The Infinite Monkey Cage – Details, episodes & analysis

Are we alone in the universe? Brian Cox and Robin Ince venture to Glastonbury in the search for alien life and are joined in their galactic quest by comedian Russell Kane and astronomers Lisa Kaltenegger and Chris Lintott. They imagine the sorts of worlds that might best host alien life, how some of the biological and technological signatures of alien life might appear as well as how evolution might shape this life. They discuss some of the mysterious signatures that have appeared as well as how hard it is to really know what you're looking for and how objects like faulty microwaves have muddied the alien-finding waters.

Producer: Melanie Brown Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem BBC Studios Audio production

Brian Cox and Robin Ince raid the archives of the Royal Society to reveal an unexpected history of science with guests Rufus Hound, Tori Herridge, Matthew Cobb and Keith Moore. Together they explore some of the surprising and wackiest scientific endeavours undertaken by early members of the Royal Society from the discovery of sperm to testing the insect repelling properties of unicorn horn. They hear how a beautiful book on fish almost scuppered Newton's Principia Mathematica and why a guide to the fauna of Switzerland ended up including depictions of dragons.

Producer: Melanie Brown Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem BBC Studios Audio production

Brian Cox and Robin Ince embrace failure in its many forms, with a frank look at the importance of making mistakes. They examine the flaws in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution with the anthropologist Alice Roberts, as she tells them no idea is totally watertight. And sometimes scientific error even leads to important discoveries – just ask the heart patients who took a pill that did nothing for their medical condition but did boost their libido and which we now know as Viagra. But other failures in the field of medicine have had more serious consequences, and Dr Chris van Tulleken questions why we’re not better at drug development for the poorest parts of the world.

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3K3JzyF

Producer: Marijke Peters Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

Episodes featured: Series 15: Science’s Epic Fails Series 11: Serendipity Series 25: What Have We Learnt From Covid?

Microbes: Secret Rulers of the World?

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return for a new series of the hugely popular, award-winning science/comedy show. This week they are joined by comedian Ed Byrne, oceanographer Dr Jon Copley and planetary scientist Prof Monica Grady to ask whether the real master-race on planet Earth is not human but microbe. They'll be looking at how microbes are found in every extreme environment on the planet, how and when they first arrived on the Earth and why the hunt is on to find evidence of microbes in space.

The Code Breakers

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Katy Brand, as they transport the cage of infinite proportions to the home of modern day cryptography and codebreaking., GCHQ. They'll be discovering how far we've come from the days of the humble code book and the birth of machines like Enigma. and how the new digital era has turned us all into modern day code breakers and cryptographers, without us even realising it.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince reminisce about their favourite moments from 100 episodes of The Infinite Monkey Cage.

The Human Voice

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian and beatboxer Beardyman, acoustic engineer Prof Trevor Cox and neuroscientist Prof Sophie Scott to explore the amazing capabilities of the human voice. They chat about chatting, vocalise about voices and explore the extraordinary and unique way the human voice works from opera singing to laughter, and discovery why our voice has been so key to our success and survival as a species.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

The Immune System

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Shappi Khorsandi, Prof Dan Davis and Prof Steve Jones to look at our amazingly complex and clever immune system. They look at how the human body fights disease, and why it has been so little understood until now. Fear not though, a new revolution in understanding is underway, with some extraordinary insights into the cunning of our little white cells. The panel look at how this new understanding is already leading to some real breakthroughs in treatment for diseases such as cancer, and Shappi reveals the crucial role she played in one such discovery.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

Invasion!

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Phill Jupitus, bat expert and ecologist Professor Kate Jones and forensic botanist Dr Mark Spencer to look at the problems caused by alien invasions, although not of the little green men kind. They look at why such innocent and innocuous sounding plants such as floating pennywort strike terror and fear in the heart of environmentalists up and down the country, and how clever microbes and diseases are able to jump from animals such as bats to humans causing devastating consequences.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by Danny Wallace, mathematician Hannah Fry and science writer Timandra Harkness. They'll be going big on Big Data, and asking just how big is it? They'll be looking at where Big Data comes from, should we be worried about it, and what mysteries are hidden within the seemingly endless amounts of information that is collected about us as we go about our daily lives.