Dr. Jane Goodall & Keely Shaye Brosnan: Power of the Pen to Heal Mother Earth Artwork

Beautiful Writers Podcast

Listen in as author Linda Sivertsen (aka Book Mama) brings together the world’s most beloved bestselling authors to chat about writing, publishing, deal-making, spirituality, activism, and the art of romancing creativity. Now streaming on American Airlines, these up-close conversations are a fan favorite, downloaded millions of times, and frequently profiled on “Best Podcast” lists (i.e., The Motley Fool’s “10 Best Podcasts for Women”) while gracing the "Popular Podcasts, Books" (formerly Literature) page of iTunes/Apple Podcasts nearly every day since the show's launch in 2015. Join Linda (herself an award-winning, bestselling author, writing coach, and ex-ghostwriter + magazine editor) and her celebrity co-hosts for deep, funny interviews w/ top authors on breakout success to staying power. Heart-centered encouragement, street-smart advice, and insider success (and failure!) stories for every writer and creative type. Biggest mistakes, best shortcuts, behind-the-scenes agent, press, and publishing stories help you gain the courage to get your book, blog, ballad, or biz birthed into the world. Guests include Jenny Lawson, Martha Beck, Elizabeth Gilbert, Patricia Cornwell, Marie Forleo, Van Jones, Cheryl Strayed, Nia Vardalos, Terry McMillan, Joel Stein, Deepak Chopra, Tom Hanks, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Candice Bergen, Meg Wolitzer, Austin Channing Brown, Dean Koontz, Ann Patchett, Maria Shriver, Steven Pressfield, Anita Moorjani, Tosca Lee, Brené Brown, Lee Child, Anne Lamott, Rob Bell, Dani Shapiro, Gabby Bernstein, Seth Godin, Danielle LaPorte, Marianne Williamson, Arianna Huffington, Mary Karr, Gretchen Rubin, #1 NYT Fantasy Authors (and besties) Tomi Adeyemi & Sabaa Tahir, US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, and former WME super-agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. If you’ve ever wished you could sit down with your favorite writers over coffee to ask them how they do it, year after year, book after book, consider this your new, not-so-guilty pleasure. Take your dreams from idea to done with us. The Beautiful Writers Podcast. Where inspiration is constant, and swearing, optional (although highly appreciated). Find out more: https://www.beautifulwriterspodcast.com

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Beautiful Writers Podcast

Dr. Jane Goodall & Keely Shaye Brosnan: Power of the Pen to Heal Mother Earth

May 01, 2020 • Linda Sivertsen

Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace, is with us from the UK for a special eco-edition of the Beautiful Writers Podcast. I’m excited to celebrate the release of the Nat Geo film The Hope—showcasing Jane's lifetime of jaw-dropping conservation—with the use of stunning audio from the movie.

Joining us is our longtime mutual friend, Keely Shaye Brosnan, a fearless activist. Like Jane, Keely has been a leader in conservation for decades—involved in some of the most dramatic environmental wins of our lifetime (think Dolphin Safe Tuna Act, for starters). Excerpts from Keely's latest offering—the award-winning film, Poisoning Paradise (illustrating how agrochemical companies are treating the islands as pesticide-testing grounds for genetically engineered crops)—help bring this interview to life.

If you're like me, you fell in love with Jane as a kid, watching her climbing trees and grooming (and being groomed by!) wild chimpanzees in the Gombe forest like a female Tarzan. I felt similar magic the first time I met Keely. While profiling her over twenty years ago for my first book, she and her husband, actor Pierce Brosnan, showed me devastating film footage taken from a hidden camera onboard a fishing vessel. While I would never unsee the massacre of dolphins en masse (schools of tuna often swim under pods of dolphins, leading to all sorts of excruciating, high-stakes tragedy), Keely had my heart. Not only does she not look away, but she stands up and puts up one heck of a fight.

Both women are extraordinary writers. Jane's books are some of my all-time favorites: Reasons for Hope, Harvest for Hope, and Seeds of Hope, among them. While Keely's most known for her television writing, her book on gardening (in the works) is a poetic masterpiece—you can quote me on that. I loved hearing details of their passion for words, how they bust through writer's block, and get in flow.

As we all hunker down due to Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders at the time of this taping, Jane's viewpoint is unique. Her Roots & Shoots programs are global (with 2,000 groups in China alone!); she's intimately aware of the dire effects of the wild animal trade. But, as I anticipated, Jane continues to hold onto her signature hope for a better future. My hope is that we take this profound opportunity to reimagine how we want to treat our Earth Mother. We can't all be bigger-than-life eco-heroes, but we can all live #alittlegreener.

Until next time, stay safe, plant a tree, and write on!

Linda
xx