What Has the Whale to Say?
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
12/04/25
•36m
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| "The whale has no voice," Herman Melville wrote in Moby Dick. "But then again," he went on, "What has the whale to say?"
Turns out he was wrong: not only do sperm whales have voices, but these massive, amazing mammals talk constantly to each other. They are humongous creatures: males can be 18 meters long and weigh 45 tons. Think something the weight of an industrial dump truck, but twice as long. Despite their massive size and the capacity to dive more than a mile into the depths of the ocean, they apparently are quite sociable.
How amazing would it be if we could decipher what they are saying? That's the passion of David Gruber, a marine biologist and technologist who organized and leads Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative). He has gathered a team of 50 global scientists and technicians dedicated to understanding what the sperm whales are saying to each other---not so we can talk to them, but so that we can understand how they think about the world we share.
David is also one of the recipients of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, who was honored for his work with CETI and his underlying drive to help humans and nature co-exist.
Listen as he discusses what drives him and CETI here: https://tallbergfoundation.org/podcasts/what-has-the-whale-to-say/
Learn more about Project CETI here: https://www.projectceti.org/ |
Previous Episode
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The Greek classics are timeless because they provide insights into our souls, into how we think and why we do what we do. Of course, few of us regularly read or ponder the wisdom of those epic tragedies. But what if they could be made accessible in ways that shed light on the specific challenges of life in the 21st century?
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Six months ago, we recorded this podcast with Bryan, who co-founded Theater of War Productions and serves as its artistic director. We share it again in recognition that Bryan Doerries has recently been selected as a winner of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The jury honored him for creating brave spaces where art, empathy, and dialogue aim to restore human connection, reimagining the role of culture in public life.
Listen again and let us know what you think.
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Inheriting Trauma
December 11, 2025
•32m
The number of active conflicts today is the highest since the end of World War II. The world has clearly entered a new, more violent, and fragmented era.
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Read the paper: Epigenetic signatures of intergenerational exposure to violence in three generations of Syrian refugees
Podcast website: https://tallbergfoundation.org/podcasts/inheriting-trauma/
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