Sy Montgomery (Soul of an Octopus) and Warren Carlyle (founder of OctoNation) on octopuses taking over the media, the origins of OctoNation, why octopuses needed a publicist and some of the secrets of octopus from their new book Secrets of the Octopus that accompanies the National Geographic TV series. First of a two-part interview about all things octopus!
Shownotes:
0:01 Meet author Sy Montgomery.
0:13 Meet Warren Carlyle “the PR agent for the octopus.”
3:50 How Sy met Warren.
4:25 Warren’s journey from high fashion to the deep ocean.
5:32 The origins of OctoNation: “When the Beyonce of octopus people tells you to do something, you just do it.” – Warren Carlyle
6:41 Octopus used to be monsters!
10:06 “It’s the golden age for octopus appreciation. For octopus research. And I think this is a great opportunity for the ocean in general. What better ambassador can you imagine than somebody who’s got the equivalent of nine brains and eight arms.” – Sy Montgomery.
13:00 Octopuses can give themselves manicures… we kind of laid the red carpet for “My Octopus Teacher.”
14:57 The impact of OctoNation. “Appreciation for the octopus has just exploded.”
16:00 Sy: “They are not some slimy gross monster. They are super smart. They are superheroes with superpowers. And yet they are enough like us that you can be friends with an octopus.”
18:45 Sy: “We’re in the age of octopus.”
18:50 Warren: “The way that I view Sy… Sy has this insatiable desire to hang out with animals all the time… All OctoNation is is really a reflection of Sy’s light.”
23:47 The blanket octopus!
28:08 Connecting with National Geographic.
32:10 Octopus have their own hunting fish the way humans have hunting dogs!
Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.