Home Diary of a CEO Notes
Diary of a CEO · 2026-02-02 · 2h 45m

I Met An Uncontacted Tribe: They Killed My Friend! (VIDEO PROOF)

Conservationist Paul Rosolie recounts first contact with an uncontacted Amazon tribe, near-death adventures, and his fight to save the rainforest.

I Met An Uncontacted Tribe: They Killed My Friend! (VIDEO PROOF)
The guest

Paul Rosolie — Amazon conservationist, naturalist and author who co-founded Jungle Keepers, an organization protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of Peruvian rainforest by turning loggers and gold miners into conservation rangers. Known for the Discovery special 'Eaten Alive' and his New York Times bestselling book.

The gist

Steven Bartlett interviews conservationist Paul Rosolie, who has spent 20 years living in the upper Amazon alongside indigenous people. The centerpiece is world-first footage of first contact with an uncontacted, nomadic tribe who emerged from the jungle asking for food, rope, and how to tell the 'good guys' from the 'bad guys' who hunt them. Rosolie also tells the story of his career-derailing Discovery stunt 'Eaten Alive,' his lowest point quitting before a billionaire donor saved Jungle Keepers, and how Jane Goodall's endorsement launched his writing career. The conversation weaves in lessons on purpose, relentlessness, survivorship bias, faith, and the ecological stakes of losing the Amazon. It closes with a live, tense demonstration handling snakes including a Burmese python.

Big reveals

  • Reveals world-first footage of an uncontacted Amazon tribe making contact, asking for bananas and rope.
  • The tribe asked 'How do we tell the bad guys from the good guys?' after being hunted by loggers and narco-traffickers.
  • Day after contact, his friend George was shot through the body with a 7-foot arrow that collapsed his lung; he barely survived.
  • Discovery rebranded his science show as 'Eaten Alive,' a stunt that set his career back about 10 years.
  • Admits he volunteered to potentially be eaten alive by an anaconda to get a conservation message on TV.
  • Reveals he secretly quit and decided to get a regular job, then a week later billionaire Dax Silva called to fund Jungle Keepers.
  • Describes nearly being crushed to death by a 12-foot anaconda that wrapped his wrists and chest until his collarbone began to flex.
  • An 80-year-old shaman fell asleep while boiling ayahuasca, giving Rosolie an accidental mega-dose 'creation of the universe' trip.

Things worth remembering

  • The Amazon holds about one-fifth of the planet's fresh water and produces another fifth of its oxygen.
  • The tribe is described as still in the 'bamboo age' - they don't even have stone tools and live like people from a thousand years ago.
  • Uncontacted tribes mimic monkey and bird calls to communicate and surround prey, including humans, without being detected.
  • 'Eleanor,' the anaconda, was the largest snake ever verifiably scientifically measured at 18 feet 6 inches and over 100 kilos.
  • The anterior mid-cingulate cortex - the 'muscle of doing hard things' - grows when you do things you don't want to do but do anyway.
  • A snake reads your inner state; if you're nervous and jittery, even a baby snake picks up on it.
  • An indigenous tree sap killed an infection in one night that double antibiotics couldn't beat in two months.
  • Less than 3% of sunlight in the rainforest reaches the ground; leaf-cutter ants farm fungus, one of few species besides humans that farm.
  • Conservation success stories: tigers recovered from ~3,000 toward 5-6,000, humpback whales rebounded from ~1,000 toward pre-whaling numbers.
  • Jungle Keepers funds rainforest protection via donations as small as 'the price of a Starbucks coffee once a month' at junglekeepers.org.

Recommended in this episode

Books, products and media the guest or host genuinely endorsed here — with the buy link.

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Guest’s ownBook

Jungle Keeper: What It Takes to Change the World

Paul Rosolie

“Jungle Keeper, what it takes to change the world. This book is about the profound power of saying yes.” — guest (Paul Rosolie) 02:42:28
Find it on Amazon
Guest’s ownBook

Mother of God

Paul Rosolie

“if you find a publisher let them know that Jane will endorse your book. And so then I went to the publishers” — guest (Paul Rosolie) 01:20:50
Find it on Amazon
Guest’s ownMedia

Eaten Alive

Discovery Channel

“they focused on the stunt at the end. And they changed the name of the show to eaten alive.” — guest (Paul Rosolie) 01:24:58
Find it on Amazon