Episode details

Radio 4,10 Dec 2025,42 mins
Available for over a year
In perhaps the monkiest Infinite Monkey Cage episode there鈥檚 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鈥檚 number in monkeys 鈥� the idea that the number of friendships an individual can maintain correlates with brain size 鈥� with the very creator of the theory! They ask whether monkeys feel love the way we do, why some species remain strictly monogamous but others don鈥檛, and what we could learn about ourselves through studying them. Robin goes bananas for bonobo fashion, while Dave couldn鈥檛 give a monkey鈥檚 about finding an aftershave to complement his natural smell. Series Producer: Mel Brown Researcher: Alex Rodway Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem A 麻豆社 Studios Production
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