This podcast is trying to sully that reputation and make a lot of jokes at the expense of this great life’s work.In 1972 Dr. Patterson is brilliant and her work is extraordinary. Although Project Koko was not without flaws, Dr. When I asked Lauren Ober about the many inaccuracies of this podcast she said, “The facts are unimpeachable.” Many of her facts are demonstrably wrong. Although the podcast makes clear that the Penny lives in a rented home and has worn the same lab coat for 50 years. Francine Patterson is some kind of Elizabeth Holmes bilking the public out of billions of dollars to support her own lavish lifestyle. This podcast would have you believe that Koko was abused sexually, and placed at physical risk, even though Koko lived a long ,healthy, happy life. Because Koko learned to communicate, we know for a fact that animals are capable of much more than was previously thought possible. Before Koko, it was believed that Man was the only animal capable of conceiving of things remote in time and space. The apes were never abandoned or lonely or sad and miserable prisoners as this podcast would have you believe. Penny Patterson built a beautiful and spacious home for the gorillas. Patterson NEVER abandoned Koko and the work of The Gorilla Foundation. Each of these ended badly for the apes involved when the projects were ended the apes sent to various facilities. When she began her project there were several language projects going on. Penny Patterson devoted her life to her work with Koko.

I was interviewed for many hours but was only quoted briefly out of context for sensationalist effect. From the very beginning of the first of the eight episodes of this podcast, it is clear that Lauren Ober disapproves of the Gorilla Foundation and its work. This is a journalistic project.” This was false. Lauren Ober told me, “We don't have a point of view as this is a 360-degree look at the life and times of Koko. Because I worked at the Gorilla Foundation for many years with Koko, Michael and Ndume, I was asked to participate in this podcast and I agreed as long as this podcast did not have a particular pre-determined agenda. Lauren Ober criticizes The Gorilla Foundation for using celebrities to further Penny Paterson’s evil agenda, while this podcast makes a point of interviewing William Shatner who knew Koko for one hour. She criticizes the staff for finding totally usable but discarded produce to feed Koko in the early days of the project by calling it dumpster diving, and then criticizes Penny for later over sanitizing the ape’s food. She criticizes The Gorilla Foundation for giving Koko too many supplements, and then criticizes them for not giving Ndume enough. Lauren Ober is highly critical of the manner in which Koko was housed and fed. Patterson got her way by using her looks and charm on unsuspecting men. This podcast criticizes contemporary accounts for commenting on young Penny Patterson’s appearance, and then criticizes Penny Patterson for looking old when she appeared at a conference in 2019 and throughout the podcast continuously implies that Dr. Patterson is trivialized and criticized despite the enormity of the projects success. Lauren Ober has a limited sense of history as she seems not to realize that the 1970’s were a very different time than the 2020’s. This employee’s perspective is presented in the podcast as factual. She focuses most of her attention on a former employee who worked at the Gorilla Foundation for only two of the more than forty years of the project’s existence. She picks and chooses the “facts” that support her point of view.

Koko the gorilla