An Unexpected History of the Body

The Infinite Monkey Cage

BBC

Comedy, Science

4.7 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 self-experimentation, and has with him x-rays of his own faeces for show and tell!

Producer: Melanie Brown Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem Researcher: Olivia Jani

BBC Studios Audio Production

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.8	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.5	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put
0:28.3	together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:35.0	check out BBC Sounds.
0:41.2	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:43.3	Hello, I'm Brian Cox.
0:48.7	I'm Robin Inz, and this is the Infinite Monkey Cadaver from the Royal Society in London,
0:53.5	because we are doing with the great work of, of course, historical scientific institutions.
0:57.0	We will be reenacting the illegal dissection of a human being from a graveyard that we visited.
1:00.0	But unfortunately, because this is radio, you won't see any of it.
1:05.0	But you can imagine the scene.
1:08.0	No, today we will be discussing the human body in all its baffling complexity, perhaps the
1:12.6	most beautiful example of the maxim that natural selection doesn't come up with the best
1:17.3	solution, but the least worst.
1:19.4	Robin.
1:20.6	Why did I get to do?
1:24.1	Well, actually, I do accept it.
1:25.8	I am very much in terms of like, you know,
1:27.9	I'm the grey goblin in a cardigan, right, between the two of us.
	...

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