Episodes
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 ourselves everything abou...
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 like. We also learn about h...
What’s actually on teenagers’ 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. The results are honest, ...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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.
Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician?
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...
Playboi Farti and his AI Homework Machine
A teenager explains why he shouldn’t have to write homework essays anymore.
What happens when a cemetery goes out of business?
We're supposed to be buried there forever, right? Right??
What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
One of the most routine and uncomfortable miracles many of us experience, flight.
Is it ok to just work all the time?
A conversation with Ira Glass.
Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret?
An investigation into a mysterious room.
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 ...
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...
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...
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.
The White Subaru Hell Loop
Search Engine’s crack automotive team investigates.
How did the first democracy die?
The story of the first people who invented democracy, and what it did to them.
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?
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...