Episode notes
Brian Cox and Robin Ince dig into de-extinction asking, could we and should we resurrect creatures of the past? They are joined by geneticist Adam Rutherford, palaeontologist Susannah Maidment and comedian/virologist Ria Lina. Extinction has played a significant role in shaping the life we see on Earth today. It is estimated around 95% of species to have ever existed are already extinct - but could any of these extinctions be reversed? Our panel explore the different methods being pursued in these resurrection quests, including back-breeding, cloning and genetic engineering. They take a…
The Infinite Monkey Cage
by BBC Radio 4 · English · Tech & Science
A witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists' eyes, guest hosted by Prof. Adam Rutherford and Jess Fostekew.
More from The Infinite Monkey Cage
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26 Feb 2025 · 42 min
How selfish are we really? - Jo Brand, Matti Wilks and Steve Jones
Brian Cox and Robin Ince kindly open the door for each other as they step into understanding altruism, asking why humans have evolved to help each other. Joining them to explore the human tendency to be kind is evolutionary biologist Steve Jones, psychologist Matti Wilks and comedian Jo Brand. Starting with the animal kingdom, we probe the biological underpinnings of why organisms might act to help others at an energetic cost to themselves and where this fits alongside the theory of evolution. We explore how the development of human societies has necessitated altruistic behaviours and how…
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19 Feb 2025 · 43 min
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Phil Wang, Ana Ferreira and Chris Jackson
Brian Cox and Robin Ince slice deep into the lesser-explored world beneath us. To join them on the journey from the crust to the core they are joined by seismologist Ana Ferreira, geologist Chris Jackson and comedian Phil Wang. School children learn about the make-up of the Earth with an image depicting the Earth's core, mantle and crust layered neatly on top of each other, but is this an oversimplification? Our experts reveal that the Earth's innards are less uniform than we might think and mysteries still abound, including the make-up of some continental-sized blobs deep inside the Earth.…
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25 Dec 2024 · 42 min
An Unexpected History of the Body
Brian Cox and Robin Ince uncover the unexpected history of the body in the archives of the Royal Society with special guests Prof Helen King, Sir Mark Walport, Keith Moore and Ed Byrne. Together they dissect some of the most surprising and peculiar beliefs that have been held about the body over the last 500 years, from wandering-womb hypotheses to tobacco-enema resuscitations. They unearth how scientific discoveries have often originated from brave individuals, willing to volunteer their own bodies in the pursuit of science. Our panellist Sir Mark Walport has continued in this tradition of…
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11 Dec 2024 · 43 min
Fantastic Elastic
Brian Cox and Robin Ince expand their knowledge of elasticity with Olympian Bryony Page, comedian Jessica Fostekew & experts Dr Anna Ploszajski and Prof James Busfield from Queen Mary University of London. What makes stretchy things stretch? Together our panel journey through different applications of elastic materials and examine, at the molecular level, what happens when we stretch a material and crucially what causes it to return to its original shape. This is especially pertinent to our guest Olympic and British champion trampolinist Bryony Page who has capitalised on elasticity in her…
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4 Dec 2024 · 42 min
The Science of Baby Making
Brian Cox and Robin Ince investigate the science of baby making - don’t worry, all theory, no practice! They are joined by Professor Joyce Harper, Dr Ben Steventon and comedian Sara Pascoe to discuss how just two cells can turn into trillions, or in other words, how an embryo can turn into an embryologist. The embryo-building processes across species are remarkably similar, yet there is still so much we don’t know about the beginning of life. Our panel discuss these unknowns, the latest in fertility treatments and what new capabilities might be available to future parents. It seems that…
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27 Nov 2024 · 42 min
Starless World
Brian Cox and Robin Ince consider how different our understanding of the universe would be without the stars. They are joined by Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Roberto Trotta and comedian John Bishop who illuminate all that we have learnt from the stars and how different life would be without them. Every culture has looked up at the night sky, but why are we so drawn to the pin pricks of light in the sky above us all and how have they helped shape human civilisation? Roberto Trotta takes us back to the origins of astronomy, to women who he believes were the first astronomers, linking the orbital…
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24 Dec 2025 · 42 min
The North Pole Unwrapped - Russell Kane, Felicity Aston and Lloyd Peck
In this Christmas episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage, Brian Cox and Robin Ince head to the North Pole to explore the dazzling science behind the northern lights, the extreme adaptations that help animals - and even Santa Claus - survive the Arctic cold, and how the Earth’s magnetic field might just guide him home. Joining the monkeys are comedian Russell Kane, Arctic explorer Felicity Aston and Polar biologist Lloyd Peck, as they brave the chill to uncover the wonders of one of Earth’s most remote and magical frontiers. Series Producer: Mel Brown Researcher: Alex Rodway Executive Producer:…
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17 Dec 2025 · 43 min
Monkey Business - Robin Dunbar, Dave Gorman and Jo Setchell
In perhaps the monkiest Infinite Monkey Cage episode there’s ever been, Brian Cox and Robin Ince attempt to uncover the secrets of love, lust and friendship in primates. Swinging by to offer a hand (or tail) are evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar, anthropologist Jo Setchell, and comedian Dave Gorman. Together the panel explores Dunbar’s number in monkeys – the idea that the number of friendships an individual can maintain correlates with brain size – with the very creator of the theory! They ask whether monkeys feel love the way we do, why some species remain strictly monogamous but…
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10 Dec 2025 · 42 min
Head in the Clouds - Owain Wyn Evans, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Amanda Maycock
Robin Ince and Brian Cox look up to the heavens as they try to ‘de-mistify’ the foggy science of clouds. They’re joined by Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney, climate scientist Amanda Maycock, and former weather presenter and drummer Owain Wyn Evans, for a whirlwind tour of our too often-overlooked aerial realm. The panel explores how clouds form, why they take such extraordinary shapes, and how satellites and weather balloons help us keep track of them. They discover why low clouds cool the planet but high clouds warm it and why a cloud that weighs as much as a jumbo jet…
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3 Dec 2025 · 42 min
Fusion – Ria Lina, Yasmin Andrew and Howard Wilson
Robin Ince and Brian Cox get all fired up, overcome their natural repulsion and come together for this stellar episode on nuclear fusion. They’re joined by plasma physicist Yasmin Andrew, fusion scientist Howard Wilson and comedian Ria Lina to uncover the secrets of star-making here on our planet. Together the panel discovers how the sun fuses atoms to release energy and why misbehaving, jiggling plasma makes this tricky to recreate on Earth. They explore the competing technological approaches — from giant magnets to the world’s biggest lasers — and find out that the hottest place in the…
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