Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
America vs. China
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People review everything, but they almost never review what it’s like to live in another country. ...
The Rage in the Cage
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you tickle your way to victory in an MMA fight? An investigation into a sports scandal with jour...
Cocomelon For Adults
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, OpenAI released an app that quickly shot to the #1 spot in Apple's App Store. Sora is lik...
Talk Easy x Search Engine
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we’re sharing something we loved. An interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross about a l...
Is my favorite new tv show this year a ripoff?
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The makers of the medical drama The Pitt have been sued. The allegation: that the show is an unautho...
The Obituary
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Not long after Alex’s wife Whitney dies, he looks at her obituary and discovers something strange....
How does a rationalist make a baby?
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A member of an unusual Bay Area community decides to try to have a baby in an unusual way – by put...
A Dubai Chocolate theory of the internet
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Garbage Day's Ryan Broderick traces the rise of this goopy green chocolate, and explains how Chinese...
Are microplastics really a problem?
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our listener Louisa is very annoyed by her sister’s preoccupation with keeping her children away f...
What does it feel like to believe in God? (classic)
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we try to understand an experience that 74% of Americans routinely report having. The fir...
The Cuddly Killer (classic)
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activ...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? - Part 2 (classic)
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle. W...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? - Part 1 (classic)
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And ...
The Psychic Question
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A journalist finds out that many of his vaunted mentors are seeing a psychic. The same psychic. He d...
Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee? (classic)
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsaf...
The Test
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A woman gets a disquieting piece of information about her pregnancy, and turns to technology to try ...
The Stupid Little Yogurt Question
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A high school teacher has a question, but he wants his skeptical teenage students to answer it. Repo...
Search Engine x What We Spend
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week, we're presenting an episode of a new show we like called What We Spend, one of Vulture's ...
How to stop being so phone addicted (without self-discipline or meditation)
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week we ask a slightly absurd question – is there technology to stop you from using addictive...
The Dave and Buster's Anomaly
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A small group of Americans becomes convinced they’ve discovered something strange about their iPho...
Why the national debt might finally matter
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In a moment of deep economic uncertainty created by our tariff-loving president, suddenly, our natio...
Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments? (classic)
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A re-air from August 2023: Our quest for the answer to this one sends us over a hundred years into t...
What are teenagers actually seeing on their phones?
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A group of teenagers agrees to allow a filmmaker to record the things they do on their phones for a ...
The Russian Cake Switcheroo
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A beloved American rock band’s Spotify page appears to have been taken over by Russian rappers. Is...
Planet Money: The Memecoin Casino
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi has the story of an unusual website you’ve likely never heard of. A ...
Viruses in the Air
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In the 1930s, two scientists made a very important discovery, but their breakthrough idea failed to ...
The Puzzle of the All-American BBQ Scrubber
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why it’s so difficult to manufacture something entirely in America, and what happens if you try an...
DOGE and the Mystery of the State Department Teslas
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
There’s a new president of America, and he’s doing a lot of things. How do you decide what to pa...
Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician? At twenty-five, I had a question for The Ho...
Can you cure picky eating?
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An adult picky eater, ostracized by his friends, castigated by society, asks the most human question...
What should we do about teens using AI to do their homework?
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A teenager explains why he shouldn’t have to write homework essays anymore. Is there some way for ...
What happens when a cemetery goes out of business?
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We're supposed to be buried there forever, right? Right?? Answers this week from writer David Sloane...
What’s it like to fly when you’re fat?
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
One of the most routine and uncomfortable miracles many of us experience, flight. Airplanes have got...
The New Zuckerberg
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What’s going on with Mark Zuckerberg? He recently conspicuously pivoted toward MAGA, meeting quiet...
Is it ok to just work all the time?
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For our first episode in the new year, a reflection on how we spend our time. What we devote our lif...
Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret?
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An investigation into a mysterious room. A room that the most famous family in England apparently ...
When do you know it’s time to stop drinking? (classic)
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writer A.J. Daulerio ab...
What if ayahuasca made you stop podcasting?
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An anti-woke podcast abruptly announces its end, and in its final episode, a host offers its listene...
Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store?
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If ever there was a place where every person inside was guaranteed to already have luggage, it would...
What is jawmaxxing?
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The story of how an alternative theory of dentistry made its way from medicine's fringes to an audie...
The White Subaru Hell Loop
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A mortal human being finds himself stuck between two impressive organizations: the DMV, and an inter...
Presenting Gone South
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Gone South, the Edward R. Murrow award-winning podcast, is back. Unlike previous seasons, writer and...
How did the first democracy die?
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The story of the first people who invented democracy, and what it did to them. What's Wrong With Dem...
How do you sit quietly in the middle of a storm?
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if there was an event in the future, the outcome of which you couldn’t personally control, bu...
Should we be worried about OpenAI?
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A year ago, we saw a stand-off between OpenAI's non-profit board and its leader, Sam Altman. Since t...
Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 2)
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We reveal the one weird trick some billionaires use to pay less in federal income taxes than you do....
Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 1)
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A rogue IRS contractor leaks the private tax returns of the country’s wealthiest citizens to a rep...
Death, Sex & Money x Search Engine
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week, we're sharing an episode of a show we love, Death, Sex & Money. We hope you enjoy it as m...
The Mystery of the Vape Shop Kratom
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week we have for you ... not a whodunnit, but a what did I do? A listener tries a substance he ...
Is everyone pretending to understand inflation (or just me)?
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The single issue that might decide the upcoming presidential election also happens to be: very confu...
A stubborn lunatic’s guide to making great art
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
25 years ago, The Sopranos, the best television show ever created, premiered. This week, a new docu...
Can I microdose veganism?
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you care about animals, but don't want to stop eating them... what's the least you could do while...
What's the best phone to do crimes on?
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For years, the must-have phone for the discerning drug trafficker or hitman was a brand you may not ...
Is there a sane way to follow this election?
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We are in an eighty-eight day sprint to the Presidential election. How would you follow this story i...
The End
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world. (This summer we’re ...
The Kidnapping of Ape #8398
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celeb...
Genesis
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week: Bitcoin. We trace it from its humble origins in a .PDF to the movement it has spawned, al...
The Bidding War
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. This summer...
Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 2)
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We travel to Germany to trace techno's history from Detroit to Berlin. The story of how, after the W...
Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 1)
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Two Americans embark on a quest: fly across an ocean to try to get into the most exclusive nightclub...
What does it feel like to believe in God?
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
This week, we try to understand an experience that 74% of Americans routinely report having. The fir...
How much glue should you put in your pizza?
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An internet breaking news story. As we told you last week, Google has begun offering AI-generated an...
How do we survive the media apocalypse? (Part 2)
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Last week, Google announced a fundamental change to how the site will work, which will likely have d...
Should this creepy search engine exist?
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After stumbling on a new kind of search engine for faces, we called privacy journalist Kashmir Hill....
What do trigger warnings actually do?
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A listener’s brother dies by suicide, and afterwards, she finds herself angered by trigger warning...
Where's my flying car?
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since not long after the car was invented, we have wanted to stick wings on them and fly them throug...
Do political yard signs actually do anything?
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s an election year and so Search Engine’s campaign desk is answering the questions you really...
Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 2)
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our story, we watch the state of New York try to pull off something we rarely see in ...
Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 1)
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, New York legalized cannabis for adults. It was supposed to be the start of a legal market, ...
A big announcement from Search Engine plus, "What's in your cocaine?"
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've launched a new premium feed called Incognito Mode. It includes bonus episodes of Search Engine...
How do we survive the media apocalypse?
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Something strange, new, and unsettling is happening in media right now. Huge institutions, both news...
Who's behind these scammy text messages we've all been getting?
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Hi David, I’m Vicky Ho. Don’t you remember me?" An investigative reporter travels halfway aroun...
How do you make an addictive video game?
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode will change how you look at games. We talk to Ben Brode, the designer behind Hearthston...
Where did all the roaches go?
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cockroaches were a scourge that scuttled through the cracks and crevices of homes all throughout Ame...
What are we gonna do about all these cats?
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activ...
How do you survive fame?
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Actor Molly Ringwald joins us to talk about a time in her life when her job was to pretend to be a n...
Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 2)
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the shocking finale of our investigation into who -- or what -- has been leaving chicke...
Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 1)
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A team of investigators with an unusual set of skills joins us this week to solve a mystery that hau...
When do you know it’s time to stop drinking?
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writer A.J. Daulerio a...
Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 2)
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We bring you the shattering conclusion to our investigation into whether a New York City sushi resta...
Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 1)
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We investigate unsettling rumors that fish purveyors may be mislabeling fish to save a buck. Our pat...
Who should be in charge of AI?
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the story of a very brief, very absurd revolution at the world’s leading artificial int...
Why don’t we eat people?
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A question from a four-year-old tips us into an investigation of one of our most fundamental taboos:...
The Bull of Wall Street
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every day in Manhattan, about 1,000 people will stand outside in a long line waiting for their chanc...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 2)
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle. We...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 1)
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And ...
Is there a sane way to use the internet?
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra Klein joins Search Engine this week to answer a question that's increasingly confounded us: how...
Heavyweight x Search Engine
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Search Engine is VERY EXCITED to share the news that Heavyweight, one of our favorite shows, is now ...
The Fond Du Lac Apartment Mystery
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why would the government give Korianne a coupon for a free apartment that she can’t find? We have ...
Where did the 8 billion dollars go?
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the story of former crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. The government alleges he stole ...
Why are we still buying diamonds?
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They’re shiny rocks that we’ve somehow agreed embody romance and eternity. But diamonds, it turn...
Why’s it so hard to figure out how many people watch Stranger Things?
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things, would like to know why won’t Netflix just tell her how many peopl...
Does anyone actually like their job?
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician? At twenty-five, I had a question for The Ho...
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 2)
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We speak to Luis, a former fentanyl dealer and user who tells us why a dealer might want to put fent...
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 1)
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Isn't it bad business to kill your own customers? In part one of our answer to this question, we tal...
Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments?
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our quest for answers this week sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invi...
What's it like to slowly go blind?
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew t...
What's going on with Elon Musk?
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Search Engine investigates the erratic behavior of the world’s wealthiest man with Hard Fork’s C...
How do I find new music now that I’m old and irrelevant?
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We enlist a very overqualified person to answer this question, writer Kelefa Sanneh, author of Majo...
Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee?
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsaf...