logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
19m 21s

The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Buildi...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

While most of us believe the universe began with a big bang, Brian and Robin hear some of the alternative theories, including an Egyptian myth that it actually started with a giant ejaculation, as they question the origins of life as we know it. With so much still to be discovered about the cosmos, Rufus Hound says we need more bangs and flashes in chemistry classes, arguing lessons aren’t dangerous enough anymore. So could comedians play a role in advancing the science? Matt Lucas says he’s happy to jump into a black hole when he learns there’s high speed internet and Eric Idle gets poetic about the tiniest of particles in a special song about the Higgs Boson.

Episodes featured: Series 10: Before the Big Bang Series 23: The Fundamentals of Reality Series 14: The Recipe to Build a Universe Series 22: Black Holes The Infinite Monkey Cage 100 Series 8: Glastonbury Special

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3K3JzyF

Producer: Marijke Peters Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

Up next
Jul 9
201st Birthday Bonanza - Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden and Nish Kumar
Get ready for a landmark episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage as we celebrate our 201st show! Brian Cox and Robin Ince invite a lively panel of celebrity guests to pose their burning scientific questions to a top-tier team of scientists. Mel Giedroyc is tunnelling into the world o ... Show More
42m 35s
Mar 2025
Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley
Brian Cox and Robin Ince unpick the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature with mathematicians Sarah Hart & Thomas Woolley and comedian Dave Gorman.The panel marvel at how evolution so often beats mathematicians to finding the most elegant solutions, after all, it’s had ... Show More
42m 27s
Mar 2025
The Sound of Music - Brian Eno, Sam Bennett and Trevor Cox
Brian Cox and Robin Ince explore the history of music recording, joined by acoustics professor Trevor Cox, music professor Sam Bennett and musician and producer Brian Eno. Together they guide us through the evolution of sound recording, a space in which technology hasn’t stood st ... Show More
42m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
The Pascagoula Alien Abduction
GET‌ ‌EVERY‌ ‌EPISODE‌ ‌AND‌ ‌BONUS‌ ‌CONTENT‌ ‌AT:‌ ‌‌www.patreon.com/crackpotpodcast‌ On October 11, 1973, two men, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, were fishing on the Pascagoula River in Mississippi when they claim to have been abducted by extraterrestrial beings. This shoc ... Show More
53m 29s
Dec 2024
UFOs in the US
Alien spacecraft, phenomena from another dimension, ghosts, demons of satan, a trick of light - whatever you might believe UFOs to be, they have a long history. Don is joined by Greg Eghgian for this episode. Professor of History and Bioethics at Penn State University, Greg is th ... Show More
31m 15s
Dec 2024
U.A.P (Unidentified Anal Probing)
This week, Charlamagne Tha God and Andrew Schulz dives deep (pun intended) into the world of UFOs, unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPs), and the possibility of alien encounters. From childhood sightings to government conspiracy theories, they question it all—why Jersey, why now, a ... Show More
1h 49m
Sep 2024
Greg Eghigian, "After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Roswell, 1947. Washington, DC, 1952. Quarouble, 1954. New Hampshire, 1961. Pascagoula, 1973. Petrozavodsk, 1977. Copley Woods, 1983. Explore how sightings of UFOs and aliens seized the world's attention and discover what the fascination with flying saucers and extraterrestrial vi ... Show More
1h 1m
Feb 2022
Lucy The Space Archaeologist
Mindy and Guy Raz have their heads in the stars! Join them on an intergalactic adventure as they dig into the latest NASA satellite, Lucy! Learn how Lucy adds the WOW out of this world. It's the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How and WOW of satellites!See Privacy Policy at https:// ... Show More
21m 27s
Jan 2025
Roswell of Texas: The Aurora UFO
In 1897, locals of Aurora, Texas reported a UFO had crashed in their town. They supposedly discovered the body of an extraterrestrial, buried it in the cemetery, and never spoke of it again. Decades later, an Aurora resident claims the whole thing was a hoax, which prompts severa ... Show More
45m 24s
Mar 2022
The multiverse, alien existence and fit astronauts
Today Dr Lucy and Dr Karl are joined by special guest astrophysicist Professor Geraint Lewis to answer all your questions from around the cosmos. Can you get moonburnt? Could we ever move at the speed of light? How did the big bang happen? What's on the other side of the universe ... Show More
38m 54s