Puzzled Monkey
A podcast that explores the obscurely relevant. Join Gusto as he (painfully) dissects pressing, as well as banal, issues within the spheres of culture, politics and the environment. Expect to encounter bizarre historical events that illustrate how far we haven't come, and how ideas have a propensity to recycle themselves. With any luck, you damn dirty apes will leave each episode more puzzled than you were beforehand.
Episodes
10 episodes
Royal Novichok
To mark the end of the inaugural season of Puzzled Monkey, Gusto serves up a piping-hot Q+A episode with all the trimmings. Strap in for musings on the importance of phallic graffiti to UK culture, impressions of Jordan Peterson singing about L...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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48:56
Suez Pudding
In light of the Ever Given being freed from the silted banks of the Suez Canal, Gusto puts his goggles on and dives head-first into the history of this man-made wonder. We explore ancient aquatic infrastructures that may have inspired the const...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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31:22
Kambo No. 5
Gusto is joined by the scouse seagulls roosting in his new gaff to discuss whether or not we should support the cull of invasive non-native species such as the bushy-tailed grey squirrel, the exotically plumed ring-necked parakeet and the trip-...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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28:37
Bovine 747
Gusto discusses his obsession with stories of animals escaping captivity, as well as his experience of bizarre animal encounters on the treacherous canal tow-paths of the Midlands. This evolves into a broader discussion of how stories of animal...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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23:53
Marxist Kitty
Gusto looks at three niche stories in the past week that help us better understand our present socio-ecological predicament. How does a cat surfing a London train show us a path towards toppling the dreaded capitalist system? Why a...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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29:50
Werther's Original
What inspires people to make the ultimate sacrifice and set themselves on fire as a form of protest? Gusto explores the case of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit and veg vendor in Tunisia whose self-immolation triggered the Arab Spring, and compares it...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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19:29
Welcome to the Anthropo-Obscene
Tune in as Gusto asks the hottest questions of the modern epoch: what artifacts would an alien species find on Earth after human civilization has collapsed, and what narratives about our culture would they construct? The answer involves flightl...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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16:25
Education Under Siege
Are Covid-19 lockdowns a modern form of siege? By comparing courageous stories from the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996) to the present experience of UK students under national lockdown, Gusto examines the different ways in which education systems...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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25:03