This conversation was recorded on September 1, 2021. I spoke to Richard Wrangham about his research on ape behavior. We explored prerequisites for chimp attacks, how cooking shaped human cognitive development, studying chimps in the wild with Jane Goodall, DNA similarity studies, proactive vs. reactive aggression, and more. Richard is a biological anthropologist at Harvard, specializing in the study of primates and the evolution of violence, sex, cooking, and culture. He’s also a MacArthur fellow—the so-called “genius grant”—and the author of books like 'The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution' and 'Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence.' —Chapters— 0:00 — Intro 2:39 — Jane Goodall 5:32 — Living in the wild 6:26 — Bumping into rhinos & sleep darting elephants 11:06 — Human competitiveness & sexual behavior 16:13 — "An enormous shock" from Yale 23:48 — Working with Jane Goodall 26:42 — Chimp mating habits 34:47...