January 2, 2025 • 32 mins
Maria chats with tv biologist and wildlife conservationist Jeff Corwin and The Brady Hunter Foundation's Josh Fox about CBS's New Saturday morning show Extraordinary World with Jeff Corwin, which premieres this Saturday January 4th! (check your local listings)
The show focuses on animal welfare around the world!
And is underwritten by The Brady Hunter Foundation which supports animal-rescue efforts.
Give a listen and learn about the show; and don't forget to watch Saturday mornings!
On CBS and Paramount+.
The show focuses on animal welfare around the world!
And is underwritten by The Brady Hunter Foundation which supports animal-rescue efforts.
Give a listen and learn about the show; and don't forget to watch Saturday mornings!
On CBS and Paramount+.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Maria's MutS and Stuff. It's a very special
edition because I have guests with me in the studio,
not one, but two, and they are actually physically here.
I have Jeff Corwin, who is a wildlife conservationist and
we know him because we all grew up with him
and he grew up with us many many many years
being on TV and promoting wildlife. And Josh Fox, who
(00:33):
is with the Brady Hunter Foundation. He is the CEO
and the founder of it. And together Extraordinary World. Is
there a new show that's coming to CBS in January
half hour on Saturday morning, Educational. So welcome first of
all for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Thank you, thank you, thank.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
You, thank you. So first of all, Jeff, you've been
doing this such a long time. When you were a kid,
is this what you always wanted to do? Like, what
did you want to be when you were a kid.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It is very much the man of the station of
all the fits and gray hairs and twitching eyes that
my parents accrued from a kid bringing home every critter
he could find, trying to save the planet. This was
what I wanted to be. When I was it my
grandmother's backyard. I was six years old and I found
(01:19):
a garter snake and that was my gateway that was
into this journey. And by the time I was sixteen,
I was living in a rainforest and created a conservation
organization to protect rainforest. And then got my first TV
gig when I was twenty four, and that was the
light bulb clicking moment with the Bob Ballard was a
(01:39):
big explorer, featured my work, and then I had to
do the really hard work, the hustle, which was to
crystallize my idea and make others believe that it was doable,
and then got the break on Animal Planet Actually No,
Disney Channel was my first series in like nineteen ninety seven,
and then it's been like that. I'm on my fourth
(02:02):
this is I think my fourteenth or fifteenth television series. Yeah,
you've done a lot, and it's it's a wonderful It's
it's at where I am now in my career. It
really is an awesome vehicle to distill my mission, which
is not just about nature and wildlife and conservation, but
(02:23):
the human component, the cultural component, and how we all
depend on these resources. So Brady Hunter Foundation is really
a perfect partner to tell this series. And I've never
been in a CBS, been an NBC. I've hit a
series many years in ABC, so I get to come
full circle. It's like this is the palliative care part
of my career. So it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
That's excellent And Brady Hunter. Of course, probably people assume
it's after it's named after a person, which it is not,
So Josh explain the name. Well, it kind of is,
it kind of is.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
But yeah, University of Michigan was a big part of
my life growing up, you know, grad from from a
proud school, and I was at Michigan very similar years
as Tom Brady. We all have come to love and
respect him. And eighteen years ago I got a dog
and named him Brady and he did live sixteen great
years and when.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
He passed it's a long life.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, he was the cause and the impetus to start
the foundation. I wanted to do something in his memory
and his honor. And Hunter has been his brother and
my other dog. And what a great name for a
foundation and the dogs that have affected me most in
such a positive way.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, No, it's a perfect name, and.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's important to you for sure, right the tea mission.
So it's a beautiful it's perfect, it's the perfect umbrella.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And so how did the two of you meet? How
did you two get together?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Well? I was a keynote speaking at a Foundation Galla
event and some of the team members of Brady Hunter
approached me. I was in a series focusing on the
wilds of Florida and the challenges of protecting wildfloor and
they wanted to be a part of it. We began
brainstorming and I said, well, I think we've got enough
(04:05):
here to create something unique and different, and we may
have an opportunity with CBS, and our partners are underlying
sort of foundational partners, Hurst Media Production Group, which is
kind of a you know, kind of a blue ribbon
media company, and I'm like, let's see if we can
line this up. And we had many meetings and dinners
(04:29):
and brainstorming sessions and finally got to that place where
we came up with the concept that that they felt
was really the tenor of who they are that I
felt I could have a connection to. And it also
a project that would allow me to exercise new muscles
and areas that I don't particularly dance in, areas of
(04:51):
human uplift stories or I've never done anything on domesticated animals,
dogs and cats and horses, so that's very much a
part of our show. It's kind of like a triangle.
It's nature, animal welfare and advocacy and the uplift People stories.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Sure, now, with the Uplift People stories, was it a
little bit uncomfortable or did you feel like because it
was new territory for you?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
It was not uncomfortable. I've done I've been a journalist
that covered journalism environmental stuff for CNN and CBS and
NBC and other lives, so it was not a hard
thing for me to do, but it was also refreshing
for me. It was something different. If you said, hey,
(05:37):
let's do something on alligators, well, I can guarantee you
I've been doing alligator stories right, very very long time.
Been to Australia sixty five times to do something on
wilds in Australia, which is great. But I've never been
to a neighborhood in the middle of the city in
the urban environment to work with folks that are financially
strapped that need things to help, right, their pets so
(05:58):
they can all stay together as a family. It was
a Brady Hunter project which through the craft of television
and creativity of production, we're able to turn that in
a really compelling story. And what's wonderful about these episodes,
it's kind of this balance. It's a plate. You know,
you have the protein, you have the vegetables and the carbs,
(06:20):
and you like the animal story and you get the
people's story, and you get the nature story. Right, and
that's and many and these are often important stories to
Brady Hunter Foundation.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Sure. And I mean if anyone who's listening goes to
Bradyhunter dot org, I mean the list is just endless
of how many people that you help and how many organizations,
I mean big brothers, big sisters. I saw the Pete
Alonzo for the local met fans, pet Alonzo's Foundation, Ronald
McDonald house, So it's it's like you said, it's not
(06:52):
just animal organizations, but it's also people.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I mean going to Michigan, I've always had a
massive love of sports, and I thought if we could
do these interesting projects with these wonderful sports figures like
you mentioned Pete Alonzo, who is beloved the last bunch
of months in New York City. Haley and Pete Alonzo,
his wife, are huge animal lovers, and they came out
with this incredible announcement in the beginning of this past
(07:16):
season in baseball where for every home run that he hit,
they were going to donate one thousand dollars to animal shelters.
And we saw this story at the Brady Hunter Foundation
and said, wow, we would love to match that thousand dollars.
And he ended up hitting forty three home runs this year,
and so I think him and I'm pretty sure Steve Cohen,
the owner, also matched his contribution, and then Brady Hunter
(07:38):
came in, so I think it was three thousand dollars
per forty three home amazing. And you know, Pete and
Haley are just incredible human beings, right.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And so were you because for what you do and
you two as well. Jeff, I'll take it all right,
I'll take the compliment. But it's true.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It's true.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We need more people like both of you in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
We did also something interesting in the Olympics this year.
You know, we saw the men fighting for the gold
medal and a lot of them have foundations that helped children, right,
and so we reached out. We started with bam Adebayo,
who is the star of the Miami Heat, and they
connected us to other players like Stefan Curry and Joel
Embiid and we ended up donating money to each of
(08:16):
the foundations of the NBA Gold medalists as they won
the gold medal. And I don't know if you know
this or your listeners knew this, but the gold medal
was won on August tenth, twenty twenty four, which is
eight ten, twenty four, and those were the exact numbers
that Kobe Bryant wore throughout his career. Like, what are
the chances it gives you the chill?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, it does. You just gave me the chills.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Actually, the exact date that they won the gold medal
this year in the Olympics was the exact numbers that
Kobe Bryant wore in his career eight ten and twenty four.
So in memory of Kobe, we ended up donating twenty
four thousand dollars to each of those foundations.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
And literally just last week we were out in San
Francisco with Stefan Curry, who's you know, one of the
biggest stars of the corners Earth and they did the
Cais Christmas and we were out there supporting them in that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's wonderful. Yeah, I still have a chill from that,
by the way. Yeah, that's really wonderful. Well, let's talk
about extraordinary world. So I was lucky that I got
to see the first episode and I love it. And well,
the first episode takes place with the South Florida Wildlife Center,
a great.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Group that I've worked with many times over the years.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yet and is that what made you decide to do
the first episode there?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, it was again that that serendipity and cross pollination opportunity,
which is Brady Hunter worked with them and providing an
ambulance for their work and animal rescue. They get tens
and tens of thousands of calls every year in Floridas.
Wild Florida disappears to make room for the two thousand
(09:47):
people that move there every day, a little piece of
nature goes away forever and the casualties of this are
the animals. So we got to be a part of it.
And what was fun about this is we got to
focus in on the those charismatic, endangered or imperiled species
like over tortoises and burrowing owls, but got to highlight
(10:08):
the plight of creatures that are every day that we
kind of look beyond but we don't realize are a
part of the wild fabric, like squirrels. Like squirrels, I
was gonna say, so we squirrels to talk about. Even
something is people could say, well, why would you want
to save a squirrel? Well, squirrels are integral and seed
dispersal in being an important resource for birds of prey,
(10:29):
all sorts of animals. So that was a great experience
to have in Florida and then have that launch into
this amazing story the human component m h about a
woman who has dedicated her life and her expertise as
a therapist saving animals, farm animals that have been brought
(10:49):
to the brink, that have come to the end of
the road heading off to slaughter. Yeah, she rescues them.
A horse burned and a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That one also gave me chills and almost that made
me to tear up to see that horse. It was hard,
I mean happy for him, but it was heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, but that horse survived beyond what anyone thought it could, right,
and lives a quality healthy life and works with soldiers
that have PTSD and trauma for war, and so we
can find these stories. You know, Brady Hunter has this
great beach clean up program with their partners down there,
(11:27):
and we got to feature that and really tell the
story how plastics. We collectively dump ten billion pounds of
plastics into our oceans every year. One plastic water bottle,
which gives you an hour of hydration at best, we'll
spend two hundred years in a landfill. How does that
(11:50):
impact nature? How do we fix that and change that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, And it's interesting about the water bottles because I
always think about that when you see trash just in
the street and people don't realize like that will eventually
wind up in the ocean in water somewhere, or it's
going to wind up in a landfill or not end
up as microplastics.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And yeah, Josh and I we were walking on the
beach doing the segment, and I was like, holy crap,
just picking up the sand and looking what looked like beautiful,
perfect jewels of sand. Are little round bits of facial
scrubs and cosmetic scrubs and the individual round shapes that
come from insulation and stuff like that you can never
(12:33):
get that out exactly. And so now all of that
stuff has not only made itself a part of the
substrate of our oceans, the coasts of our oceans, but
now has become a part of the building block of nature.
The trophic steps that takes energy from one life home
to another. That plastic goes with it. So seventy percent
(12:55):
of all our marine birds, whether you're in Chennai, India,
or you're in Harbormain or off of Costa Rica, has
plastics in it. Right. And these these are very complex,
nuanced stories that are kind of sticky, but we can
make it very transparent and very compelling through a series
(13:15):
like this.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Absolutely, and you also make it very what word is it?
Kind of You make it fun, but you also make
it for the civilian and also for somebody like you
don't need to be a genius to understand you. I mean,
it's educational.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And I'm certainly not a genius. I actually flunked science
in high school.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So well, and look where you are now, right for
that teacher who flunked.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You, do you know what I would say? I flunked myself,
but okay, well, but in the end I end ended
up doing very well in science yes.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Which obviously yes, but I think the fact that it's
very the show and I'm not I don't mean it's
like it's simple, but it's simplified, so anyone who's watching understands.
And it's just very relatable, and I really.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's supposed to be inspirationalist. And those inspirations fire you,
not to scare you, not at all those commercials and
you hear that you know the eyes of an angel,
and you right, you know, you grab your tissue and
you just want we want you to enjoy the journey.
It is very we fail at entertaining you. Yes, we
won't do well as a series, and we won't be
(14:21):
able to tell these stories. So you want, we want
you to feel like you're the sidekick. Adventure can be
like we're on the adventure with you.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So and actually, when that episode last night was done,
I wanted more so tell me how many episodes is
in this first season?
Speaker 3 (14:38):
We have over twenty episodes, okay that we have planned.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
It's a full season.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It's a full season, okay, And it's premiering January fourth,
it is right, that's a Saturday. So it's a perfect
way to start.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Off the eleven thirty on CBS, I believe, or something
like that. Right eron around there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We'll check local listings. Yeah, a local list Yes, when
the time comes, can you okay of the twenty episodes,
is everything shot yet or you're still working on it?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Oh? Okay, we've shot about We've shot four or five
of the episodes. Okay. Just a great episode in New
York on Sea Turtle Rescue, which probably I bet you
when you think of all the things that come to mind,
and you know, elegant and fancy Hampton's New York right
(15:29):
sag Harbor, what does not come to mind is endangered
Sea turtle Rescue ground zero. So we really reveal that story.
We work with Brady Hunter partners in an amazing animal
shelter story. So we've got those, and we've got some
great I know, we've got the sports things. We've got
sports things coming up in California. Right. So that's all
(15:51):
I can say is sports things, because I wouldn't know
the difference between a football and.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A basketball, I don't believe.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So that's why he can always en life. Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, we're excited to head out to to California tomorrow.
And you know through the Michigan world. You know, Jim
Harbaught such a great guy and he's now with the Chargers,
and he put us in touch with the Spanos family,
which are a very philanthropic, great family in Los Angeles
who owned the Chargers and they've had this program going
for twenty years where they buy bikes for underprivileged elementary schools.
(16:21):
And in recognition of the twentieth anniversary of this program,
we are creating four hundred bikes, were assembling them nice
and distributing them to t needy kids in Los Angeles
and it's called the Chargers Bikes for Kids program, And
so that's wonderful. We're excited about that one. And you know,
if your listeners don't know who doctor Kwan Stewart is,
I mean he just won this past year.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I know who he is, Okay.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
CNN Hero of the Year award and just a wonderful
guy who gives his time to help homeless people in
skid row and treats their animals for free.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And he was the.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
First person ever to win the award who took the
money he won and distributed it among his other participants.
I mean, that's many people here.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I don't think anyone else has ever done that. That
is a true hero.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
So we're doing a project with with him and then
doctor Evan Anton, who has won this Sexiest vet.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Of the Year awaye Yes, I interviewed it many years ago.
I think it was People Magazine Sexiest Vet. He was
a very good guy. It's funny.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Spent a lot of time with Evan and Kwan and
they're best friends. And you know, we're just the team
that we've assembled for this show and for these projects.
Are just all star people who truly care about the environment,
truly care about people, and truly care about animals. And
Jeff and I, you know, have hand selected these people
and it's just an all star team.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
No, it sounds like and you know you talk about
the Chargers, so I could see someone say, like, Jeff
Chargers basketball, what is that connection?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
It's basketball, right football?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
What connection is is they are building bikes so kids
can take side and when kids are outside and then
they're connected to nature. They don't have this nature deficit disorder,
which is a real thing. Get nine children the chance
to explore, discover, scrape their knees, get a magnifying glass,
(18:20):
watch a polywog turn into a Froglet sure exercise their
future scientific conservation muscles. So I'm excited about that because
that is a launch into a very serious story about
the store in California condors. I've said this numerous times.
You can't protect which you do not love or appreciate,
not appreciate it if you don't get that introduction. So
(18:43):
we make that connection with this project. And you are.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Also not limited to just the States. Well you have
the episode.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, you guys have some Africa.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, I know you. I know that Brady Hunter does
things around the world. Some of the episodes go out
of here or.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Possibly I mean, I think we're thinking and dreaming of
season two. You know that would be nice. But we
are in fourteen countries Brady Hunter, and we literally just
finished up building our own airplane in South Africa. That
is the Brady Hunter airplane that goes out to stop
poaching rhinos. And we met some great group in Africa
(19:23):
that has this AI technology that puts AI collars on
rhinoceros' elephants to track these elephants and it's been amazing
at protecting them. We met these great group of ex
military people in Africa that are using drone technology to
help using military tactics to prevent.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
The sayer them. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, we have a spe Spean neuter clinic in both Bogota,
Colombia and Indonesia that is controlling the pop population. And
I was thinking about Bob Barker recently and what a
pioneer he was.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
He was.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
I love that show growing up and watch it all.
I would like get on purpose and stay at.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Home watch it right, to watch the Prices right, and
it's a great show.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
You know. It was like he used to say every
single episode, please to your autist to control the population.
And that's it has to start there. Like you know, Jeff,
you tell your story about the one cat.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, one cat. One. So I just did a documentary
called Mission Rescue Expedition Hope could be Expedition Rescue, Mission
Hope one or the other. But where we go out
and we talk about how the Everglades is the dog
dump capital of the world where people abandoned these animals
thirty thousand. They end up getting eaten by gators and
(20:37):
pythons are shot when they go in to nurseries and
it then takes to abid in cats. And one cat
that isn't Spade has the ability in its life one
female cat to produce eleven million cats.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
And one cat feral cat can kill forty five thousands
on songbirds. And we have three bird extinctions that are
directly connected to feral cats. But we can manage that
population and keep it healthy because it's very hard to
take a feral cat and bring it inside. And we
(21:15):
worked with this group that does that, just rescuing cats,
getting them to second homes, but those unwanted cats, ensuring
that they have quality of life. But it's a you know,
these are big challenges we face. Sure there are huge
opportunities here. What I really like about Brady Hunter is
that I don't know if you know the world of NGOs,
(21:38):
but I've worked with every major NGO. I've been their
keynote speakers for fundraisers, and they have so much money,
which is so wonderful. And they have all that money
because they often don't spend that money, and when they
do it, they make it very hard. These use layers
of bureaucracy. You know it, Brady Hunter. It's a group
(22:00):
of people that care to think about it brainstorm.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And say let's do it right.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, that that's different.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yes, it's different, and I think it's very rare. How
large is Brady Hunter? Do you have a huge staff or.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I mean for a nonprofit that's about two years old. Yeah,
there's like twelve full time people. Again, I mean you
see most nonprofits it's like one person and.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, you know, but still twelve, that's not a lot
of each on a major and you know you have
thousands of.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
That's what I was gonna say for all the work
and all the stuff that you dig off New York
and d C. And yeah, I really did not expect
you to say twelve.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah you thought what. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I thought he was gonna say maybe fifty, maybe fifty. Yeah,
because they do a lot.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It's through these incredible partnerships that allow us to have
such a big reach that incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
They do this. So they'll reach out to a group
like South Florida Wildlife Center that is on the front
lines and instead of saying, you know, take can always.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Like what do you need, what do you need right?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
What do you need now right? Instead of saying, apply
for a grant and we'll go through that and it goes.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
And then we'll tell you what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Right here it is, and and you know, it's just
like that, what do you want to do? I want
to make a show about this?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
All right, Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, it's why it's it's very rare. You're a very
rare person, Josh, but a very good person.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
You know tomorrow isn't guaranteed, and so it's really about
what can we do today?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
But many people don't have that attitude.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I think, right, Jeff, I think, I think I've made
a big discovery in my life. And that is the
greatest obstacle to achieving conservation, achieving change, actually moving the
dial is a sense of feeling powerless, to feel like
(23:55):
you do not have inner power that you can exercise,
and that is the the greatest advocate and tool in
the toolbox for those challenges is to realize you have
power and you exercise that at the ballot box, at
your local school board, in your supermarket, when you decide
what protein you're going to buy, or this that NGOs,
(24:18):
you support the local wildlife center, and you become an
incredibly powerful person. You can watch a show and say, well,
I'm not a veterinarian. I don't you know. But one
guy we connected within our show, he's not a veterinarian,
he's not a wildlife expert, he's not a marine biologist.
But you know what he is. He's a pilot and
he has a plane, right, And he donated his plane
(24:40):
and he picked up thirty two endangered sea turtles and
flew them to the New York Marine Rescue Center from
the Sea Turtle Hospital at the New England Aquarium. He saved.
He was a part of that front lines war to
save a critically and danger group of sea turtle species. Right.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, No, it's true. I mean I think it's the
same as because some people always say, well I'm just
one person. Well I want to get a dog. Well
you know what, if you rescue one dog, it saves
two dogs.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Right, or if you don't, you don't have to rescue
a dog. Right.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah. I mean we're getting people to foster dogs.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
That's great to take them in for a short Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
But it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Like the conversion is if you do foster, a lot
of times they do adopt that dog.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah, you're failed foster.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
There'sh lots of groups. I mean I found this group
in Los Angeles. They literally walk the dogs in the
parks in Los Angeles, Like they literally walk fifty dogs
at a time.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
And sometimes it's just getting the dogs out and getting
but sometimes they literally have people approach them and they
say is that dog? Yeah, yeah, option, yeah, So it's
a double positive. Like they walk the dogs, give them exercise,
give them fresh air, and then give them a chance
to be adopted while people see them.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, And that's you're right, And it just takes I mean,
it's just more proof that you can do it as
one person. It's it's not it's like you said before.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, And in the end, as anyone who knows who
has a deep connection to philanthropy, and we've all experienced this,
when you give.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
You really get, you get of course.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
You know it's it's a great reward when you feel
like you've done something good and you've helped someone out,
or you've helped an animal out, it can forever change
your life and provide your owns. So when we saved
the world, we're not only restoring wild places and endangered
species and imperiled pets on the brink, but in the end,
(26:40):
we give ourselves redemption. Sure we all the awful things
we've done.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You don't, but you feel good. But it also makes
you feel good when you do nice things for people.
It makes you feel good.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Do you know the starfish story?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
No, tell me, I don't, Okay, do tell Josh.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
It's it's it's a fable, it's a story, but it's
literally everything we were just discussing, and it's been with
me for decades. It's the story of two people walking
down a beach. They turn the corner and they see
tens of thousands of starfish dying on the beach because
it's warm and they can't get back into the water.
And they're horrified that all these fish are starfish are dying.
(27:19):
And one person goes down and throws the starfish into
the water, throws another starfish into the water, and the
other person says, what are you doing? He says, I'm
saving starfish. He says, but there's so many, you can't
possibly save them all. And he grabs another one and
throws it in, and grabs another one and throws it in.
It's just an incredible story of every starfish matters, one
at a time, you know, And if we look at
(27:41):
life and say, oh my god, there's tens of thousands
of starfish or whatever it is that we can't save them.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
All.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
That may be true, but every life matters, and every
starfish that goes back in the water is another one
and another.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Sure, sure you could.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Look at like bald eagles. Bald eagles who are reduced
to sixty six and now there are tens of thousands,
they're no longer an endangered species. And the state of
New York thirty years ago there was only one pair
of bald eagle left and now there are hundreds of
bald eagles just in New York, maybe thousands. It's to
(28:15):
that exactly, that that concept that Josh touched on. It's like,
you may not think that matters, it makes a difference,
but you could build and grow and stain and save
a species.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, so you should never hesitate for someone who's.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Ever give up. That was a big lesson we have
in our show, just filmed a few days ago, a
sea turtle that arrived rescued on the beach and endangered
and threatened green sea turtle ice cold, no heart beat,
not a breath, and I'm like, does it get a
knee cropsy. Do we donate it to a university? Says well,
I'm just going to keep it in a box think
(28:52):
about it. And the next morning she came in and
it had a heartbeat, one beat permanent, and then that
turned into five beats per minute. And then I checked
in that seat turtle swim and ate, Wow, an unlucky
piece of shrimp out of my hands. That sea turtle
will survive anybody, That sea turtle is going to survive. Yes,
(29:16):
because someone exercised their power.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Of course, and gave it a chance and gave it
a chance. Yeah. Yeah, just like the two of you.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
That is literally the show that it is the show.
The show is to educate, inspire and get people to
want to do something that makes a difference. That's the
whole show.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well, we're looking forward to the next episodes and all
of the episodes, and I mean there were just so
many organizations in so many places that I think the
two of you will be at. And I don't think
this will be a one, two three season show, Like
I think this is going to go on forever. No,
(29:58):
I mean, i'd be funny about it. I just think
it will keep going on.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
There's so many amazing stories.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
But yeah, there are so many stories exactly, and both
of you, I think your hearts are in the right place.
So I just feel like it's win win.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
It is and for me at this point in my
career and where I'm at, my wife and my kids
have taught me to do this. My daughter is just
like enjoy and today it's like, instead of overthinking about
what are we going to do tomorrow and this which
inevitably you will do, to take stop of today like
last night, I went to bed and I slept, taught
(30:31):
him like, this was a great day. Launched our series,
people got to see it. We're on that the precipice
of success and pioneering this new concept. So it's just, yeah,
I can't wait to see what's going to come up.
Really happy with what we've done so far.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, that's great and we're really happy that you're doing it.
So Josh does Brady Hunter take donations if someone's listening
and said, you know what they do such amazing work
and I want to do something.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
We haven't today, but the goals that we have will
require us to start doing that, and we just decided
recently that we do want to take donations because there's
no way that we can continue to self fund this
thing with the goals that we have, right you know, Like,
so yeah, it's Bradyhunter dot org. And you know, we
really need support from the public, from volunteers, from donations
(31:19):
and things like that. So whatever you can do, even
if you can't donate, Like we have a volunteer part
of our website where we have hundreds and hundreds of
people we have. What's what I love the most is
we have these big corporations now that are working with
us and they're allowing their employees to come out on
a group level. From a corporate standpoint. Bloomingdale's is working
(31:39):
with us. They donated stuff from the stores and they
came out with employees to one of our events recently.
Target I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Major corporations that are are.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Understanding the social responsibility and wanting to teach their employees
about how to give back.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Like this is the.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Big thing that Brady Hunter has been getting is these
corporate sponsors that have been giving their employees time.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, no, that's big, that's big. So Bradyhunter dot org.
Thank you, Josh Fox and Jeff Corwin. Extraordinary World premiering
January fourth, twenty twenty five, Saturday morning. Check your localist.
Things coming very very soon. Thank you both for being here.
I'm so excited to have met you, and I look
forward to all of the episodes coming. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Thank you very much, Thanks for all you do.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Thank you, thank you,
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Maria's MutS and Stuff. It's a very special
edition because I have guests with me in the studio,
not one, but two, and they are actually physically here.
I have Jeff Corwin, who is a wildlife conservationist and
we know him because we all grew up with him
and he grew up with us many many many years
being on TV and promoting wildlife. And Josh Fox, who
(00:33):
is with the Brady Hunter Foundation. He is the CEO
and the founder of it. And together Extraordinary World. Is
there a new show that's coming to CBS in January
half hour on Saturday morning, Educational. So welcome first of
all for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Thank you, thank you, thank.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
You, thank you. So first of all, Jeff, you've been
doing this such a long time. When you were a kid,
is this what you always wanted to do? Like, what
did you want to be when you were a kid.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It is very much the man of the station of
all the fits and gray hairs and twitching eyes that
my parents accrued from a kid bringing home every critter
he could find, trying to save the planet. This was
what I wanted to be. When I was it my
grandmother's backyard. I was six years old and I found
(01:19):
a garter snake and that was my gateway that was
into this journey. And by the time I was sixteen,
I was living in a rainforest and created a conservation
organization to protect rainforest. And then got my first TV
gig when I was twenty four, and that was the
light bulb clicking moment with the Bob Ballard was a
(01:39):
big explorer, featured my work, and then I had to
do the really hard work, the hustle, which was to
crystallize my idea and make others believe that it was doable,
and then got the break on Animal Planet Actually No,
Disney Channel was my first series in like nineteen ninety seven,
and then it's been like that. I'm on my fourth
(02:02):
this is I think my fourteenth or fifteenth television series. Yeah,
you've done a lot, and it's it's a wonderful It's
it's at where I am now in my career. It
really is an awesome vehicle to distill my mission, which
is not just about nature and wildlife and conservation, but
(02:23):
the human component, the cultural component, and how we all
depend on these resources. So Brady Hunter Foundation is really
a perfect partner to tell this series. And I've never
been in a CBS, been an NBC. I've hit a
series many years in ABC, so I get to come
full circle. It's like this is the palliative care part
of my career. So it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
That's excellent And Brady Hunter. Of course, probably people assume
it's after it's named after a person, which it is not,
So Josh explain the name. Well, it kind of is,
it kind of is.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
But yeah, University of Michigan was a big part of
my life growing up, you know, grad from from a
proud school, and I was at Michigan very similar years
as Tom Brady. We all have come to love and
respect him. And eighteen years ago I got a dog
and named him Brady and he did live sixteen great
years and when.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
He passed it's a long life.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, he was the cause and the impetus to start
the foundation. I wanted to do something in his memory
and his honor. And Hunter has been his brother and
my other dog. And what a great name for a
foundation and the dogs that have affected me most in
such a positive way.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, No, it's a perfect name, and.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's important to you for sure, right the tea mission.
So it's a beautiful it's perfect, it's the perfect umbrella.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And so how did the two of you meet? How
did you two get together?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Well? I was a keynote speaking at a Foundation Galla
event and some of the team members of Brady Hunter
approached me. I was in a series focusing on the
wilds of Florida and the challenges of protecting wildfloor and
they wanted to be a part of it. We began
brainstorming and I said, well, I think we've got enough
(04:05):
here to create something unique and different, and we may
have an opportunity with CBS, and our partners are underlying
sort of foundational partners, Hurst Media Production Group, which is
kind of a you know, kind of a blue ribbon
media company, and I'm like, let's see if we can
line this up. And we had many meetings and dinners
(04:29):
and brainstorming sessions and finally got to that place where
we came up with the concept that that they felt
was really the tenor of who they are that I
felt I could have a connection to. And it also
a project that would allow me to exercise new muscles
and areas that I don't particularly dance in, areas of
(04:51):
human uplift stories or I've never done anything on domesticated animals,
dogs and cats and horses, so that's very much a
part of our show. It's kind of like a triangle.
It's nature, animal welfare and advocacy and the uplift People stories.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Sure, now, with the Uplift People stories, was it a
little bit uncomfortable or did you feel like because it
was new territory for you?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
It was not uncomfortable. I've done I've been a journalist
that covered journalism environmental stuff for CNN and CBS and
NBC and other lives, so it was not a hard
thing for me to do, but it was also refreshing
for me. It was something different. If you said, hey,
(05:37):
let's do something on alligators, well, I can guarantee you
I've been doing alligator stories right, very very long time.
Been to Australia sixty five times to do something on
wilds in Australia, which is great. But I've never been
to a neighborhood in the middle of the city in
the urban environment to work with folks that are financially
strapped that need things to help, right, their pets so
(05:58):
they can all stay together as a family. It was
a Brady Hunter project which through the craft of television
and creativity of production, we're able to turn that in
a really compelling story. And what's wonderful about these episodes,
it's kind of this balance. It's a plate. You know,
you have the protein, you have the vegetables and the carbs,
(06:20):
and you like the animal story and you get the
people's story, and you get the nature story. Right, and
that's and many and these are often important stories to
Brady Hunter Foundation.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Sure. And I mean if anyone who's listening goes to
Bradyhunter dot org, I mean the list is just endless
of how many people that you help and how many organizations,
I mean big brothers, big sisters. I saw the Pete
Alonzo for the local met fans, pet Alonzo's Foundation, Ronald
McDonald house, So it's it's like you said, it's not
(06:52):
just animal organizations, but it's also people.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I mean going to Michigan, I've always had a
massive love of sports, and I thought if we could
do these interesting projects with these wonderful sports figures like
you mentioned Pete Alonzo, who is beloved the last bunch
of months in New York City. Haley and Pete Alonzo,
his wife, are huge animal lovers, and they came out
with this incredible announcement in the beginning of this past
(07:16):
season in baseball where for every home run that he hit,
they were going to donate one thousand dollars to animal shelters.
And we saw this story at the Brady Hunter Foundation
and said, wow, we would love to match that thousand dollars.
And he ended up hitting forty three home runs this year,
and so I think him and I'm pretty sure Steve Cohen,
the owner, also matched his contribution, and then Brady Hunter
(07:38):
came in, so I think it was three thousand dollars
per forty three home amazing. And you know, Pete and
Haley are just incredible human beings, right.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And so were you because for what you do and
you two as well. Jeff, I'll take it all right,
I'll take the compliment. But it's true.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It's true.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We need more people like both of you in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
We did also something interesting in the Olympics this year.
You know, we saw the men fighting for the gold
medal and a lot of them have foundations that helped children, right,
and so we reached out. We started with bam Adebayo,
who is the star of the Miami Heat, and they
connected us to other players like Stefan Curry and Joel
Embiid and we ended up donating money to each of
(08:16):
the foundations of the NBA Gold medalists as they won
the gold medal. And I don't know if you know
this or your listeners knew this, but the gold medal
was won on August tenth, twenty twenty four, which is
eight ten, twenty four, and those were the exact numbers
that Kobe Bryant wore throughout his career. Like, what are
the chances it gives you the chill?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, it does. You just gave me the chills.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Actually, the exact date that they won the gold medal
this year in the Olympics was the exact numbers that
Kobe Bryant wore in his career eight ten and twenty four.
So in memory of Kobe, we ended up donating twenty
four thousand dollars to each of those foundations.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
And literally just last week we were out in San
Francisco with Stefan Curry, who's you know, one of the
biggest stars of the corners Earth and they did the
Cais Christmas and we were out there supporting them in that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's wonderful. Yeah, I still have a chill from that,
by the way. Yeah, that's really wonderful. Well, let's talk
about extraordinary world. So I was lucky that I got
to see the first episode and I love it. And well,
the first episode takes place with the South Florida Wildlife Center,
a great.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Group that I've worked with many times over the years.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yet and is that what made you decide to do
the first episode there?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, it was again that that serendipity and cross pollination opportunity,
which is Brady Hunter worked with them and providing an
ambulance for their work and animal rescue. They get tens
and tens of thousands of calls every year in Floridas.
Wild Florida disappears to make room for the two thousand
(09:47):
people that move there every day, a little piece of
nature goes away forever and the casualties of this are
the animals. So we got to be a part of it.
And what was fun about this is we got to
focus in on the those charismatic, endangered or imperiled species
like over tortoises and burrowing owls, but got to highlight
(10:08):
the plight of creatures that are every day that we
kind of look beyond but we don't realize are a
part of the wild fabric, like squirrels. Like squirrels, I
was gonna say, so we squirrels to talk about. Even
something is people could say, well, why would you want
to save a squirrel? Well, squirrels are integral and seed
dispersal in being an important resource for birds of prey,
(10:29):
all sorts of animals. So that was a great experience
to have in Florida and then have that launch into
this amazing story the human component m h about a
woman who has dedicated her life and her expertise as
a therapist saving animals, farm animals that have been brought
(10:49):
to the brink, that have come to the end of
the road heading off to slaughter. Yeah, she rescues them.
A horse burned and a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That one also gave me chills and almost that made
me to tear up to see that horse. It was hard,
I mean happy for him, but it was heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, but that horse survived beyond what anyone thought it could, right,
and lives a quality healthy life and works with soldiers
that have PTSD and trauma for war, and so we
can find these stories. You know, Brady Hunter has this
great beach clean up program with their partners down there,
(11:27):
and we got to feature that and really tell the
story how plastics. We collectively dump ten billion pounds of
plastics into our oceans every year. One plastic water bottle,
which gives you an hour of hydration at best, we'll
spend two hundred years in a landfill. How does that
(11:50):
impact nature? How do we fix that and change that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, And it's interesting about the water bottles because I
always think about that when you see trash just in
the street and people don't realize like that will eventually
wind up in the ocean in water somewhere, or it's
going to wind up in a landfill or not end
up as microplastics.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And yeah, Josh and I we were walking on the
beach doing the segment, and I was like, holy crap,
just picking up the sand and looking what looked like beautiful,
perfect jewels of sand. Are little round bits of facial
scrubs and cosmetic scrubs and the individual round shapes that
come from insulation and stuff like that you can never
(12:33):
get that out exactly. And so now all of that
stuff has not only made itself a part of the
substrate of our oceans, the coasts of our oceans, but
now has become a part of the building block of nature.
The trophic steps that takes energy from one life home
to another. That plastic goes with it. So seventy percent
(12:55):
of all our marine birds, whether you're in Chennai, India,
or you're in Harbormain or off of Costa Rica, has
plastics in it. Right. And these these are very complex,
nuanced stories that are kind of sticky, but we can
make it very transparent and very compelling through a series
(13:15):
like this.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Absolutely, and you also make it very what word is it?
Kind of You make it fun, but you also make
it for the civilian and also for somebody like you
don't need to be a genius to understand you. I mean,
it's educational.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And I'm certainly not a genius. I actually flunked science
in high school.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So well, and look where you are now, right for
that teacher who flunked.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You, do you know what I would say? I flunked myself,
but okay, well, but in the end I end ended
up doing very well in science yes.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Which obviously yes, but I think the fact that it's
very the show and I'm not I don't mean it's
like it's simple, but it's simplified, so anyone who's watching understands.
And it's just very relatable, and I really.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's supposed to be inspirationalist. And those inspirations fire you,
not to scare you, not at all those commercials and
you hear that you know the eyes of an angel,
and you right, you know, you grab your tissue and
you just want we want you to enjoy the journey.
It is very we fail at entertaining you. Yes, we
won't do well as a series, and we won't be
(14:21):
able to tell these stories. So you want, we want
you to feel like you're the sidekick. Adventure can be
like we're on the adventure with you.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So and actually, when that episode last night was done,
I wanted more so tell me how many episodes is
in this first season?
Speaker 3 (14:38):
We have over twenty episodes, okay that we have planned.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
It's a full season.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It's a full season, okay, And it's premiering January fourth,
it is right, that's a Saturday. So it's a perfect
way to start.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Off the eleven thirty on CBS, I believe, or something
like that. Right eron around there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We'll check local listings. Yeah, a local list Yes, when
the time comes, can you okay of the twenty episodes,
is everything shot yet or you're still working on it?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Oh? Okay, we've shot about We've shot four or five
of the episodes. Okay. Just a great episode in New
York on Sea Turtle Rescue, which probably I bet you
when you think of all the things that come to mind,
and you know, elegant and fancy Hampton's New York right
(15:29):
sag Harbor, what does not come to mind is endangered
Sea turtle Rescue ground zero. So we really reveal that story.
We work with Brady Hunter partners in an amazing animal
shelter story. So we've got those, and we've got some
great I know, we've got the sports things. We've got
sports things coming up in California. Right. So that's all
(15:51):
I can say is sports things, because I wouldn't know
the difference between a football and.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A basketball, I don't believe.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So that's why he can always en life. Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, we're excited to head out to to California tomorrow.
And you know through the Michigan world. You know, Jim
Harbaught such a great guy and he's now with the Chargers,
and he put us in touch with the Spanos family,
which are a very philanthropic, great family in Los Angeles
who owned the Chargers and they've had this program going
for twenty years where they buy bikes for underprivileged elementary schools.
(16:21):
And in recognition of the twentieth anniversary of this program,
we are creating four hundred bikes, were assembling them nice
and distributing them to t needy kids in Los Angeles
and it's called the Chargers Bikes for Kids program, And
so that's wonderful. We're excited about that one. And you know,
if your listeners don't know who doctor Kwan Stewart is,
I mean he just won this past year.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I know who he is, Okay.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
CNN Hero of the Year award and just a wonderful
guy who gives his time to help homeless people in
skid row and treats their animals for free.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And he was the.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
First person ever to win the award who took the
money he won and distributed it among his other participants.
I mean, that's many people here.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I don't think anyone else has ever done that. That
is a true hero.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
So we're doing a project with with him and then
doctor Evan Anton, who has won this Sexiest vet.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Of the Year awaye Yes, I interviewed it many years ago.
I think it was People Magazine Sexiest Vet. He was
a very good guy. It's funny.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Spent a lot of time with Evan and Kwan and
they're best friends. And you know, we're just the team
that we've assembled for this show and for these projects.
Are just all star people who truly care about the environment,
truly care about people, and truly care about animals. And
Jeff and I, you know, have hand selected these people
and it's just an all star team.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
No, it sounds like and you know you talk about
the Chargers, so I could see someone say, like, Jeff
Chargers basketball, what is that connection?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
It's basketball, right football?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
What connection is is they are building bikes so kids
can take side and when kids are outside and then
they're connected to nature. They don't have this nature deficit disorder,
which is a real thing. Get nine children the chance
to explore, discover, scrape their knees, get a magnifying glass,
(18:20):
watch a polywog turn into a Froglet sure exercise their
future scientific conservation muscles. So I'm excited about that because
that is a launch into a very serious story about
the store in California condors. I've said this numerous times.
You can't protect which you do not love or appreciate,
not appreciate it if you don't get that introduction. So
(18:43):
we make that connection with this project. And you are.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Also not limited to just the States. Well you have
the episode.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, you guys have some Africa.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, I know you. I know that Brady Hunter does
things around the world. Some of the episodes go out
of here or.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Possibly I mean, I think we're thinking and dreaming of
season two. You know that would be nice. But we
are in fourteen countries Brady Hunter, and we literally just
finished up building our own airplane in South Africa. That
is the Brady Hunter airplane that goes out to stop
poaching rhinos. And we met some great group in Africa
(19:23):
that has this AI technology that puts AI collars on
rhinoceros' elephants to track these elephants and it's been amazing
at protecting them. We met these great group of ex
military people in Africa that are using drone technology to
help using military tactics to prevent.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
The sayer them. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, we have a spe Spean neuter clinic in both Bogota,
Colombia and Indonesia that is controlling the pop population. And
I was thinking about Bob Barker recently and what a
pioneer he was.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
He was.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
I love that show growing up and watch it all.
I would like get on purpose and stay at.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Home watch it right, to watch the Prices right, and
it's a great show.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
You know. It was like he used to say every
single episode, please to your autist to control the population.
And that's it has to start there. Like you know, Jeff,
you tell your story about the one cat.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, one cat. One. So I just did a documentary
called Mission Rescue Expedition Hope could be Expedition Rescue, Mission
Hope one or the other. But where we go out
and we talk about how the Everglades is the dog
dump capital of the world where people abandoned these animals
thirty thousand. They end up getting eaten by gators and
(20:37):
pythons are shot when they go in to nurseries and
it then takes to abid in cats. And one cat
that isn't Spade has the ability in its life one
female cat to produce eleven million cats.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
And one cat feral cat can kill forty five thousands
on songbirds. And we have three bird extinctions that are
directly connected to feral cats. But we can manage that
population and keep it healthy because it's very hard to
take a feral cat and bring it inside. And we
(21:15):
worked with this group that does that, just rescuing cats,
getting them to second homes, but those unwanted cats, ensuring
that they have quality of life. But it's a you know,
these are big challenges we face. Sure there are huge
opportunities here. What I really like about Brady Hunter is
that I don't know if you know the world of NGOs,
(21:38):
but I've worked with every major NGO. I've been their
keynote speakers for fundraisers, and they have so much money,
which is so wonderful. And they have all that money
because they often don't spend that money, and when they
do it, they make it very hard. These use layers
of bureaucracy. You know it, Brady Hunter. It's a group
(22:00):
of people that care to think about it brainstorm.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And say let's do it right.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, that that's different.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yes, it's different, and I think it's very rare. How
large is Brady Hunter? Do you have a huge staff or.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I mean for a nonprofit that's about two years old. Yeah,
there's like twelve full time people. Again, I mean you
see most nonprofits it's like one person and.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, you know, but still twelve, that's not a lot
of each on a major and you know you have
thousands of.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
That's what I was gonna say for all the work
and all the stuff that you dig off New York
and d C. And yeah, I really did not expect
you to say twelve.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah you thought what. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I thought he was gonna say maybe fifty, maybe fifty. Yeah,
because they do a lot.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It's through these incredible partnerships that allow us to have
such a big reach that incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
They do this. So they'll reach out to a group
like South Florida Wildlife Center that is on the front
lines and instead of saying, you know, take can always.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Like what do you need, what do you need right?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
What do you need now right? Instead of saying, apply
for a grant and we'll go through that and it goes.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
And then we'll tell you what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Right here it is, and and you know, it's just
like that, what do you want to do? I want
to make a show about this?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
All right, Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, it's why it's it's very rare. You're a very
rare person, Josh, but a very good person.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
You know tomorrow isn't guaranteed, and so it's really about
what can we do today?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
But many people don't have that attitude.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I think, right, Jeff, I think, I think I've made
a big discovery in my life. And that is the
greatest obstacle to achieving conservation, achieving change, actually moving the
dial is a sense of feeling powerless, to feel like
(23:55):
you do not have inner power that you can exercise,
and that is the the greatest advocate and tool in
the toolbox for those challenges is to realize you have
power and you exercise that at the ballot box, at
your local school board, in your supermarket, when you decide
what protein you're going to buy, or this that NGOs,
(24:18):
you support the local wildlife center, and you become an
incredibly powerful person. You can watch a show and say, well,
I'm not a veterinarian. I don't you know. But one
guy we connected within our show, he's not a veterinarian,
he's not a wildlife expert, he's not a marine biologist.
But you know what he is. He's a pilot and
he has a plane, right, And he donated his plane
(24:40):
and he picked up thirty two endangered sea turtles and
flew them to the New York Marine Rescue Center from
the Sea Turtle Hospital at the New England Aquarium. He saved.
He was a part of that front lines war to
save a critically and danger group of sea turtle species. Right.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, No, it's true. I mean I think it's the
same as because some people always say, well I'm just
one person. Well I want to get a dog. Well
you know what, if you rescue one dog, it saves
two dogs.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Right, or if you don't, you don't have to rescue
a dog. Right.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah. I mean we're getting people to foster dogs.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
That's great to take them in for a short Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
But it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Like the conversion is if you do foster, a lot
of times they do adopt that dog.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah, you're failed foster.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
There'sh lots of groups. I mean I found this group
in Los Angeles. They literally walk the dogs in the
parks in Los Angeles, Like they literally walk fifty dogs
at a time.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
And sometimes it's just getting the dogs out and getting
but sometimes they literally have people approach them and they
say is that dog? Yeah, yeah, option, yeah, So it's
a double positive. Like they walk the dogs, give them exercise,
give them fresh air, and then give them a chance
to be adopted while people see them.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, And that's you're right, And it just takes I mean,
it's just more proof that you can do it as
one person. It's it's not it's like you said before.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, And in the end, as anyone who knows who
has a deep connection to philanthropy, and we've all experienced this,
when you give.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
You really get, you get of course.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
You know it's it's a great reward when you feel
like you've done something good and you've helped someone out,
or you've helped an animal out, it can forever change
your life and provide your owns. So when we saved
the world, we're not only restoring wild places and endangered
species and imperiled pets on the brink, but in the end,
(26:40):
we give ourselves redemption. Sure we all the awful things
we've done.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You don't, but you feel good. But it also makes
you feel good when you do nice things for people.
It makes you feel good.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Do you know the starfish story?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
No, tell me, I don't, Okay, do tell Josh.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
It's it's it's a fable, it's a story, but it's
literally everything we were just discussing, and it's been with
me for decades. It's the story of two people walking
down a beach. They turn the corner and they see
tens of thousands of starfish dying on the beach because
it's warm and they can't get back into the water.
And they're horrified that all these fish are starfish are dying.
(27:19):
And one person goes down and throws the starfish into
the water, throws another starfish into the water, and the
other person says, what are you doing? He says, I'm
saving starfish. He says, but there's so many, you can't
possibly save them all. And he grabs another one and
throws it in, and grabs another one and throws it in.
It's just an incredible story of every starfish matters, one
at a time, you know, And if we look at
(27:41):
life and say, oh my god, there's tens of thousands
of starfish or whatever it is that we can't save them.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
All.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
That may be true, but every life matters, and every
starfish that goes back in the water is another one
and another.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Sure, sure you could.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Look at like bald eagles. Bald eagles who are reduced
to sixty six and now there are tens of thousands,
they're no longer an endangered species. And the state of
New York thirty years ago there was only one pair
of bald eagle left and now there are hundreds of
bald eagles just in New York, maybe thousands. It's to
(28:15):
that exactly, that that concept that Josh touched on. It's like,
you may not think that matters, it makes a difference,
but you could build and grow and stain and save
a species.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, so you should never hesitate for someone who's.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Ever give up. That was a big lesson we have
in our show, just filmed a few days ago, a
sea turtle that arrived rescued on the beach and endangered
and threatened green sea turtle ice cold, no heart beat,
not a breath, and I'm like, does it get a
knee cropsy. Do we donate it to a university? Says well,
I'm just going to keep it in a box think
(28:52):
about it. And the next morning she came in and
it had a heartbeat, one beat permanent, and then that
turned into five beats per minute. And then I checked
in that seat turtle swim and ate, Wow, an unlucky
piece of shrimp out of my hands. That sea turtle
will survive anybody, That sea turtle is going to survive. Yes,
(29:16):
because someone exercised their power.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Of course, and gave it a chance and gave it
a chance. Yeah. Yeah, just like the two of you.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
That is literally the show that it is the show.
The show is to educate, inspire and get people to
want to do something that makes a difference. That's the
whole show.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well, we're looking forward to the next episodes and all
of the episodes, and I mean there were just so
many organizations in so many places that I think the
two of you will be at. And I don't think
this will be a one, two three season show, Like
I think this is going to go on forever. No,
(29:58):
I mean, i'd be funny about it. I just think
it will keep going on.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
There's so many amazing stories.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
But yeah, there are so many stories exactly, and both
of you, I think your hearts are in the right place.
So I just feel like it's win win.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
It is and for me at this point in my
career and where I'm at, my wife and my kids
have taught me to do this. My daughter is just
like enjoy and today it's like, instead of overthinking about
what are we going to do tomorrow and this which
inevitably you will do, to take stop of today like
last night, I went to bed and I slept, taught
(30:31):
him like, this was a great day. Launched our series,
people got to see it. We're on that the precipice
of success and pioneering this new concept. So it's just, yeah,
I can't wait to see what's going to come up.
Really happy with what we've done so far.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, that's great and we're really happy that you're doing it.
So Josh does Brady Hunter take donations if someone's listening
and said, you know what they do such amazing work
and I want to do something.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
We haven't today, but the goals that we have will
require us to start doing that, and we just decided
recently that we do want to take donations because there's
no way that we can continue to self fund this
thing with the goals that we have, right you know, Like,
so yeah, it's Bradyhunter dot org. And you know, we
really need support from the public, from volunteers, from donations
(31:19):
and things like that. So whatever you can do, even
if you can't donate, Like we have a volunteer part
of our website where we have hundreds and hundreds of
people we have. What's what I love the most is
we have these big corporations now that are working with
us and they're allowing their employees to come out on
a group level. From a corporate standpoint. Bloomingdale's is working
(31:39):
with us. They donated stuff from the stores and they
came out with employees to one of our events recently.
Target I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Major corporations that are are.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Understanding the social responsibility and wanting to teach their employees
about how to give back.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Like this is the.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Big thing that Brady Hunter has been getting is these
corporate sponsors that have been giving their employees time.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, no, that's big, that's big. So Bradyhunter dot org.
Thank you, Josh Fox and Jeff Corwin. Extraordinary World premiering
January fourth, twenty twenty five, Saturday morning. Check your localist.
Things coming very very soon. Thank you both for being here.
I'm so excited to have met you, and I look
forward to all of the episodes coming. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Thank you very much, Thanks for all you do.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Thank you, thank you,
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