Midweek Mention... Project Nim

Chimp genius or 70s hubris in a suede jacket? We dive into James Marsh’s Project Nim—the wild “let’s raise a chimp as a human” saga aimed at dunking on Noam/“Nim” Chomsky and proving apes can master language. What we actually get: sex-commune vibes, bad science, worse ethics, and one heartbreakingly charismatic chimp shunted between indulgent “parents,” media circuses, and grim laboratories.

We talk:

• Language vs mimicry: 120+ signs learned…or just expert begging?
• The ‘parents’: breast-feeding (!) and a roll-call of under-qualified carers.
• The professor: comb-over, cameras, and conclusions that nuke the funding.
• LEMSIP hell: cages, needles, PR panic—and the stoner saint Bob who actually cares.
• Violence & inevitability: cute baby ➝ teen primate with seven-men strength.
• Ethics, then and now: where the line is (and how far they trampled past it).

Bits that floored us

• The throwaway “I breastfed him.”
• Documenting Nim’s Oedipal…metrics.
• A “sanctuary” with horses and one lonely chimp.
• A finale that’s “interesting,” not “enjoyable.”

Verdict (Bad Dads split decision)

Fascinating, infuriating, essential—a five-alarm case study in how not to do science. Watch it, rage at it, then argue about animal testing like we did.

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