Podcast Episodes
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The Erika Typewriter (Entry 424.JB0412)
In which contraband East German equipment helps create an underground publishing movement in the Soviet Union, and Ken's favorite typeface is now tai…
4 years, 11 months ago
Four-Leaf Clovers (Entry 495.JE3623)
In which a rare recessive plant gene produces a persistent superstition and a cutthroat collectors' competition, and John will never mock Allah. Cer…
4 years, 11 months ago
The Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi Valley (Entry 895.NU2406)
In which very, very large oil paintings become the 19th-century precursor of the modern movie theater, and Ken has never seen the sun rise by choice.…
4 years, 11 months ago
Left Behind (Entry 709.1T0416)
In which some controversial Bible theology sells 65 million apocalypse thriller books and even shapes American foreign policy, and John can identify …
4 years, 11 months ago
Nudie Suits (Entry 850.EX2631)
In which a Ukrainian-born tailor brings the first outrageous stage wear to the American music scene--but in country and western, not glam rock--and K…
4 years, 11 months ago
Officials General (Entry 861.MK0640)
In which English inherits some "postpositive adjectives" from the Norman Conquest that continue to confuse high-ranking federal officials to this day…
5 years ago
Interrobang (Entry 655.LK2040)
In which a series of typographic attempts to improve on the exclamation point and question mark are doomed to failure, and Ken is unable to justify t…
5 years ago
Mister Rogers's Operas (Entry 795.RO1502)
In which America's most beloved television host and moral exemplar composes a series of now-mostly-forgotten children's operas, and John thinks Star …
5 years ago
Concordski (Entry 258.JE4606)
In which the Soviet Union attempts to close its "Concorde gap" with the West by developing its own terrible supersonic passenger jet, and John is oka…
5 years ago
Olestra (Entry 864.LV0723)
In which Procter & Gamble spends almost thirty years trying to bring its fat substitute to market, only to see it vanish from the public memory almos…
5 years ago