[monkeywire] This week on This American Life: retirement homes for chimps
Kiki Yablon
kyablon at chicagoreader.com
Wed Mar 4 13:31:41 EST 2009
to air March 6
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=350
Human Resources
The true story of little-known rooms in the New York City Board of
Education building. Teachers are told to report there instead of
their classrooms. No reason is usually given. When they arrive, they
find they've been put on some kind of probationary status, and they
must report every day until the matter is cleared up. They call it
the Rubber Room. Average length of stay? Months, sometimes years.
Plus other stories of the uneasy interaction between humans and their
institutions. . . .
Act Three. Almost Human Resources.
Reporter Charles Siebert talks with Ira about retirement homes for
Chimpanzees. Yes, retirement homes for Chimpanzees. There are
thousands of aging chimps in the US: retired chimp actors,
ex-research subjects, abandoned pets. They can't be put back in the
wild since they don't know how to survive there. Charles Siebert
visited many of the facilities where they're housed, often in rooms,
with TV's and 3 meals a day. He's writing a book about his
experiences called Humanzee. (11 minutes)
Song: "Monkey in a Zoo," Daniel Johnston
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