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Episodes

April 4, 2025

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 investigates. Bye-Bye - Cake, PulyaNa...

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March 28, 2025

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 even more unhinged, all w...

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March 21, 2025

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 brings us a story of the scien...

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March 14, 2025

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 Support Search Engine To learn more ...

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March 7, 2025

DOGE and the Mystery of the State Department Teslas

A story about reporters focussing on one mysterious line item during the DOGE headline storm, and where that led.

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Feb. 28, 2025

Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)

... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician?

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Feb. 21, 2025

Can you cure picky eating?

An adult picky eater, ostracized by his friends, castigated by society, asks the most human question of all: can I change? Our friends Manny, Noah, and Devan, the chicken bone squad, return to answer their own question. Check...

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Feb. 14, 2025

Playboi Farti and his AI Homework Machine

A teenager explains why he shouldn’t have to write homework essays anymore.

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Feb. 7, 2025

What happens when a cemetery goes out of business?

We're supposed to be buried there forever, right? Right??

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Jan. 24, 2025

What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?

One of the most routine and uncomfortable miracles many of us experience, flight.

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Jan. 18, 2025

The New Zuckerberg

What’s going on with Mark Zuckerberg?

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Jan. 10, 2025

Is it ok to just work all the time?

A conversation with Ira Glass.

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Dec. 27, 2024

Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret?

An investigation into a mysterious room.

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Dec. 20, 2024

When do you know it’s time to stop drinking? (re-broadcast)

This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writer A.J. Daulerio about his own story of recovery, and the story of how he found himself opening a very unusual community on the internet. Check ...

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Dec. 13, 2024

What if ayahuasca made you stop podcasting?

An anti-woke podcast abruptly announces its end, and in its final episode, a host offers its listeners some surprising news. She had taken ayahuasca, a powerful psychedelic, and it had contributed to her decision to step away...

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Dec. 6, 2024

Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store?

If ever there was a place where every person inside was guaranteed to already have luggage, it would be inside an airport. And yet ... the airport luggage stores persist. Who is going to these places? To answer, we will of co...

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Nov. 22, 2024

What is jawmaxxing?

The story of how an alternative theory of dentistry made its way from medicine's fringes to an audience of young men online.

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Nov. 15, 2024

The White Subaru Hell Loop

Search Engine’s crack automotive team investigates.

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Nov. 8, 2024

How did the first democracy die?

The story of the first people who invented democracy, and what it did to them.

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Nov. 1, 2024

How do you sit quietly in the middle of a storm?

What if there was an event in the future, the outcome of which you couldn’t personally control, but it was still causing you anguish?

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Oct. 25, 2024

Should we be worried about OpenAI?

A year ago, we saw a stand-off between OpenAI's non-profit board and its leader, Sam Altman. Since then, the board has been reshuffled, Altman has consolidated power, and under his leadership, some strange things have happene...

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Oct. 18, 2024

Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 2)

We reveal the one weird trick some billionaires use to pay less in federal taxes than you do.

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Oct. 18, 2024

Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 1)

A rogue IRS contractor leaks the private tax returns of the country’s wealthiest citizens to a reporter.

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Oct. 10, 2024

Death, Sex & Money x Search Engine

This week, we're sharing an episode of a show we love, Death, Sex & Money.

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