Worth Your Time! with Kristi Lee and Rob Shumaker Podcast By Kristi Lee and Rob Shumaker cover art

Worth Your Time! with Kristi Lee and Rob Shumaker

Worth Your Time! with Kristi Lee and Rob Shumaker

By: Kristi Lee and Rob Shumaker
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Worth Your Time explores the hearts and minds of extraordinary individuals from all walks of life. Join Kristi Lee from The BOB & TOM Show and Dr. Rob Shumaker of the Indianapolis Zoo as they delve into the lives of fascinating guests, uncovering stories that will inspire, challenge, and entertain us and you.All Rights Reserved Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Paul Thorn on Growing Up in Tupelo, Boxing Roberto Duran, and the Stories Behind His Songs

    Paul Thorn on Growing Up in Tupelo, Boxing Roberto Duran, and the Stories Behind His Songs
    Dec 1 2025
    Kristi Lee and Dr. Rob Shumaker welcome singer and songwriter Paul Thorn for a conversation about his childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi, his start singing in Holiness churches, and his early obsession with ventriloquism. Thorn shares how his boxing career led him to a televised fight against Roberto Duran and why he eventually walked away from the sport. He also tells the real story behind “Joni the Jehovah Witness Stripper” and talks about his new album “Life Is Just a Vapor.” The episode features two songs from the new collection and sets up part two, airing on the 15th.
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    32 mins
  • Forest Elephant Attack, a Coup in Gabon, and the Fight to Save a Species: Lee James Taylor White and Kate Abernathy

    Forest Elephant Attack, a Coup in Gabon, and the Fight to Save a Species: Lee James Taylor White and Kate Abernathy
    Nov 15 2025
    Dr. Rob Shumaker and Kristi Lee return with Part 2 of their conversation with Dr. Lee James Taylor White and Dr. Catherine “Kate” Abernathy, continuing the story of two conservationists whose work has shaped the future of Africa’s forest elephants. Kate recounts her near-fatal encounter with a charging forest elephant during a family walk in Gabon, explaining how field instincts and a split-second decision to crawl under the animal allowed her to survive. Lee describes watching the attack unfold and the terrifying moment he prepared to distract the elephant to save her. The episode moves from that harrowing story into Lee’s years leading Gabon’s national parks, confronting ivory poaching networks tied to Boko Haram, and uncovering large-scale illegal logging operations. He explains how Gabon became the only country in central Africa to grow its forest elephant population during a decade when two thirds of the species were wiped out elsewhere. Kate shares how her thirty-year data set on fruiting trees and elephant body condition revealed dramatic impacts of climate change on rainforest ecosystems, and how her research network continues even after the 2023 military coup forced the family to leave Gabon. Together, they reflect on the coup, their family’s evacuation, the struggle to protect conservation progress, and the future of their work. This episode highlights two voices whose science, leadership, and courage have helped protect the world’s remaining forest elephants.
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    37 mins
  • Lee James Taylor White and Catherine Abernathy: Protecting Africa’s Forest Elephants and Rainforests

    Lee James Taylor White and Catherine Abernathy: Protecting Africa’s Forest Elephants and Rainforests
    Nov 1 2025
    Dr. Rob Shumaker and Kristi Lee sit down with 2025 Indianapolis Prize DeHaan Finalist Dr. Lee James Taylor White, Ph.D., and his wife and fellow conservationist Dr. Catherine “Kate” Abernathy. Together they share stories from decades of working in the rainforests of Gabon and the Congo Basin—protecting the critically endangered African forest elephant and studying gorillas, chimpanzees, and mandrills. Dr. White discusses his role in creating 13 national parks in Gabon and leading efforts to safeguard half of the world’s forest elephants, while Dr. Abernathy offers vivid insight into primate behavior and the realities of life in the field.
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    31 mins
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