Podcast Episodes

The Dave and Buster's Anomaly

A small group of Americans becomes convinced they’ve discovered something strange about their iPhones: a forbidden phrase the phone will refuse to transmit. A crack podcasting team searches for answe…

Published on 6 months ago

Why the national debt might finally matter

In a moment of deep economic uncertainty created by our tariff-loving president, suddenly, our national debt has become much more important. Important enough that, this week, we have decided to teach…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments? (classic)

A re-air from August 2023:

Our quest for the answer to this one sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invisible rules and fights that determine what our neighborhoods look li…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

What are teenagers actually seeing on their phones?

A group of teenagers agrees to allow a filmmaker to record the things they do on their phones for a year-long experiment. To see the world they see through their phones, to encounter their algorithms…

Published on 7 months ago

The Russian Cake Switcheroo

A beloved American rock band’s Spotify page appears to have been taken over by Russian rappers. Is this a scam? A mistake? A strange third act from some beloved alt-rockers? Kelefa Sanneh investigate…

Published on 7 months, 1 week ago

Planet Money: The Memecoin Casino

Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi has the story of an unusual website you’ve likely never heard of. A website that has been responsible for rapidly making the world of Dogecoin and other memecoins become…

Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago

Viruses in the Air

In the 1930s, two scientists made a very important discovery, but their breakthrough idea failed to spread. In large part because the two were considered so deeply annoying. Reporter Carl Zimmer brin…

Published on 7 months, 3 weeks ago

The Puzzle of the All-American BBQ Scrubber

Why it’s so difficult to manufacture something entirely in America, and what happens if you try anyway.

The Smarter Scrubber Grill Brush

Destin Sandlin’s YouTube Channel: Smarter Every Day

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Published on 7 months, 4 weeks ago

DOGE and the Mystery of the State Department Teslas

There’s a new president of America, and he’s doing a lot of things. How do you decide what to pay attention to? A story about reporters focusing on one mysterious line item during the DOGE headline s…

Published on 8 months ago

Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)

... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician? At twenty-five, I had a question for The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn. This week, I finally got to ask it.

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Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago