead prey items, so a lot of dead insects. Trash spider. It's a trash spider, but it's a giant like four times the size of the spider. Trash spider. Like imagine seeing a giant human, like four times the size of a regular human.

And then you get and it's like kind of looks a little weird from a distance, and you get closer, you realize it's like made out of garbage bull like ratchets, like road kill, and like human corpses, and also reminds me of like the kind of Halloween costume my mom would make me where it's like she didn't I never bought a store bought costume. She's like, I'll make it. Figure something out. And from afar right, it looked like you know whatever, Keanu reeves and speed or something like that.

And then we got close. I'm like, na thrown together bunch a cigarette butts, cigarette butts, uh, and empty wine bottles right right right, like a boxed wine on your head. Yeah, that was actually my boot Okay, sorry, And then the internal bladder we used as a backpack. Oh fun, that's creative up cycle. Yeah. And then child protected services when

I trick or treated in the wrong house. So this up cycled giant spider, it's something that is sort of an advancement that other species of Cyclosa do because they also build web decorations which are meant to distract or confuse predators or even to just keep birds from running into their webs, because that's a huge problem just birds haplessly flying into their webs and the bird is too big to be well, there are bird eating spiders. But

that's not what this shout out to those spiders. Um, don't don't jump in my d ms bird eating spiders and go like, well, actually I bords. Yeah, I wonder what I mean. I think that is a threat to the rights and you know of of a all birds right exactly the rights of birds? Interesting someone is you

know that? Yeahs out there? So um. Some orb weavers spiders, which is another group of spiders, will build X shaped designs um also made out of debris that they line their legs up with, so that one of the theories is that it's to make themselves look bigger, like here's how long my legs are? Um, that is that made with debris too? Or that's yeah, it's it's debris and

extra webbing is what those like little zigzags are? Yeah, exactly. Um. And it's it's really funny because it's just like if you if you were a smaller person, you're like, I'm feeling secure about being small, so you just like attached a bunch of tin cans to your feet and you start stomping around like look at how big my limbs are? No, you look goofy. It's like you can't look good on stilts, Like, I haven't seen many people who can actually work a

pair of stilts. We'll actually know what at a couple of raves? What about that like like times square guy who's like dressed as Uncle Sam. Yeah, I guess those like those ones those legs go all the way out. Yeah, those legs go all the way up? Or are they partially made out of wood and other components? Rainforests aren't just important because of how they keep the entire planet alive and that they're the home to some of the coolest animals on the world, and that they're the home

to millions of people. Okay, I mean each of those are reason enough to care. But did you know that they are also home to plants and natural resources that can cure diseases. Many of these compounds have been used for generations by the indigenous peoples of Latin America, such as the alkaloidd turbo curan derived from poisonous bark of cure are lenaias, which can be used as an anesthetic insurgeries and to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and

other diseases that require muscle relaxants. There's all sorts of medicines derived from plants all over the world, like madagascars rosy a wrinkle found in Africa with tumor fighting agents. Wild nams in Mexico and Guatemala provide the active ingredients found in birth control, and quinine, a treatment for malaria, which is derived from an extract of the bark of the sein Chona tree found in Latin America and Africa.

When you consider the amazing properties of rainforest plants and consider the fact that the Amazon is home to over forty thousand species of plants, there are very likely many extracts from these plants that have yet to be discovered that could help cure diseases. But if they go extinct before we discover them, we'll never know what advancements in medicine we could have made. I didn't mean to end own such a bummer note. But when we'll return, we'll

talk about pink dolphins. Right now, animals are going extinct in the Amazon, and if us humans don't get it together, the situation is dire. A recent study by the Imperial College in London projected that as deforestation continues as it had between the nineteen seventies and two thousand and eight, over fifty five Amazonian species will die out by In fact, there's so much biodiversity there may be animals who go extinct before we even get a chance to discover them.

Even under the most optimistic scenario where ranchers reduce deforestation by up to thirty eight, species are projected to still go extinct. But unfortunately, the current situation is not the most optimistic, nor is it business as usual. In fact, scientists are warning that the current rate of deforestation and burning could trigger a feedback loop called die back, where the forest dries out too quickly, which makes it even more vulnerable to fires, creating a vicious cycle of burning.

And these fires are not natural or inevitable. Environmentalist groups and indigenous groups have reported that cattle ranchers intentionally set fires to clearland to set up cattle farms, and have been given carte blanche to do so by Bulsonaro's government. When combined with the dry season and deforestation that is already drawing out the Amazon, these man made fires can spiral out of control. What's so frustrating is this is something that can be stopped if measures are taken now.

To stop deforestation, to force deforesters to comply with laws forbidding them from grabbing more land. Doom isn't inevitable for the wonderful animals who are endemic to the Amazon and who are facing extinction. So let's talk a bit about some of these wonderful animals who are being threatened. And to cheer you up, pink dolphins not the ecstasy, sorry, but maybe better. That's a thing. Pink dolphins. Pink dolphins. I mean, I don't know about the kind of dolphins. Yes, yes,

I think it's also a clothing brand too, is it. Yeah? And I always say that's a weird I hope it's not made out of dolphins. So the closed stink, Yeah, that's stinky dolphin. Jerkey. Don't don't wear dolphin clothing people, Yeah, it's not. It's not a good look. So this is the Boto River dolphin or Amazon River dolphin, which is a pink, magical dolphin who is endangered. They are pretty amazing. Let me get you a picture of that. WHOA, that's a that's a beautiful shade of pink. I know, right,

it's this sort of like light. I don't know, rosy pink. Yeah, I mean it's what you would imagine a sun faded pink flamingo figure on a lawn. That's beautiful. But as a dolphin. H well, you know you have if you have an active imagine used in a podcast, you can envision that's beautiful. I want that's like, that's like a tattoo, like a sun faded pink flamingo, but as a dolph, but as a dolphin. But the text is a tattoo,

right exactly. Yeah, but like you have it in a like in French or in uh in some other languages, people don't know what. Yeah, I mean yeah, if that sounds great, Yeah, I wonder what that That probably would sound pretty good in French there like oh my god, is that sort? Or So these pink river dolphins, as I've said, the males are actually pink. So they have fat foreheads and long snouts, and they're one of the largest dolphins because they can reach up to eight ft

and four fifty pounds UM. So the reason males are pink, it's actually pretty metal backstory. So it's thought to be scar tissue all over their bodies. Um, not necessarily from any actual like bad injury, but from just rough manly dolphin games and fighting like play fighting, fighting games, rough housing. Uh, and that like kind of rubs at their skin and makes them pinker. So are the females less pink or not at all? They're they're more of a they're more

of a grayish color. Yeah. Wait and so so then by that logic, could a female look pink if it were engaging in the same activities as a male, But Julie, Yeah, that's an interesting point. I feel like it could. But there it could also be the case that they're less their skin is less pigmented. That right, um wow. But the brighter the pink, the more attractive they are to females, the more like scar tissue. It's like it's like an all over body tattoo or like scarification thing, and the

ladies love it. I like to think though, that they're just engaged in this like this this dolphiny rough housing where it's like they're giving each other noggies, and like, I see, it's weird. I see. It's just such a dark, dark world and it's mostly like most max. Yeah, it's not even physical stuff. It's like you you can tell just how like haunted a guy is by how pink they are. The brighter the pink, the more the stink. Yeah, there we go, there's a shirt. So these dolphins are

also very nimble. Their neck vertebrae are unfused, so they can bend their next at a ninety degree angle, which makes is very good for them because they have to navigate a round a lot of tree roots and obstacles, so they can just kind of slide right in. In my mind, I guess I'm typically when I think of a dolphin neck, I can't picture because to me, they're just a big tube. But in a way. But I guess as they swim you sort of see that motion, but they can straight up just like well this one

they can't. Yeah, I mean for this kind of Yeah, the Voter River dolphin can bend its neck at a like basically like a human can, if not more nimbly. Well you know what, let's I like this dark backstory. Flexible neck. Yeah, I mean most dolphins have some flexibility in their neck, you know, like I see the enslaved dolphins like nodding their neck. Yeah. So they're also drummers, am, Yeah, what can't these dolphins do? Their head banging headbanging there.

They're so metal and they're pink. They're pink metal. They wait, they really drum Yeah. So they old branches, no, no, the whole branches and grass in their mouth, and they'll beat the water with it to impress the ladies. Sometimes they even hold up sometimes even like hold up live turtles in their corners. Yes, they do. They'll be like, y'all check this out, turtle turtle headband. Wow. And like in l A. It's such a cliche to like, like a drummer with a haunted past. Yeah yeah, I mean,

I'm surprised these are on l A River dolphins. I kind of want to date this dollar. Yeah me too. I'm like, what's your story, Like I need to know a little bit about you. Well, speaking of dating the dolphin, uh. Native Amazonian folklore believes that boto dolphins can transform into a human and come out of the water with a hat or a wig to disguise the blowhole. And these are called incantatas um. So it's either a beautiful man comes ashore and impregnates maidens or a beautiful woman who um.

One of the legends is that it'll come to shore seduce a married man, then after a week of the affair, transforms him into a baby and transfers him into his own wife's womb. Wow, it's At first I was like, this sounds like an excuse of philandering husband makes when it's like, I don't know, man, maybe it was this dolphin. I don't know what happened. I don't know who. Yeah, that's one of the theories that it is a way

to explain like certain like family drama and stuff. But but I feel like it's like a dolphin version of being John malcolvit right, Yes, that is um also. But I do like the idea though too, that like back then they would treat a dolphin like a normal human just because they didn't see a blowhole. We're like, oh yeah, cool, where are you from? Oh great, cool. I've not been there, but I've I hear great things. I don't know what that was. That was definitely dolphins sound they do. That's great,

that's a that's a good dolphin call. You know. It's the dolphin burst through the door, horny dolphins and like I show you. I'm like, I have a secret, where's the check? Oh? Man? So the only threat to these glorious pink dolphins is humans and their habitat being destroyed. So uh, and they don't do well in captivity and they can't be quote unquote trained, which also very metal of them, Like, we don't live by your rules. We are pink because of all the rough housing we do.

We drum the water, we seduce your ladies, and we turn you into a baby and impregnant your wife with your own baby self. This is you know what, And just for that reason we should respect them and all of their and all of their I want to say people, but they're not people, all of their species. Uh. Yeah.

The idea though, that they're untrainable is so amazing to me, because dolphins are so intelligent that to them it almost feels like, No, I don't even like this concept that you're even proposing, in which I will perform for you. I drum for myself, and I drum for the ladies, but not for you. Drum to mate exactly, and if and I don't see any I don't see any viable mates around here, so I'm drumming. I am not having sex with a scientist, so I am not going to

drum with for you. And also before I get ahead, of myself. Are there any turtles here? So moving on to another aquatic animal, the giant otter uh is, which is known in Brazil as the ariana or water jaguar because they grow up to six ft six ft. Yes, it's the longest member of the otter family and the entire weasel family, which otters are actually a member of. Really, yeah, the m used to live family probably screwed up that pronunciation,

but you know the weasel family. Yeah, I wasn't going to correct you, but this is your noodle boys, like the noodle boys, the noodle boys weasels you call noodle boys little boys are girls? Is that like a thing in the weasel community we're not knowing about now. To you, they're like noodly, Yeah, they look like noodles. Yeah, they're very d Do you have a photo of a six foot arter next to a basketball player? For scale, Let's see giant otter next to NBA point guard basketball player.

And here's one of them, resplendent on along. He's so pretty, is like a beard. Well know, so that's a white patch. And what's really interesting about that is it's like a giant otter's fingerprints. So each of the waters will have. Um these are white patches of fur and it's unique to each otter and that's how they identify each other.

And they actually they'll engage in this behavior known as periscoping, where they'll come above the water and kind of like turn around and like show off their neck and under their chin, and then other otters are it's like giving their business cards other utters like Hey, I'm this order rightly exactly. Yeah, squares up here, you may you may have to turn turn a little bit. Yeah there. For me, from seeing it from afar, I thought it grew like a really dope whispy. It does look like a beard. Yeah,

it's actually, but it's flat. It's it's just yeah. Um. So a few more reasons to love these these guys. First of all, they are one of the most endangered mammals in the Amazon. There's only about five thousand living individuals um and there endemic to the area, so they're not found any where else in the world. UM. And they form monogamous pears and uh, they will have like

a big old family that sticks together. So uh, the parents and a bunch of kids that all hunt together up until the kids are sexually mature, which can be a couple of years. So these big families of all, it won't be like you'll never see grandparents with the grandkids. Um, I mean you could, but the I think they do disperse at that point out there, Like I wish you met your grandpa. I mean he's probably still around. We just he had a great cure coat on his neck,

you know. Um. They love to eat fish and snakes. Just noodles eating noodles, big noodles eating small noodles. That's all nature is big noodles eating small noodles. And yeah, well I mean a noodle eating a noodle is a circle. Yeah, it's like in a way, or just a really long line. I guess it's the sphere of life. Noodles, the noodles, the noodles, noodle of life. There you go. Uh. They like to find a peaceful place to eat their food or a little picnic spot it's called. They're so just wholesome.

They're they're monogamous. Family some noodles. Yeah, these are. Yeah, they're family oriented. They like they go. I have to I have to be honest with you. I haven't fully bought it on this noodle thing, right, you know, and I don't want to seem like I'm a band contrarian, but um, I just after knowing how they feel, I just feel like they need something a little more elevated than the noodle. What would like just long long tallboys.

I mean, we'll have to have to put a pin in this flippery dudes, slipper, something a little more genderless. Tubular tubular tubular buddies to buddies, Buddy two buddies. There we go. Yeah, buddies, and they're they're sick. They're sick. They have a bunch of different growls and barks to communicate alarms. They'll warn other otters of like oh hey

you're in my territory, or they'll warn them of predators. Uh. They'll also like do like barks and stuff that secret reassurance from each other's and they're little their little tube families. Um uh and like the needy bark. And then one of them validating, yeah yeah, just like just like validate me. You're validated. Please like my post? I like it. Okay, so they are okay essentially, I to me, that seems like they're needing. They're always on Instagram like posting, just

like those vague. Those vague Instagram posts are like where it's like, you know, eating fish just and then like an emoji of like kind of a like sort of sad otter and you're like, hey, what's up, and it's like I can't explaince long story. Don't worry, long story because we're also the longest have the Weasel family. So it's a long story. Long boy, you gotta you gotta second. I just feel like, yeah, they would also be mad.

They're like you keep I know you watch my stories, but right you never I don't know, you're just like creeping on my I wonder how they post on it, Like do you think they do like one like a bunch of different photographs of themselves, so it's like one of their head, one of their middle, one of their middle, one of their middle, and one of their butts, so that you like flip through to get the whole otter because they're too you know, maybe or they just I

have a feeling they don't. They're just on there for likes. It's all like vantage shots whatever they feel their best feature is like in landscape mode, yeah exactly. Yeah, you kind of have to do a pano every time you get a shot yourself. So moving on to uh, I want to talk about the bald you a carry monkey, uh, which is another beautiful, beautiful animal. I want to show you a picture. M hm m hmmm. So whoa how this is one monkey? I'm sorry almost broke your computer.

Uh okay. It reminds me of kind of like a Japanese kabuki mask with like a very long haired body. Yeah. So they have bright red faces and red hair, which is exactly what I look like after I'm in the sun for any given amount of time. That is a shade very similar. Yeah, yeah, okay, so it's uh, my sunburned face and my red hair. So this is sort of a style like yeah, actually they it is. It is the I love. I mean their hair is straight though, so it's like it's like if I straighten my hair

and then I get a sunburn. No, I don't straighten your hair. Your hair is a great body to it. You look just a mess, you know, I would, I would actually a little fried. Now they rocket, they rocket, I can see the ends from here. That's true. So why are they face their faces so read? Is it because they're embarrassed about their split ins? I hope they heard this yet. So recently, researchers have found that they

have a huge amount of capillaries right under the skin. Um. So it's kind of like how when we blush, it's because flood blood is flowing to the capillaries. Um. But it's all over their face. It's permanent. And the reason we can see it so well is their skin is actually translucent, so there's no pigment. Just similar to the glass cross. They're so transparent. They're very transparent. And not that I'm saying transparency is a bad thing, but like

too much of a good thing. Yeah, you can be an overshare, like if you're literally showing me what your splein looks like the first meeting first, when I meet you at first and you're like, here's all my capillaries, and like, I mean, eventually we could talk, Like I'm a very open person, I'll talk to you about stuff, but when I first meet you, I maybe don't want to see all your capitalaries, you know, and like how

did go? It's like they were kind of thing now you so, but with these monkeys, they do actually wanna be over shares because the red faces are actually an honest indicator, which in UH evolutionary biology terms means in an indicator of your health or to mates, that is actually a true signal of your health. Oh so if you're unhealthy, you would not be right right right? So less healthy monkeys who say contracted malaria will look pale because the redness is just blood. It's the capillaries under

their skin. Um, and so like blood loss or or illness will make them look pale, and then their mates will be like, your look like a ghost. I don't want to marry like with you, um, welcome to my life. Oh man, another ghost. You wouldn't believe it. They're pale,

red skinned ghost again, keeps I gotta get off ghost date. Wait, but with their capillaries, does that mean it will they will always be that shade of red, even if they're healthy, Like, are there moments where they red mite subside or just know? It's always that red? It's always that red. But sometimes their faces get redder, like when they're aroused or excited. So it goes from extremely red to very extremely red. Wow, what's above extremely violently violently red atastrophically. So now let's

move from the red to the blue. Wait? Can I ask about their hair really quick, because it looked like their hair was so long and healthy that like it looked like a Gillie suit that like a marine sniper would wear. It just sort of like it almost gives them more of a presence than there might actually be underneath their coat. They're pretty small. Yeah, they're actually um one of those smaller monkeys. Um, they grew up to around like excluding the tail, it's around like seventeen inches. Yeah,

so they're really not that big. They know that photo they do look deceptively big because of how fluffy they are, But yeah, it is something I will give him that look. Yeah, yeah, even despite the burnt and split ends. Maybe maybe that does help them like intimidate being more intimidating because of how Yeah I wonder if like your coat, if you're like there's especially some good body to it with your

super red face. Yeah, people like they are achieving a lot of volume, which I'm pretty Yeah, there's something I'm just saying. There's a lot of interesting stuff with the thin skin. But maybe pal Mitchell and Loreale or something do some studies on this. Some of the chi what's that called the Chai hair products that like super expensive or something, um as someone who has very little hair. I don't know. And it feels like a direct shot at me, like the like the t you rub it

on your head. Really yeah, wow, I see, I'm look, I've missed a lot, missed a lot. So we're gonna now we're gonna shove from the red to the blue. Because it's hyacinth macaw time. Um, that was a great segal. I love a good Hyacinth macaw. Yeah. So they're these beautiful, bright blue parrots. Let me get a picture of that for you. I have a feeling I can picture this one even before you show me. Then yeah, and I was right, yep, it's a bit. It's like the one thing I think of when I think of a blue.

But I called parrots because well, it is a parrot. Parrot makes a parrot a parrot. I'm sorry to just complete the parrot. Great. Onward we go, there we go. Um and macaw's are within the parrot family, so fantastic um. So it's the largest flying parrot. It grows over three ft in length and up to eight pounds um. So they're threatened mostly by the illegal pet trade and in their habitat being lost, so like when they're instead of being just bred as pets, like when wild individuals are

captured and put into the pet trade. Um, they're known as being gentle giants. They have sort of a nice friendly demeanor. Yeah, they're big. They're like I said, they're up to eight pounds. That's a lot of bird. Wow, I didn't. Yeah, think about like a turkey. Well, think about a normal parrot, Like you hold it on your arm. It's like not that big. I'm sorry. Do you hold

a lot of parrots on your A few parents? Well I've never been on a Caribbean where the one of the stops are taking a photo up with a parrot, is it? Oh? So okay? See I don't This is where you know I have blind spots in my experience as of a human beings. I mean, I don't know that the gentle touch of a parrot. You should maybe educate you more on birds or go to rainforest cafe.

So these are highly intelligent birds who can actually use tools. Uh. So they've been observed wrapping leaves around nuts and fruits to keep them from slipping like oven midst or like like no slip grip stuff. Um, why all they crack open the nuts or pry off the husk from the fruit. UH. They'll also used pieces of wood to act as a

wedge to help pry open nuts. UM and younger hyacinth macause will actually experiment more with tool use than adults who have learned better, so they'll combine tools or they'll A study found that UM captive young macause uh would try to use shoelaces, rubber bands, or even poop as like tools, and then like as adults, they learned the same kinds of macause when when they were studied as adults they just did wood and pieces of leaves. Because

they're like, you know that, this is how this. I just love that the younger macause are like, would would poop work? What if I sho on my food? I'm sorry, what if I defecated on right? Right? I mean, like like any normal high school kids like what if I what if I poop on it? Yeah? I think that will work. Yeah, let's try. Don't knock if you try it? And parents like yeah, go ahead, yeah try that. Try that.

See how Yes, it also shows how intelligent they are because first of all the creativity of using poop as a tool, but also just like that as adults, they don't. They seem to narrow down the tools to really the most efficacious one. So they've learned. They learned. Yeah, you know what, that didn't work. They go through an awkward teenage phase where they're like hammer and poop against stuffs and the tour. Yeah, you turn to an adult who

doesn't poop on their food exactly. Well, some of us, Okay, to each their own, you know, to each their own. I'm not here to judge, but I regret to tell you I don't think I'll be having dinner at your house. Well that's too bad. I had using some special tools. I think you'd really enjoy the crime. Brewet animals are the only ones whose homes are being threatened by the fires. As I mentioned earlier, the rainforest is the ancestral home

of over one million indigenous peoples. There are around four hundred distinct communities with their own languages and cultures, a minority of whom have little to no contact with outsiders. In Brazil, tribal communities are being threatened and are trying to fight for their rights, their lives, and their homes. Illegal ranchers and deforesters and policies of the Bolsonaro government

in Brazil threatened their lives. Groups representing the Amazonian indigenous peoples have explained that they are currently undergoing a humanitarian emergency. The fires and aggressive commercialization of their land threatened them with extinction and genocide, and the situation is more dire than ever before. Compared to eighteen the number of fires during the dry season has increased by eighty four percent.

When we return, will explain why the Amazon is burning, what policies are harming the situation, and what is being done and what you can do to help. So, as of recording this podcast, there have been two thousand, five hundred active fires burning in the Amazon. As we discussed earlier, this is not natural. The deforestation and burning by ranchers the Amazon has led to a shocking increase in the amount of fires. So what are the politics behind this catastrophe.

The Amazonian rainforest is sprawled beyond the borders of nine nations, but the vast majority of the rainforest falls under Brazilian control. The current policies of the Bulsonaro government that enable ranchers and commercial interests to grab land from indigenous people to diforest and burn certainly are culpable for the current situation, but it's important to remember that the responsibility doesn't stop

at Brazil's borders. US President Donald Trump supports Bulsonaro and tweeted out on August quote, our future trade prospects are very exciting and a relationship is strong, perhaps stronger than ever before, which is really upset ing given the like he ends the tweets saying, quote, I told him that the US can help with the Amazon rainforest fires. We stand ready to assist, which in the context of talking about trade, it makes it sound like helping set more fires.

And I know, I know, like I'm not like, I'm not like fake news twisting his words. I know, he's like saying, like, help stop the fires. But again, it's just like that whole tweet, it's like future trade is looking great, let us know if we can help with

the fires. It's just like, hey, we love to visit with you, and like you know, you know, yeah yeah, And it's it's like and I mean, Bolsonaro has been like praised by uh like people talking about like how he's gonna increase trade and increase exports, and what that means is like cut the rainforest exactly because everyone, you know, his whole thing was like, ah, the indigenous people are ruining the rainforest because it's all protected and ship, yeah,

I mean it's all protected. Uh And I think you know that was one of his he campaigned on that, like, yeah, don't worry, I can turn that into a big we can play. You know, what's that game with the farming that I won't played on Facebook? Farm place, farm Farmville, Farmville, And I hate to bring a Facebook farm down Farmville, just basically saying we'll convert that into a massive cash cow for lack of a better word, I mean sports. And I think it is important to not just be like,

oh Bolsonarow, that horrible man over there in Brazil. This is a This is not the actions of just like this one man, although obviously he's he is responsible for huge up tickets exactly, so like a lot of the responsibility lies there, but he's enabled by all of the old Garks in the US and other countries that are totally on board to make another buck off of the rainfall. Yeah. Well, because I think you know, in the eighties is when they really started being like, hold on, what can we

do with this? Rainforest here and that's when it started really spike. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the late nineteen seventies. Between the nineteen like before the nineteen seventies, only about one percent of the rainforest had been deforested between the nineteen

seventies and like around now seventeen percent. And like I said, once we reach around that's kind of like that's the potential tipping point that scientists believe that's when, um, there could be this kind of cataclysmic series of events that destroys the whole force and it gets turned into I think it's called downgraded savannah. Um. So that would uh

you know, that would be catastrophic. Wow, yeah, I mean, and that's the really sad thing is, like you say, it's a system that, when it's running efficiently, can you know,

bring a lot of good things. And when you start kneecapping it, the wheels fall off and it has really yeah, and it's sort of just with the drought that that can it'll exacerbate too with the lack of rainfall and all the even just cloud pattern all everything is so connected with it, and that's that die off sort of domino effect where the more you deforce, the more it dries out from human activity the more it burns during

the dry season. And that's not to say I mean like there are definitely ranchers who are um setting fire to it in a all threatening indigenous people's living there is because they're emboldened by the Bolsonaro government. Um, but it's also even even beyond that, like the more it's deforested and the more it's dried out, the more susceptible it is to the dry season and and fires. So it's yeah, it's just a really bad situation all around.

There's a recent news story where Bolsonar was blaming NGOs, the non governmental organization, the environmentalist groups. Well didn't he all say, well, who do you think martians? Did it? Like very flippantly was like I think it's yeah. He was like he was like saying claiming that they were going to hurt his image. So like the idea that environmentalist groups would literally burn down the rainforest right and go after him, that's like the whole sting the rainforest.

That's sort of like, that's sort of the whole optics campaign that they're trying to pursue to sort of make deforestation like a viable or attractive thing, it's like, well, there's like a whole conspiracy from environmental groups about this, and really this is about like our economic output and

all these other things. And it's just a shame too, because you know, all tied up into that are the people that live in the rainforest, and their way of life is the most you know, as compared to our modern lives, tied to the earth, tied to mature, tied

to that system there in that they participate in. And when you keep taking away the things that they need to live off of, especially like the plants and things, because living in the rainforest means there's no there's no wall greens, right, and there's like the there there are like you know, small farmers and and like it depends on the the communities, but like they're like small, Like I mean, there are still like barely contacted people laying

in the Amazon who I mean, they're they're a minority of the people living there. But that makes them all the more vulnerable because like they don't have a lobbying group. And um, so there are these leaked documents from Bolsonaro's ministry that showed the government is trying to thwart the Triple A multinational effort, which is like this, Uh, it's the NGO effort to protect the Amazon um by strategically

occupying the Amazon with commercial intraists. And also they plan to use both scenarrows racist rhetoric against the indigenous people uh to dehumanize and isolate them. Um. And so here's here's a quote from one of the leaked slides. Quote. Development projects must be implemented on the Amazon basin to integrate it into the rest of the national territory in order to fight off international pressure for the implementation of

the so called Triple A project. To do this, it is necessary to build the trom Vedas River hydroelectric plant, the Obidos Bridge over the Amazon River, and the implementation of the b R one highway to the border with Surinam um. So basically like we need to develop it so that we can you know, start taking it over right, yeah, and be like well, actually this is usual infrastructure projects

we need. And yeah, it's really like this whole idea of there's like the colonization aspect that's a threat to indigenous people that has been there since the Portuguese got there, and then now you're adding like global capitalism with the president who's like, let me exploit like the most one of the most valuable resources on earth to create more capital for a country that's only going to benefit of very small amount of people. And it's the wealth and

quality in Brazil is extreme too. Yeah. Yeah, and it's just so there's just so many layers of tragedy sort of mapped onto this one thing, aside from just the environmental things. And yeah, I hope that this actually does help bring more awareness, because you know, it took so long for most of the rest of the world and even in Brazil for people to be like, oh right,

this is like this is becoming really terrible. But it feels like a lot of the activism, or at least online, it's just more about like can you believe this, versus like, hold on, there's a leader there who's doing this, who's terrorizing these people who live there, all in the sake of bringing in more Right, this isn't natural, this is

human made catastrophe. This these leak slides, like they talked about how they feel like they're successfully that the Bullsonaro's sort of racist in inflammatory comments are successfully separating people from caring about the indigenous people because they were talking about how like a huge portion of the population hadn't even heard about the fires in the media, and that

was like a that was a good thing. And in this slide show presentation, it's it's such a weird thing, like you imagine these like government officials like here's our

evil plan next flood. Yeah, what's weird? I feel like in this last Just recently, there's been a lot of leaked stuff that articulates exactly like the most evil stuff, like with the GOP sor like this is our mass shooting playbook and you're like, oh wow, like you've articulated my evil plan, right, or even like Monsanto being like, Okay,

this is what we need to do. So people don't connect round up with blood cancers, I hope someone like raids uh, who's the one who died David Coke's estate, for like all his evil He's just going to have like a thing on his desktop where it's like evil plans and then porn and then the porn is just human suffering climate change disasters. Right. Um, So just so people know, like here a few of Bolsonaro's racist statements

about the indigenous people. Um, and this is what's thought to help, um, you know, kind of rile up people and encouraging ranchers and land developers to illegally uh steal land and set fires and even like harass them with violence. Um So, here's one of Bolsonaro's quote quote, the Indians do not speak our language, they do not have money, they do not have culture. They are native people's how did they manage to get of the national territory that

was set in, which is very uh you know hitlerrian. Yeah, you know there's a group of people who are sitting on something or possess something. You want to take from them, so begin dehumanizing them. This is like this is like Trump's rhetoric to against like immigrants. Yeah yeah, but yeah, especially for right. Um here's another quote quote, there is no indigenous territory where there aren't minerals. Gold, tin, and magnesium are in these lands, especially in the Amazon, the

richest area in the world. I'm not getting into this nonsense of defending land for Indians. And that was also in um So, that's I mean, just it's he's being totally transparent about it that he's he wants to plunder the land and he doesn't care about the people already living, and he has that sort of like colonizer rhetoric of being very dismissive about the Indians, right right, Yeah, what you hear a lot like in South America to to sort of like be insulting, like they're like, you know

what I mean, it's it's can be a slur. And he was even running on this idea of being called Captain Chainsaw when he is running for presidents. Yeah, man, because his whole thing was, well, here's the deal. Our economic development is being held back because everyone loves the rainforest, right he does. And that sounds familiar to like blaming the indigenous people for they're kind of be being stamming when really it's because of the wealth inequality where and

just like gross terrible corruption and mismanagement of money. And that's really but no, let's again like let's blame the other We've done that in America all that. You know, everyone there's a scapegoat for everything except for the people who are responsible. Here's one last quote. I can't do any more quotes, so I'm gonna vomit, but quote, you can be sure that if I get elected president of Brazil,

there will be no money for NGOs. If it's up to me, every citizen will have a firearm in the house. There will be not a centimeter demarcted for indigenous reservations or Kyle Umbula's. Um So, this was said Vantine kylum Bola's are Afro Brazilian residents of Kilombolo settlements, which are made up of the ancestors of people who escaped from chattel slavery in Brazil. Um So, these are, you know, the ancestors of some of the most oppressed people in Brazil.

And I think and also didn't he like completely dissolve like one of the governmental organizations that's in charge of like like advocating for indigenous people, Like it's just been systematic like of like no, let's take every possible defense mechanism. And I mean when you also even look at the lives of these people, it's almost like a war that these people are just even before the fires of you have greedy people who want to develop on their land

and sometimes they have to defend themselves and are killed. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean there's that that viral video of that woman who's crying on the on the camera. She's an Indigenous woman and she's talking about how she was trying to get her children to fall asleep and she heard gunshots and she was like she herself couldn't sleep either because

of how frightened she was. UM And I mean, you know again, it's like I don't want to just like, oh, look at this horrible stuff just happening in Brazil because like in the US that we're also like reducing protections for um native land, for land reserves and and form natural resources and trying to take the control of these lands from like um native. Yeah, I mean it's I think it's just generally a global problem of us just

sort of disregarding the rights of indigenous right right. I think it's just like right now this is like catastrophe of the Amazon burning. I think it's like if we haven't been paying attention so far, like now like we have to, this is this is you know, it's I mean, it should come from a place of empathy. But even if like it's coming from place of just you know, carrying like Machiavellian is um, like, it's still super are

important everyone on the planet. And I think that's where at some point, that's where the other governments of the world have to sort of exert more pressure, certainly not supporting him, like absolutely, And I think that's why, you know, like Finland has proposed, like you know, trying to stop Brazilian beef imports into Europe, like proposed that to the EU and things like that, because yeah, the rainforest, even though it is on the land of you know, a

few countries, but mostly Brazil, that's a thing that affects you know, one fifth of the world's oxygen, right, you know what I mean. I think in that sense, the lungs of the planet. Yeah, that we need to that's where people have to be like, hold on, this is actually this Like everything, there are so many existential threats to our world, but like we have to treat this

as one just as serious exactly. And I think this is a good time to talk about like what what you can do, like what people can do, because I know when there's stuff like this where it's just it feels so overwhelming and I'm right there with you, like I it about like, as I was reading through this, I just got I felt so down. I had to look at some invisible frogs to feel better. And as pete dolphins. I'll I'll include a bunch of pictures too in the in the show notes, so you can uh

nice to like some of these wonderful animals. But there's also stuff you can do to help UM. And I'm certainly not since I'm not um a part of uh like and I'm not like an organizer uh in any of these um environmentalist groups, I may not know the best way. So like, if any of you out there have uh like, I'm going to mention some stuff. But if there's something that I don't mention that you think would be cool, like, let me know, tell me in social and like all um, I'll mention it next podcast too.

So I mean, some of the things we can all do is vote for people who take environmentalism seriously, you know, uh, spread the word to people like word of mouth, talk to your family's uh talk on social media. UM you know ruined Thanksgiving like do it um. You can donate to organizations uh fighting uh for the Amazon. I'll include some links in the footnotes the the WWF website, which is not the World Wrestling Now but um they're great too,

but it's the World Wildlife Foundation. They won that lawsuit. I know. Um, so they have an emergency appeal. You can sign a petition on there. You can also donate to their emergency appeal. Um and uh, you know, donate and signal boost indigenous organizations fighting the deforestation. They're like on the front lines. Um. Uh. Like this August, tens of thousands of Indigenous women and girls marched in Brazil as part of the first Indigenous Women's marched uh sorry,

Indigenous Women's March. Uh. They denounced the policies of both Narrow and the deforestation and attacks on their ancestral homelands. Um. You can read more about that on the Amazon Frontlines website. I'll also include a link to that in the show notes.

I think, I think that's really incredible in show notes. Um, but yeah, I just it's like, it's so, I mean, they're they're really like, if you know, if we can support the people who are on the front lines, who have lived there for generations, who are trying to fight for their homes and from the Amazon, it's very easy for us being so far removed exactly. Oh, I think it's bad, but no, like for them, right their life literally life or death. And even though that may seem distant.

It is actually life or death for the rest of the planet. We just it's less immediate, like yeah, when it's abstract to many people, well, that's a fire there, and I guess there's fire, no, right, this is this is daily life or death for people living there. Um. But yeah, I mean because I'm sure, like I know so many people really do care and like, but don't feel paralyzed, don't feel like, oh, there's nothing we can do, so why care anymore? There's certainly stuff we can do.

There's so much that we can do, so you know, it's even really had me. I mean not even that, like you know, we eat that much Brazilian beef in the US. I mean, there's certainly an amount that's important, but it's mostly in Asia. But the amount of just like beef consumption, I've it's been like a thing. I've slowly like, I didn't think I would really give a ship, to be honest, just as a human being who likes food.

But like you know, and a lot of the times I'm sort of like, well, this isn't my fucking this isn't my problem. And because a lot of this is born out of these like massive industries, and then then at the consumer level you're told, well, you need to

do this to offset all of that. But yeah, I am starting to sort of begin to have more and more misgivings about it, or at least trying to, you know, I go more plant based in those senses, because, Yeah, the more I look at things like when I just think of an indigenous person who is you know, they are looking down the barrel of a gun because someone is trying to make money off of the land that they've lived on since time immemorial is really heartbreaking and

that that has I think motivated a little bit of change inside of me. Uh not say I've gone fully vegan, but I do eat much more plant based things when I can, and try to avoid the beef when possible. Where is the beef? Yeah, you know, I just get

the impossible burger. I mean I think that because there's so many things you can do that like whatever you can do, whatever you feel motivated do, and you want to do like like do that, Like I mean, you know, I think I'm sort of there with you where it's like I'm I'm cutting down my meat consumption, um, and like I try to do mostly fish uh, and and vegetarian stuff. Um, And I mean I have great respect for people who go vegetarian and vegan. I think that's amazing.

It's obviously not a lifestyle that everyone can do because of health reasons and stuff, but right and cost exactly. Um, but like it's um, you know, you don't have to do one thing, Like you don't have to just like just become vegan or something. You can you can cut down on stuff you do or you know, if your lifestyle doesn't permit making dietary consumer changes, you can vote, you can donate, you can be an activist. You can like talk about it, like just if you care and

you just do stuff about it. You you talk to one person about it, you go online and you read more about it, and you find out things that you can do. Like that all helps. Like that's all good. And sometimes you're like, well, I won't even say anything because you know, especially like with politics and things like that, people get turned off because let's say like well I'll say it to so and so person in my social group, family or whatever, but there's no point because they won't

listen to anything. But you know what even if it feel is like something that's completely futile. The fact that you that might even get a person too. They might be like, yeah, whatever or whatever, and then when you leave, they go on the internet. You see what's up them? Show them a picture of one of these doofy little kermit frogs and they're cute weird faces and crumple it up.

This is what's happening. This is what your apathy does mean. Yeah, and they're like, I don't know, it seemed photoshop to me. I think, yeah, but those are those are moments too. I think. You know again, sometimes they are people whose minds you can't change, but sometimes just offering a contrary opinion to those people can create a chain of events where thought is given to other things that might not have been before. Sometimes it's not always about completely changing

people's minds, but at least getting someone to think. And if you care, if you really care about an issue, if you read about it and you care about it, you talk to other people. I think that's infectious. I think that really like when you really care and you and I think, don't don't let that fatigue get to you, because I know that it's overwhelming with everything that's in the news, that is so setting, and you can feel overwhelmed and fatigued, like just where you just want to

not think about it and give up. And I feel that too, Like I think that's totally natural and sometimes you do have to protect your your mental health that way.

But but just like you know, try to feel I guess, try to approach it from a constructive angle of like, you know what, this is sad and I do care, and it is heartbreaking, but there are so many other people that care to and there are people like on the ground like fighting this and it's that's great and that's inspirational, and like, you know, look up some of these cool animals and look look at how amazing they look, and like you can feel that that joy of like

how incredible our planet is while also understanding the urgency

in the situation. And you know, I think a lot of people it's easy um to get disheartened when the change you want to see is not happening immediately or sometimes you know, from the time I worked organizing and things like that, I know it can be it can be really disheartening because you are so passionate about something that if you're not changing people's minds, like you take that burden on yourself of like, okay, well if I take this on, that means every person I meet I

have to change our minds about something, and that's not necessarily the best way to view it. Obviously, that's a great place to come from motivationally, but I think it's also important just to even be a beacon or someone who just transmits the message. Not necessarily. Don't don't grade yourself on how persuasive you're being or effective. Sometimes merely just verbalizing these things out loud to other people is just as much as you can do just as much good.

So don't you know. Also, let we need to adjust sort of what our expectations are from even talking about these things too, so we are able to do it for a prolonged period of time, because I think the second that apathy kicks in, it can be very difficult, and just to become disheartened be like well I tried, and that's it. No one's listening, and you know, like

I'll just I'll just zone out. I mean, imagine your actions the things that you're doing, like say it's it's donating or it's like talking to people about it, or you know, signal boosting an organization. Imagine like what you're doing, but on the large scale of like millions of people

also doing that and like that. That's the key thing is, like, you know, you don't have to personally take the world on your shoulders, but if you're doing stuff, you're trying, and you're caring, like that is healthy if we all

do that. I feel like this is a good time to talk about how much I appreciate all of the Dick Dick pick picks that I've been getting, because last time I said, Dick Dix are these adorable tiny antelopes, And last time I talked about how it's said that nobody sent me pics and I have been flooded with Dick Dix. Uh addic Dick is here. I'll show you, yeah, one of those many antelopes. Uh they're very very cute. Um and uh oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're they're adorable.

I apprec I love and appreciate every single one of those Dit pick picks. I've looked at all of them. Keep those coming, Uh, send me any anything. So if I haven't mentioned or included any links to organizations to donate to or stuff, than me those to me. Dit pics. Thank you so much, you guys for listening. I know this was probably an emotional one and I really appreciate you tuning in and uh, you know, it's just it's

been great talking about this. I think it's so important and it's so incredible, and good on you for listening to the end to get the message out there, because yeah, this really is such a vital part of our ecosystem. It's one fifth of our oxygen. If there's not one, if you're not compelled by the frog argument of the pink dolphins threat to the existential threat indigenous people, think about one fifth of yourtion, you know exactly. So Miles you got got anything to Where can people find you?

Uh well, mostly Monday through Friday on this network doing the daily's like Geist daily political comedy news show that won't bump you out. I think I think I pitched it right, um and just you know on the internet at miles of Gray, that's miles within I Gray within a Would you like Dick Dick pickpics? Yeah, sure, yeah, send mylesome Dick pick picks. I prefer action shots. Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of post stuff, So you think any frolic any frolick dick dick pick pick yes, yes,

um yeah, And you can find Creature feature Pod dot com. Uh, there's Creature feature Pod on Instagram, Creature feet Pot on Twitter. E T not f e e T. That's a thing, very that's a whole different thing. Um monsters, thank you so much for listening, you guys, and thanks to the Space Classics for their awesome song ex Alumina.