Podcast Episodes
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Egg-Cracking Machines (Entry 398.JE1711)
In which John goes to the Caribbean, learns how cruise ships crack 20,000 eggs in a week, and begins to comparison-shop the amazing Rube Goldberg inv…
7 years, 2 months ago
Jeanne Calment (Entry 176.2C0416)
In which an indomitable woman from Provence defies actuaries by living to be 122 years old, shadowy Russian forces try to discredit her, and Ken pred…
7 years, 2 months ago
Anything Into Oil (Entry 056.EX3729)
In which one tech company's fondest dream—to turn Butterball turkey offal into light crude oil—remains tantalizingly out of reach, and John and Ken w…
7 years, 2 months ago
Tippi Hedren's Fingernails (Entry 1311.DE2112)
In which a Hollywood ingenue survives her encounters with birds, angry lions, and creepy directors, and survives to become the godmother of one of Am…
7 years, 2 months ago
The Cheesesteak War (Entry 211.PR2306)
In which a hot dog vendor and an anonymous cabbie invent one of the all-time great American foods, giving Philadelphians classic choices like "Whiz o…
7 years, 2 months ago
Geomagnetic Reversal (Entry 524.JB3709)
In which the Earth's magnetic field turns the North Pole into the South Pole every few hundred thousand years, and John and Ken discuss what effect t…
7 years, 2 months ago
Mike the Headless Chicken (Entry 787.MK0616)
In which one seemingly doomed Colorado rooster lucks into a kind of zombie Charlotte's Web scenario, and Ken and John disagree over whether a "meat p…
7 years, 3 months ago
Honest Dick (Entry 596.EX2208)
In which the most trusted man in the state of Kentucky disappears with tobacco sacks full of the state treasury, and John and Ken discover which prom…
7 years, 3 months ago
Freighthopping (Entry 500.AM0812)
In which the American railroad provides a semi-legal travel network for millions of migrant laborers, and John explains how a sufficiently blond must…
7 years, 3 months ago
The Foreign Legion (Entry 490.2S1519)
In which the French army accepts thousands of rogues and ne'er-do-wells from all over the world, giving them white helmets and a whole lot of wine, a…
7 years, 3 months ago