Podcast Summary: Short Wave – "Tea time... with an ape?" (February 17, 2026)

Main Theme

This episode explores whether the human capacity for imagination—specifically the ability to pretend or envision scenarios beyond the here and now—is unique to us or shared with our close primate relatives. Science correspondent Nate Rott dives into a groundbreaking experiment involving Kanzi, a famous bonobo renowned for his communication skills, and discusses what a series of pretend tea parties tells us about the evolutionary roots of imagination.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Kanzi, the Remarkable Bonobo

• Speaker: Nate Rott
  Timestamp: 00:20–01:42
  • Kanzi was a bonobo born and raised in captivity, and achieved fame for his ability to communicate with humans via symbols and understand spoken English.
  • Studies showed Kanzi could comprehend and respond to more than 600 spoken instructions, often outperforming a two-year-old human.
  • Quote: “A study published in 1993 found that when Kanzi was eight years old, he could outperform a two year old human when given more than 600 spoken instructions.” – Nate Rott (01:14)

2. Why Imagination Matters

• Speaker: Chris Krupena (Cognitive Scientist, Johns Hopkins University)
  Timestamp: 01:48–02:27
  • Imagination is seen as a uniquely human trait—enabling us to consider the past, future, and hypothetical situations.
  • The experiment’s goal: to assess whether apes can also entertain imaginary or pretend scenarios.

3. The Tea Party Test – Experiment Design

• Speakers: Nate Rott, Chris Krupena
  Timestamp: 04:24–06:03
  • The experiment adapts methods used in child psychology: staged tea parties where pretend juice is “poured” into cups, and the participant is asked to track the imaginary liquid.
  • With Kanzi, researchers recreated this with sterile tea parties, videotaping his responses as he tracked where the “juice” should be.
  • Quote: “With Kanzi, we were able to do more or less the exact same thing by setting up a series of very sterile looking tea parties and recording videos of the sessions.” – Chris Krupena (06:03)

4. Imagination and Its Practical Role in Development

• Speaker: Kristen Andrews (Philosophy Professor, York University/CUNY)
  Timestamp: 06:30–08:07
  • Play is practice for adult life; imagination helps children rehearse social and practical skills.
  • Adults also rely on imagination for decision-making and scientific hypothesis testing.
  • Quote: “What scientists do before they run the experiments is they run them in their imagination. And if they don’t work in their imagination, you save all the time of running it in the real world…” – Kristen Andrews (08:07)

5. Results of the Experiment

• Speakers: Nate Rott, Chris Krupena
  Timestamp: 08:36–09:45
  • In the experiment, Kanzi was able to track "imaginary juice" about 70% of the time, often choosing the correct cup after pretend pourings.
  • This indicates he could mentally represent two states of reality—seeing empty cups, but knowing “imaginatively” that one still held juice.
  • Quote: “Kanzi was able to, in his mind, sort of entertain two versions of reality. On the one hand, he sees two empty cups in front of him... he’s also able to imagine, to pretend that one of them is not.” – Chris Krupena (09:29–09:41)

6. Broader Implications and Future Research

• Speakers: Nate Rott, Chris Krupena
  Timestamp: 10:13–11:50
  • While only one bonobo was studied, this is significant: if even one non-human passes the test, imagination isn’t uniquely human.
  • Existing observational evidence (e.g., chimps treating sticks as dolls) supports the possibility of pretend play being widespread in apes.
  • More research with larger samples and other species is needed for broader conclusions.
  • Quote: “All you need is one clear demonstration to say, no, it’s not unique to humans.” – Chris Krupena (10:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Kanzi’s ability to point, to answer questions and communicate made him the ideal candidate for an experiment... testing for something that had never ever been studied in a controlled setting before. The ability for an ape or really any non human animal to imagine.”
  — Nate Rott (01:48)

• “This ability to sort of go beyond the present, go beyond reality in your mind, is a sort of remarkable cognitive feat.”
  — Chris Krupena (09:45)

• “Play is really important practice for doing things in the adult world.”
  — Kristen Andrews (06:45)

• “Daydreaming can save you time. But don’t zone out yet!”
  — Nate Rott (08:18, with playful Short Wave tone)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:20–01:42: Introduction to Kanzi and his communication skills
• 02:05–02:27: Introduction to the concept of imagination in humans and animals
• 04:24–06:03: Experimental design—tea parties for testing imagination
• 06:30–08:07: The cognitive value and real-world utility of imagination
• 08:36–09:45: Kanzi’s performance in the “imaginary juice” experiment
• 10:13–11:50: Broader significance and limitations of the study

Concluding Thoughts

The episode presents a playful yet profound investigation into the evolutionary roots of imagination, suggesting that the seeds of “pretend” may exist beyond our own species. The research opens doors for further studies on animal minds and challenges assumptions about what makes humans unique.

For those interested, additional materials—including video of Kanzi and further discussion on bonobos—are referenced in the NPR show notes.