In Conversation with Sir David Attenborough

The iconic voice of Sir David Attenborough.

By Lisa Alexander

To me, Sir David Attenborough is the voice of Mother Earth. From Netflix's Our Planet, to the iconic Planet Earth documentaries, to his Life Collection that our parents grew up with, Sir David Attenborough uses his regal voice to simply yet intricately describe awe-inspiring acts of nature caught on film. So, as I tuned into the live zoom lecture "Conversations with Sir David Attenborough" on Easter morning, I wasn't expecting to see him answering questions in what looked like the corner of a public library. I was expecting something as enigmatic as what I've always associated him with. Instead, the interview was an intimate conversation with one of the most influential voices of our time. 

The conversation covered shifts in conservationism to the UN's 26th Climate Change Conference and everything in between. The question, "what conservationist story inspires you?" stood out to me as Attenborough responded, not surprisingly, with Jane Goodall. However, it was surprising that though Jane Goodall is a world-renowned heroine for her commitment to understanding and advocating for chimpanzees, Sir David spoke of her as a good friend. A friend he admired because he could never find time to meet with her, as she never stopped jetting, working to save chimpanzees. 

This was also my first time hearing Sir David Attenborough converse rather than narrate. Yet, he still spoke with his iconic style and colloquialism. He described friends as "remarkable characters," took long, poignant pauses, and told stories with dazzling imagery, making even the most informal sentence powerful. His parlance is what us mere mortals only wish we could muster once in a lifetime, let alone have as our default.

This common theme that these gods amongst men are men stood out to me, and I'm sure most of the audience. I know how cliche, right? But Sir David, no matter how eloquent, is a man. Jane Goodall, no matter how relentless, is a friend. This theme sat as a reminder of how powerful the individual can be, a reminder that we all have a voice that can stand for something important, just like Sir David Attenborough.