Can a killer whale really jump that high? For kids of the 90s, the adventure movie Free Willy introduced us to magic of the orca through its charismatic megafauna star, Keiko. In part one of our series, deep sea correspondent Brianna Bowman tells Sarah about his journey from free marine mammal to imprisoned entertainer to Hollywood royalty. Together they discuss what Keiko meant to them as kids, 1990s whale-related activism, and the follies of anthropomorphic projection. Digressions include the power of horse memoirs, the importance of cartoon eyebrows, and the uncommon honesty of the flea circus.

Produced + edited by Miranda Zickler

More Brianna Bowman:

Support Brianna's new podcast Rewilding Keiko on Patreon

Submit a voicemail with your memories of Keiko at rewildingpodcast@outlook.com (Brianna's Note: yes, Outlook! I’m a weirdo)

Linkedin (Brianna's Note: yes I am a double weirdo)

@rewildingkeiko on Instagram

Buy her a coffee!

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Freeing Keiko

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