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We talk with world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal about his new book, Different: Gender Through The Eyes of a Primatologist.

Then we re-air our 2019 conversation with Richard Louv about his book Our Wild Calling. It’s about redefining the future of human-animal coexistence.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.
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Frans De Waal

Chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest living relatives. We share nearly 99% of our DNA with both of these primate species. Yet the two couldn’t be more different: you could say only half in jest that “chimps are from Mars and bonobos are from Venus.”

In his new book Different, world-famous primatologist Frans de Waal draws on decades of research into both human and animal behavior to parse the difference between biological sex and gender in determining behavior. De Waal shows that sex differences are no excuse for justifying gender inequality. Different challenges widely held beliefs about masculinity and femininity, and common assumptions about authority, leadership, cooperation and competition.

Frans de Waal is Professor Emeritus of Primate Behavior at Emory University and the former director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. He’s the author of three previous books, including Mama’s Last Hug.

Read an excerpt from Different

Richard Louv
Back in 2019, we spoke with Richard Louv about his book, OUR WILD CALLING: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives”•and Save Theirs. We bring our conversation to you again now.