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Search Engine
Search Engine is the podcast that tries to answer the questions that keep you up at night. A podcast made by humans that provides human answers. It was co-created by PJ Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni.
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Recent Episodes
Oct. 3, 2025
Talk Easy x Search Engine
This week, we’re sharing something we loved. An interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross about a life made out of conversation. Check out Talk Easy Check out Fresh Air To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices...
Sept. 26, 2025
Is my favorite new tv show this year a ripoff?
The makers of the medical drama The Pitt have been sued. The allegation: that the show is an unauthorized copy of ER. This week, investigative reporter Nicholas Kulish walks us through the ensuing drama, reads us the possibly...
Sept. 19, 2025
The Obituary
Not long after Alex’s wife Whitney dies, he looks at her obituary and discovers something strange. A sect of people online has hijacked her story and turned it into a disturbing conspiracy theory. Check out the place Whitney ...
Sept. 4, 2025
How does a rationalist make a baby?
A member of an unusual Bay Area community decides to try to have a baby in an unusual way – by putting out a very large prize for anyone who can help her find a mate. How the internet shaped one person’s decision-thinking. Su...
Aug. 22, 2025
A Dubai Chocolate theory of the internet
Garbage Day's Ryan Broderick traces the rise of this goopy green chocolate, and explains how Chinese social media is beginning to tug on US culture in unexpected ways. Support Search Engine! To learn more about listener data ...
Aug. 15, 2025
Are microplastics really a problem?
Our listener Louisa is very annoyed by her sister’s preoccupation with keeping her children away from microplastics. Louisa wonders: are people with microplastics anxiety kind of overdoing it? Search Engine investigates. Supp...
What People Say About the Show
"I love explanatory journalism, and it’s explanatory journalism at its best. Simple questions that unfold into wondrous answers and, more than that, explorations."
- Ezra Klein, host of The Ezra Klein Show
"I like that Search Engine is still figuring out what it can do with this new podcast form it's invented, and that every time I download an episode I really don't know what to expect. What's rarer than that? In podcasts or in anything?"
- Ira Glass, host of This American Life
"Search Engine’s particular spark comes from the way the team injects a sense of genuine discovery into the act of unspooling. This is a show that works to give you a good time, always hustling for your attention as it peels back layer after layer."
- Vulture, "Search Engine Is the Spiritual Successor to Reply All"
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