Tag Archives: National Geographic

Documentary film legend Brett Morgen next featured guest on The Kamla Show

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Gombe, Tanzania – David Greybeard was the first chimp to lose his fear of Jane, eventually coming to her camp to steal bananas and allowing Jane to touch and groom him. As the film JANE depicts, Jane and the other Gombe researchers later discontinued feeding and touching the wild chimps. (National Geographic Creative/ Hugo van Lawick)

The “mad scientist” of documentary film Brett Morgen recently sat down with The Kamla Show host, Kamla Brett, to discuss his newest project “Jane.” WKTV premieres this newest episode on WKTV Channel 25 at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, and 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2.

 

Morgen has directed and produced a series of films including the award-winning “On the Ropes” and “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.” His most recent project, “JANE,” released in October, shares the story of Jane Goodall, who is the foremost expert on chimpanzees, having spent more than 55 years studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania.

 

Brett Morgen on The Kamla Show

“I feel like ‘JANE’ is the perfect antidote for our times,” Morgen said during the interview. “I feel like this is the movie the needs to be heard and seen now particular because of what is happening with gender politics in America today…

 

“Jane is not a preachy film. It is not intended to have a message but the culture has taken ownership and they have told us what the message is. And they have told us that this has now become a film about a woman who does not have to give up her dream to have a family, to have a child. It is a movie about passion. It transcends the time and science to become this kind of rare move that you can go to feel good about and smile.”

 

Along with discussing the film, Morgen also talks about his desire to become a filmmaker, which started at a very young age; some of his famous classmates, and having a passion for what he does.

 

“I think when people see Jane Goodall or Philip Glass or they hear me talk, all of us found our fame when we were really little,” Morgen said. “And I think that is really scary for kids today because not everybody finds their thing because we are all moving at our own speed.

 

“So I just think for young people if they don’t find that passion, I think as parents we need to try and encourage them, but if they don’t find it they should not feel overwhelmed that I haven’t by 14 ‘By God what am I going to do with my life?’ There is plenty of time. You can shift and move.”

 

And at the age of 50, Morgen has admitted he has considered a shift in his own life. To learn more about the film “JANE” and what makes Moregan passionate about making films, check out the interview airing this week. Currently, there are no Michigan listings for the film “JANE.”

Author discusses real-life ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure during visit at Schuler Books

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Author Doug Preston

It would make a good Indiana Jones story: a 500-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world’s densest jungle.

 

It was the real life adventure of bestselling author Doug Preston who chronicles it all in his newest book “The Lost City of the Monkey God.” Preston will be in the Grand Rapids area Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. to talk about his book and adventure at Schuler Books & Music, 2660 28th St. SE.

 

Since the days of conquistador Hernan Cortes, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God- but then committed suicide without revealing its location.

 

Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly ad-vanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that ight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undis- covered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.

 

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to con rm the discovery, Preston and the team bat tled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn’t until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease.

 

Preston is the author of 35 books, both fiction and nonfiction, sixteen of which have been “New York Times” bestsellers. Before becoming a writer, he worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York’s and was managing editor of “CURATOR” magazine. He also writes about archaeology and paleontology for the “New Yorker,” “National Geographic,” and the Smithsonian and currently serves on the board of the Authors Guild.

 

For more information about Preston’s visit or other events at Schuler Books & Music, visit schulerbooks.com.

Explore the Earth in Grand Rapids Public Museum’s newest exhibition

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In "Earth Explorers" participants can explore the ocean floor. (Christopher Gannon/Gannon Visuals)
In “Earth Explorers” participants can explore the ocean floor. (Christopher Gannon/Gannon Visuals)

Journey around the world at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) in the new exhibit “Earth Explorers” opening May 21. Organized around Earth’s eco-zones, “Earth Explorers” brings the unparalleled adventures of “National Geographic” to life.

 

“Earth Explorers” allows visitors to let their imaginations run wild as they become explorers and embark on an adventure to discover new species, study animal behavior and learn about the important roles technology, innovation and ingenuity play in making and documenting these discoveries.

 

Explore an arctic cabin and test your ability to live in an ice-covered world. Descend into the deep ocean in a 3-D submersible and explore how life forms at varying depths, even coming face-to-face with a great white shark. Identify incredible insects from the Amazon while learning the benefits of biodiversity. Ascend into the thin air of the Himalayas. Soar in a hot air balloon over the Savanna while learning about the life of elephants and other mammals.

 

“’Earth Explorers’ gives our community a chance to visit places most are never able to go,” said Kate Moore, VP of Marketing and Public Relations. “This exhibit is highly interactive, allowing visitors to engage in the various eco-zones, making it a fun learning experience for all ages.”

 

Visitors will learn about the daring men and women who venture into dangerous and remote parts of the world to discover new places, help protect our planet’s biodiversity and unearth new scientific discoveries.

 

Participants will come face-to-face with a Great White Shark in "Earth Explorers" exhibit at the Grand Rapids Publc Museum. (Christopher Gannon/Gannon Visuals) -- shot by Christopher Gannon on 9/25/13 in Des Moines, IA Shot for GES
Participants will come face-to-face with a Great White Shark in the “Earth Explorers” exhibit at the Grand Rapids Publc Museum. (Christopher Gannon/Gannon Visuals)

Admission to “Earth Explorers” will be included with general admission to the GRPM and is free to Museum members. For more information, visit grpm.org/EarthExplorers.

 

CHILL: The Polar Regions
Experience life on ice in Earth’s extreme Polar Regions. Covered with icicles, battered by winds and harsh weather, an Arctic cabin invites hands-on discovery about surviving and thriving in the Polar Regions. Assemble the right mix of protein and carbohydrates in “What’s for Dinner?” Watch a polar bear pace outside a window and flip through the Explorer’s Notebook to learn first-hand survival strategies from photographer Paul Nicklen. Compare your own “thermogram” heat loss signature to a polar bear’s and test out how well different gloves protect your hands from the chill of an ice plate.

 

DIVE: The Oceans
Can you handle life under pressure? Find out in the Oceans eco-zone, where you’ll descend into the deep in a 3-D submersible. Mysteries of life under pressure and at great depths are revealed through stunning National Geographic videos. Learn the science behind submersibles and how life forms at varying depths. Get up close and personal with AIR JAWS, an 11-foot long sculpted great white shark—one of the ocean’s oldest and most misunderstood predators.

 

TREK: The Rain Forests
Hang out in a prep tent for fun, self-guided discovery about life in the tropical rain forests – the wet, wild and wonderful ecosystem that provides much of the air we breathe, safeguards Earth’s incredible biodiversity and may well hold the key to new life-saving remedies. Try your hand at identifying incredible insects from the Amazon and get “grossed out” with realistic creepy-crawlies while discovering the benefits of biodiversity.

 

CLIMB: Mountains and Caves
Descend closer to the Earth’s core and ascend to its highest peaks. Meet Carsten Peter, an explorer who takes on Earth’s most challenging caves to share photographs with the rest of the world. Then, ascend into the thin air of the Himalayas, but be careful, you might be caught by a camera trap, the same technology used by explorer Steve Winter to capture photos of the elusive snow leopard.

 

SOAR: The Savanna

Take a hot air balloon ride to witness “Life On the Move.” Through seamless video production, surround sound and other atmospheric effects, you’ll soon have the sensation of flying over a savanna where wild herds still roam. Next, put your animal tracking and migration mapping skills to the test, and meet explorers who document the incredible life cycles and stories of elephants and other endangered mammals of the savanna.

 

“Earth Explorers” is produced by Global Experience Specialists (GES) in partnership with “National Geographic.”