Monkey Mind

What makes the human mind human? In this episode, your host Sophus Helle explains how he came up with the title for the podcast. In between anecdotes from the British tax system and philosophy on the significance of volcanoes, he entertainingly tells the story of a supernatural character Sun Wukong - or Monkey - who, through his energy and excitement, functions as a metaphor of the human mind, and a story of Homo Heidelbergensis which brings us back to the topic of volcanoes.

Sophus's way of storytelling is a perfect reflection of what he describes as a monkey mind, drawing strings from one topic to the next, jumping around between different philosophies just like a monkey.

Host: Sophus Helle

Written by: Sophus Helle

Sound editing: Simone Nystrup-Larsen

Editor: Andreas Lindinger Saxild

Monkey Mind

Combining wit and wisdom, silliness and seriousness, the podcast Monkey Mind by Sophus Helle takes the audience on a weekly jaunt through the jungle of the mind. Each episode throws a new and unusual light on the issues of everyday life—trees, typos, taxes, and much more besides—making the audience look again at a world they thought they knew. It tells stories that are designed to make the listener chuckle, then reflect, drawn from both the host’s own life and from the deep well of history.

Sophus Helle is a writer, translator, and cultural historian. He is an expert in the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh and the ancient poet Enheduana.