Puzzled Monkey

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 Lobster hierarchies, and investigations into whether the death of Prince Philip was a false-flag operation orchestrated by the Conservative Party to distract attention from their rampant cronyism. As if that wasn't enough, Gusto then explores the subtle ...

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 construction of the canal, namely the mysterious Canal of the Pharaoh and the irrigation systems of the world's first civilization: the mighty Sumerians. In liquid fashion, attention then turns to how the canal became such a central capillary of world trade,...

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-inducing cane toad. This swiftly degenerates into an exploration of how humans and non-human animals have a propensity to seek out psychedelic experience. Why do humans and Golden Retrievers lick slime off toads? Why do Big-Horned Sheep gum down halluci...

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 escapes in the mainstream media commonly serve to perpetuate damaging stereotypes about predatory species whilst also reinforcing our cognitive dissonance towards the suffering of domestic ones. Expect stories about crocodilian convicts, semi-aquatic S...

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 are humans shaping the evolution of marsupials in Australia? And, what does the discovery of glow-in-the-dark sharks mean for their conservation? Expect joyous musings on the validity of the bamboo toothbrush, the hidden ideology of Finding Nemo, and the deep-r...

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 to the sacrifice of Liu Jin, a delivery driver who set himself alight in 2021 to demonstrate against the exploitative nature of the Chinese gig economy.

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 flightless birds, radioactive waste and plastic bag deities.

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 adapt to extreme conditions.

Gusto explores the different approaches governments in the UK and India have taken towards re-forestation. Expect delightfully incoherent rants on the following: Punjabi gun laws, Carbon Capture and Storage (CSS) technology, and the prophetic wisdom of the American comic George Carlin.

Gusto discusses a bizarre plan to dam the North Sea to save Europeans from the horrors of sea level rise, before segueing into a 20th Century German architect's (wet) dream to put a stopper in the Mediterranean and create a new super-continent.