Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Humorous panel discussions on physics, astronomy and space exploration • Biology, evolution and animal behaviour • Earth, climate and polar science • Technology, engineering and materials • Human body, medicine and ethics • History of science, maths and culture
This podcast uses a comedic panel format to explore science across a wide range of disciplines, pairing presenters Brian Cox and Robin Ince with researchers, writers, explorers, engineers and performers. Conversations typically start with an everyday curiosity or a big “how does this work?” question and then unpack the underlying evidence, mechanisms and history, often including how scientists measure, model and test ideas.
Across recent episodes, recurring themes include Earth and environmental science (weather and clouds, ice and polar regions, Earth’s deep interior, animal adaptation and migration, plant and insect biology, and conservation questions such as extinction and de‑extinction). Space and cosmology also feature prominently, from planetary comparisons and asteroids to the search for extraterrestrial life and the practical and ethical challenges of living beyond Earth. Physics and technology topics appear alongside these, including light and quantum ideas, particle physics, nuclear fusion as a potential energy source, timekeeping and global synchronisation, sound and recording technology, and emerging computing frontiers such as brain–computer interfaces, cybersecurity, AI and quantum impacts.
The show frequently connects scientific concepts to society and human behaviour: altruism and social bonds, primate relationships, sport performance, medicine and reproduction, and the ways error and uncertainty shape discovery. Episodes also draw on scientific archives and history to examine how knowledge developed, alongside discussions of ethical implications—particularly around climate change, biotechnology, surveillance and technological “futures” that may leave traces for generations to interpret.
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Episodes:
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The First Britons - Tim Minchin, Prof Chris Stringer and Dr Selina Brace
2026-Oct-15
42 minutes
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Trailer
2026-Oct-13
less than a minute
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The North Pole Unwrapped - Russell Kane, Felicity Aston and Lloyd Peck
2025-Dec-24
42 minutes
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Monkey Business - Robin Dunbar, Dave Gorman and Jo Setchell
2025-Dec-17
42 minutes
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Head in the Clouds - Owain Wyn Evans, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Amanda Maycock
2025-Dec-10
42 minutes
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Fusion – Ria Lina, Yasmin Andrew and Howard Wilson
2025-Dec-03
42 minutes
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What’s the deal with eels? – Lucy Porter, David Righton and Caroline Durif
2025-Nov-26
42 minutes
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What’s the time? - Marcus Brigstocke, Leon Lobo, Louise Devoy
2025-Nov-19
42 minutes
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Mind-reading Computers – Phil Wang, Anne Vanhoestenberghe and Luke Bashford
2025-Nov-12
42 minutes
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Illuminating Light - Jess Wade, Russell Foster and Bridget Christie
2025-Aug-20
42 minutes
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Moths v Butterflies - Katy Brand, Jane Hill and Chris Jiggins
2025-Aug-13
42 minutes
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Technofossils - Sarah Gabbott, Mark Miodownik and Aurie Styla
2025-Aug-06
42 minutes
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The Mighty Spud - Sandy Knapp, Glenn Bryan and Susan Calman
2025-Jul-30
42 minutes
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How to Build the Perfect Athlete - Helen Glover, Hugh Dennis, Steve Haake and Emma Ross
2025-Jul-23
42 minutes
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Should We Settle in Space? - Tim Peake, Kelly Weinersmith and Alan Davies
2025-Jul-16
42 minutes
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201st Birthday Bonanza - Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden and Nish Kumar
2025-Jul-09
42 minutes
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Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley
2025-Mar-26
42 minutes
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The Sound of Music - Brian Eno, Sam Bennett and Trevor Cox
2025-Mar-19
42 minutes
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Saturn v Jupiter - Katherine Parkinson, Paul Abel and Michele Dougherty
2025-Mar-12
42 minutes
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Adventures on Ice - Darren Harriott, Liz Morris, Christoph Salzmann and Felicity Aston
2025-Mar-05
42 minutes
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How selfish are we really? - Jo Brand, Matti Wilks and Steve Jones
2025-Feb-26
42 minutes
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Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Phil Wang, Ana Ferreira and Chris Jackson
2025-Feb-19
42 minutes
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An Unexpected History of the Body
2024-Dec-25
42 minutes
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Is Extinction the End?
2024-Dec-18
42 minutes
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Fantastic Elastic
2024-Dec-11
42 minutes
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The Science of Baby Making
2024-Dec-04
42 minutes
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Starless World
2024-Nov-27
42 minutes
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Hedgehogs
2024-Nov-20
42 minutes
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The Cyber Codebreakers
2024-Nov-13
42 minutes
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Alien Life - Russell Kane, Lisa Kaltenegger and Chris Lintott
2024-Aug-21
42 minutes
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An Unexpected History of Science - Rufus Hound, Matthew Cobb, Victoria Herridge and Keith Moore
2024-Aug-14
42 minutes
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What a Gas! - Dave Gorman, Mark Miodownik and Lucy Carpenter
2024-Aug-07
42 minutes
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Extreme Exploration - Anneka Rice, Mike Massimino, Britney Schmidt and Jess Phoenix
2024-Jul-31
43 minutes
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'Beastly Bodies' Kids Special - Steve Backshall, Jess French and Adam Kay
2024-Jul-24
42 minutes
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Science of Board Games - Jess Fostekew, Marcus du Sautoy and Dave Neale
2024-Jul-17
43 minutes
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The Wonder of Trees - Dame Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham and Tristan Gooley
2024-Jul-10
42 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Audience Favourites (Pt 2)
2024-May-29
22 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Tiny Things
2024-May-22
22 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… The Future
2024-May-15
19 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Failure
2024-May-08
16 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Gambling
2024-May-01
19 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… The Gods
2024-Apr-24
22 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Talking to Aliens
2024-Apr-17
19 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Gardening
2024-Apr-10
18 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Love
2024-Apr-03
19 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… Murder
2024-Mar-27
20 minutes
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Higgs Boson
2024-Mar-20
42 minutes
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Cats v Dogs
2024-Mar-13
42 minutes
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Poison
2024-Mar-06
42 minutes
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Asteroids
2024-Feb-28
42 minutes
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Could it be magic?
2024-Feb-21
42 minutes
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Egyptian Mummies
2024-Feb-14
42 minutes
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The Monkeys meet The Sky at Night
2023-Dec-20
57 minutes
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Jo Brand's Quantum World
2023-Dec-13
42 minutes
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Hollywood in Space
2023-Dec-06
42 minutes
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The Scale of Life (or were dinosaurs just too big?)
2023-Nov-29
42 minutes
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How I is AI?
2023-Nov-22
42 minutes
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The Science of Coincidence
2023-Nov-14
42 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Audience Favourites
2023-Nov-08
23 minutes
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Octopuses!
2023-Nov-08
42 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Infinity
2023-Nov-01
18 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Being Human
2023-Oct-25
17 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Oceans
2023-Oct-18
23 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Building a Universe
2023-Oct-11
19 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Strawberries
2023-Oct-04
23 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... The Movies
2023-Sep-27
22 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide To... Space Travel
2023-Sep-20
20 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide To... The Apocalypse
2023-Sep-13
18 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... The Supernatural
2023-Sep-06
21 minutes
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Welcome to The Infinite Monkey's Guide To...
2023-Sep-05
2 minutes
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Cosmic Dust
2023-Aug-05
42 minutes
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Ancient DNA Secrets
2023-Jul-29
42 minutes
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The Secret Life of Sharks
2023-Jul-22
42 minutes
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The Magic of Mushrooms
2023-Jul-15
42 minutes
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Bees v Wasps
2023-Jul-08
42 minutes
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Supervolcanoes
2023-Jul-01
43 minutes
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Are we what we eat?
2023-Jun-24
42 minutes
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Magic Materials
2023-Mar-25
42 minutes
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How Far Can the Human Body Go?
2023-Mar-18
42 minutes
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How to Commit the Perfect Murder
2023-Mar-11
42 minutes
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How to think like a mathematician
2023-Mar-04
42 minutes
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Australia’s Scary Spiders
2023-Feb-25
42 minutes
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Southern Skies
2023-Feb-18
42 minutes
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Why does wine taste good?
2022-Dec-24
42 minutes
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The Deep Space Network
2022-Dec-17
43 minutes
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The Age of Conspiracy?
2022-Dec-10
42 minutes
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Can we cure ageing?
2022-Dec-03
42 minutes
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Hunting for Exoplanets
2022-Nov-26
42 minutes
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Exploring our solar system
2022-Nov-19
42 minutes
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What have we learnt from Covid?
2022-Nov-12
42 minutes
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How to Teach Maths
2022-Sep-03
42 minutes
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Brains
2022-Aug-27
42 minutes
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Astronauts
2022-Aug-20
42 minutes
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Black Holes
2022-Aug-13
42 minutes
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The Wood Wide Web
2022-Aug-06
42 minutes
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Exploring the Deep
2022-Jul-30
42 minutes
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Bats v Flies
2022-Jul-23
42 minutes
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A History of Rock
2021-Feb-15
42 minutes
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The Fundamentals of Reality
2021-Feb-08
41 minutes
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The Science of Cooking
2021-Feb-01
43 minutes
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Neanderthals
2021-Jan-25
38 minutes
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Under our Night Sky
2021-Jan-18
57 minutes
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In Praise of Flies
2021-Jan-11
38 minutes
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Does Time Exist?
2020-Aug-26
43 minutes
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What is Life?
2020-Jul-20
28 minutes
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When the Monkeys Met the Chimps
2020-Jun-29
50 minutes
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The Sun
2020-Jun-22
40 minutes
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An Astronaut's Guide to Isolation
2020-Jun-15
45 minutes
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Space Archaeology
2020-Jun-08
56 minutes
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Black Holes
2020-Jun-01
34 minutes
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The End of the Universe
2020-May-25
28 minutes
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UFO special
2020-Feb-12
42 minutes
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Lucy Beaumont's Close Encounters
2020-Feb-12
12 minutes
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Quantum Worlds
2020-Feb-10
43 minutes
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Fire
2020-Feb-03
37 minutes
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Coral Reefs
2020-Jan-27
45 minutes
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Conspiracy Theories
2020-Jan-20
33 minutes
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Science of Laughter
2020-Jan-13
43 minutes
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Brits in Space
2019-Oct-14
59 minutes
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Anniversary of the Periodic Table
2019-Oct-07
37 minutes
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Science of Dreaming
2019-Sep-30
44 minutes
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Clever Creatures
2019-Sep-23
41 minutes
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Dinosaurs
2019-Sep-16
46 minutes
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The Infinite Moonkey Cage
2019-Jul-20
58 minutes
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How We Measure the Universe
2019-Feb-11
38 minutes
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How to Build a Bionic Human
2019-Feb-04
42 minutes
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Are humans still evolving?
2019-Jan-28
47 minutes
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Origin of Numbers
2019-Jan-21
35 minutes
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The Future of Humanity
2019-Jan-14
35 minutes
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Microbes: Secret Rulers of the World?
2019-Jan-07
46 minutes
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GCHQ
2018-Aug-13
38 minutes
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Special Bonus Edition
2018-Aug-09
17 minutes
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The Human Voice
2018-Aug-06
38 minutes
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Immune System
2018-Jul-30
40 minutes
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Invasion
2018-Jul-23
41 minutes
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Big Data
2018-Jul-16
44 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey Cage 100
2018-Jul-11
57 minutes
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Volcanoes
2018-Feb-12
42 minutes
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How Animals Behave
2018-Feb-05
43 minutes
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Teenage Brain
2018-Jan-29
43 minutes
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Antibiotics
2018-Jan-22
38 minutes
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The Secret Life of Birds
2018-Jan-15
46 minutes
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When Two Stars Collide
2018-Jan-08
40 minutes
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Christmas Special 2017: The Science of Magic
2017-Dec-25
47 minutes
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The Mind v the Brain
2017-Aug-07
50 minutes
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Are We Living in a Simulation?
2017-Jul-31
38 minutes
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Will insects inherit the earth?
2017-Jul-24
43 minutes
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Oxygen: A Matter of Life and Death
2017-Jul-17
39 minutes
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Astronaut Special
2017-Jul-10
44 minutes
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What Particles Remain to be Discovered?
2017-Jul-03
45 minutes
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Making the Invisible Visible
2017-Feb-13
46 minutes
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The Human Story: How We Got Here and Why We Survived.
2017-Feb-06
40 minutes
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Oceans: What Remains to Be Discovered?
2017-Jan-30
44 minutes
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Science's Epic Fails
2017-Jan-23
46 minutes
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How to Beat the House and Win at Games
2017-Jan-16
42 minutes
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The Science of Everyday Life
2017-Jan-10
45 minutes
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Christmas Special 2016
2016-Dec-27
41 minutes
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The Universe: What Remains to Be Discovered?
2016-Aug-01
46 minutes
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200 Years of Frankenstein
2016-Jul-25
51 minutes
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Battle of the Sexes
2016-Jul-18
45 minutes
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Science of Sleep
2016-Jul-11
38 minutes
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The Recipe to Build a Universe
2016-Jul-04
51 minutes
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The Sound of Music
2016-Jun-27
42 minutes
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Brian and Robin's Infinite Inbox
2016-Feb-25
46 minutes
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Climate Change
2016-Feb-15
49 minutes
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Maths of Love and Sex
2016-Feb-08
46 minutes
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What Is Reality?
2016-Feb-01
41 minutes
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Invisible Universe
2016-Jan-25
39 minutes
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What is Race?
2016-Jan-18
46 minutes
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Artificial Intelligence
2016-Jan-12
43 minutes
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Christmas Special 2015
2015-Dec-25
46 minutes
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Episode 2
2015-Dec-15
27 minutes
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Episode 1
2015-Dec-08
29 minutes
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Forensic Science
2015-Aug-10
49 minutes
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Speed
2015-Aug-03
47 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: San Francisco
2015-Jul-27
47 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Chicago
2015-Jul-20
45 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Los Angeles
2015-Jul-13
45 minutes
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The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: New York
2015-Jul-06
47 minutes
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Serendipity
2015-Feb-23
43 minutes
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What Is the Point of Plants?
2015-Feb-16
35 minutes
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When Quantum Goes Woo
2015-Feb-09
44 minutes
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Solar System
2015-Feb-02
54 minutes
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Fierce Creatures
2015-Jan-26
42 minutes
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Deception
2015-Jan-19
43 minutes
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Christmas Special 2014
2014-Dec-25
50 minutes
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Irrationality
2014-Aug-11
44 minutes
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Before the Big Bang
2014-Aug-04
41 minutes
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Can Science Save Us?
2014-Jul-28
53 minutes
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Does Science Need War?
2014-Jul-21
39 minutes
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Are Humans Uniquely Unique?
2014-Jul-14
46 minutes
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Numbers Numbers Everywhere
2014-Jul-07
45 minutes
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Brian and Robin's Infinite Inbox
2014-Mar-10
27 minutes
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Science and Spin
2013-Dec-23
38 minutes
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Should We Pander to Pandas?
2013-Dec-16
35 minutes
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To Infinity and Beyond
2013-Dec-09
34 minutes
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Science Rocks!
2013-Dec-02
42 minutes
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Through the Doors of Perception
2013-Nov-25
41 minutes
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Risk
2013-Nov-18
37 minutes
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Science Museum
2013-Jul-29
44 minutes
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Alfred Russel Wallace
2013-Jul-22
28 minutes
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What Makes Science a Science?
2013-Jul-15
37 minutes
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Space Tourism
2013-Jul-08
41 minutes
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Glastonbury
2013-Jul-01
43 minutes
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What Is Death?
2013-Jun-24
28 minutes
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Christmas Special: The Science of Christmas Behaviour
2012-Dec-24
28 minutes
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Creating Life
2012-Dec-17
28 minutes
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Brain Science
2012-Dec-10
28 minutes
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Secret Science
2012-Dec-03
28 minutes
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Improbable Science
2012-Nov-26
28 minutes
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Space Exploration
2012-Nov-19
28 minutes
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Science v Art
2012-Jul-23
27 minutes
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Parallel Universes
2012-Jul-16
28 minutes
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The Science of Symmetry
2012-Jul-08
28 minutes
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Does Size Matter?
2012-Jul-02
28 minutes
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Science Mavericks
2012-Jun-25
28 minutes
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Oceans: The Last Great Unexplored Frontier?
2012-Jun-18
28 minutes
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The Science of Christmas
2011-Dec-26
28 minutes
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I'm a Chemist Get Me Out of Here
2011-Dec-19
28 minutes
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The Science of Sound
2011-Dec-12
28 minutes
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The Origins of Life
2011-Dec-05
28 minutes
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A Balanced Programme on Balance
2011-Nov-28
27 minutes
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What's the North Ever Done for Us?
2011-Nov-21
28 minutes
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Science vs The Supernatural: Does Science Kill the Magic?
2011-Jul-05
28 minutes
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Is There Room for Mysticism in a Rational World?
2011-Jun-27
30 minutes
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Is Cosmology Really a Science?
2011-Jun-20
28 minutes
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So You Want To Be An Astronaut?
2011-Jun-13
28 minutes
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Six Degrees
2011-Jun-06
30 minutes
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What Don't We Know?
2011-May-30
27 minutes
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Philosophy
2010-Dec-06
30 minutes
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Randomness
2010-Nov-29
28 minutes
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Modern World
2010-Nov-22
28 minutes
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Apocalypse
2010-Nov-15
28 minutes
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Things Can Only Get Better?
2010-Jul-05
28 minutes
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Science Fiction, Science Fact
2010-Jun-28
27 minutes
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Trust me, I'm a Scientist
2010-Jun-21
28 minutes
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Popular Science
2010-Jun-14
28 minutes
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Science and Religion
2009-Dec-21
25 minutes
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Quantum Physics
2009-Dec-14
25 minutes
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Extraterrestrial Life
2009-Dec-07
25 minutes
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Science and Comedians
2009-Nov-30
24 minutes
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