The Good Whale is an engaging and emotional Serial podcast series about the 10+ year effort to reintroduce Keiko, the killer whale that starred in Free Willy, into the open ocean.

Each episode of The Good Whale reminded me of This American Life (no coincidence, as Ira Glass is one of the producers). The show tells a story by interviewing the people involved and reflecting on their conflicting views to show that there isn’t one way of looking at the story. The show also places some suspicion on people’s motives and leaves you wondering about their intentions and truthfulness, some of which they may not even be conscious of.

In this case, the differences in people’s motives are about how and why this effort originated, and why so much time and money was spent trying to re-wild an orca that was so dependent on humans. Keiko was captured at such a young age that it was incredibly difficult to reintegrate him into a pod. There are other orcas that would have been much better suited for success with less effort, money, and fewer roadblocks that were hard on both the people and the animal.

Listening to Good Whale made me feel like I do when I visit a “nice” zoo, where animals have at least some room to maneuver, and it’s clear that the humans are trying their best to do what they think is right.

But if I had a magic wand, I would eliminate the whole idea of capturing and keeping animals in zoos, or in Keiko’s case, swimming pools.

The ones that are already there and are so accustomed to captivity that reintroducing them is unrealistic should be kept as happy as possible, not on display. We should live with our mistakes of abducting them from their mothers and tend to their needs until their final days. The others should be left alone. And, of course, my wand waving would protect their habitats, reduce our incursion into their spaces, and try to restore some balance in how we live with or near them.