- Recently I was made aware of a channel
that streams animals and nature
all over the world, 24/7.
I think they have like 100 or 200 live streams
going at the same time, what?
So today we're going to sit down
and chat with the CEO and creator
of said streaming paradise
to learn about why he thought it was so important,
how it came to even be on YouTube,
and what he sees happening in the future.
So, let's go find out more.
- Hi, my name is Charles Annenberg Weingarten.
I am the Founder of explore.org
and the Vice President of the Annenberg Foundation.
And explore.org really started
with this kinda unending quest for learning.
So our mantra is never stop learning,
or for adults, I like to say, "Sesame Street" for adults,
making learning fun again.
At it's cornerstone, the mission of Explore
was always to champion the selfless acts of others,
to really help the underdog and bring together community.
So over the years we've done everything
from documentary films, we've created an opera,
we have a social media place called Dog Bless You,
and really what I think we're here for today
is we've created this live nature library
called "Pearls of the Planet".
And the goals of "Pearls of the Planet",
they're a collection of live nature feeds,
and the mission is really simple,
it's to help you fall in love with the world
simply by observing it.
It's really about how nature heals the soul and ourselves.
- How many do you have going at one given time?
- Well, you know, some cams are seasonal,
but we have probably over 200 cams.
A lotta people call Explore the Netflix of live nature.
- Yeah.
- It's a huge community.
We have an icon on the Explore site
where people can take photos
and share 'em on social media or post it.
And I think in the last six months,
like over five million photos have been taken on the site.
- Wow! - It's pretty neat.
- It's really cool.
I will put all the links in the description
so you can check it out yourself.
I know we can all feel overwhelmed, we can feel stressed,
and just maxed out, and it can be a really great way,
no matter what time of day, no matter where you are
because they're around the world.
So, it's daytime somewhere else,
which is a really, really great tool,
and a way to help calm after a long, stressful day,
or when your just feelin' a little bit overwhelmed.
- And what I found for myself personally,
and I hate to be selfish,
is that the cameras in nature make me happy.
For one minute, I forget.
I feel like an explorer.
This is how I describe it,
we're running the worlds largest virtual zoo
except there are no fences.
And my job is I'm the tram driver.
If you see these player alerts on our site,
that's usually me, and there's nothing more exciting to say,
"Oh, look left, there's a lion out!"
or, "Look at the bears!", or "The eagle just hatched!"
or "There's a shark underwater!"
or, "We're having a litter."
And, just exposing people to that
and bringing that joy and happiness,
there's an intrinsic value that you can't put a price to.
And so, for me, on the most selfish thing I find
explore.org is is just an antidote to stress.
It really uplifts me.
There are something about, you know,
when you just look at a sunset
or talk a walk on the beach here in southern California
that are really powerful, and even then we forget to do it.
And so, on the most simple thing,
use Explorer as an antidote to stress.
- Yeah. - It's okay to struggle.
No one's exempt from that, you know.
If you are, I'd love to meet you.
(Kati laughs)
We all might talk it--
- No one's exempt, yeah.
- No one's exempt, we all ride the ups and downs.
And Explore is just simply a home away from home
to just hopefully give you a reprieve
and connect to the natural world.
My dream is to find selfless people
who are stewards of the human condition
and Kati, I think you really
have tapped into something in the mental health world,
and hand you the torch.
And I just salute you so much for what you've done.
And if Explore can assist you,
and I don't know what that road is,
if it's through our live cams to your audience
or just through the work you're doing,
there's nothing more rewarding for Explore.
Even though it's about the live cams,
the mission still is to champion
the selfless acts of others.
Selflessness is the biggest virtue
you can have and we live in a society
where that is very, can be selfish,
and about the me, and we're about the we.
And so finding younger people than myself
that are out there trying to make a different,
that's really the cherry on the sundae
and that's why you are a new Explorer experiment
and I don't know if this will all be cut off Explore
but it's a great journey and who knows.
- It's really great.
- You know, I'm a far away from the old travel days.
Relegated to a couch and a microphone.
Handing the baton to the new generation is what I'm doing.
- No, but it's cool that you're still doing that
and that Explore started with documentaries
and seeing the world, and then has moved into
almost healing the pain that maybe you saw in the world.
- Really, one of the things we're doing
is right now in this moment,
is speaking to minds like yourself
that are really trying to help people
live a better life, realize it's okay to have issues,
take baby steps to a road of recovery.
And so it's really nice mergers.
So the what next is this is the first time
we've tried it at Explore,
is saying, "Maybe these cams can help new audiences
"and welcome to an extended family.
"Because you're not alone out there."
And that's the power of Explore
and I think it's the power of what you do,
is collective community.
- So let us know in the comments.
I'm curious how the outdoors have helped you
or if you're able to pop over and check out a cam,
what's your favorite one and why.
I would love to get the conversation started down there
because I think we were all in agreeance
that we're not alone, that it can be really healing
to get outdoors or to experience explore.org
and be able to look around the world,
places maybe we wouldn't be able to travel otherwise.
So let's talk about it.
And thank you for making time.
And hopefully this is something we can do again.
- You know, I'm here, Kati,
and thank you and to your audience,
like I said, you have a great home with Kati.
I'm kinda new to the YouTube world
and I watched her videos and it really helped me
and always know that explore.org is a home away from home
and there's a wondrous world out there
and no matter, we all have ups and downs,
good days and bad, but know there is a place
like Explore where if you just want to escape,
you could do it on your cell phone,
your tablet, your computer, and you'll never be judged.
- Yeah. - The animals don't judge,
they simply love.
- Exactly.
- So welcome to our home.
Thank you. - Thank you.
We'll see you next time, bye.
(gentle music)