We all have something we would like to forget, or something we would like others to forget about us. But it can be surprisingly difficult to forget. You can try to make yourself hold on to a memory, but letting go of it can be much trickier. Forgetfulness comes, wanted or otherwise, but always at its own pace. This episode charts various people who have tried, and failed, to bring about forgetfulness, from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant to the American actress Barbra Streisand.

Hosted and written by Sophus Helle

Sound editing by Simone Nystrup-Larsen

Edited by Andreas Lindinger Saxild

Find out more at sophushelle.com/monkeymind

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.