Alle afleveringen
145 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Where's my flying car?
19 april 2024 · 52 min
Since not long after the car was invented, we have wanted to stick wings on them and fly them through the sky. This week, we interview writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus about the surprisingly long history of actual, working flying cars in America. Plus, what it's like to actually fly in a modern flying car. Lees meer
Read Gideon's article! Support the show!
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Do political yard signs actually do anything?
12 april 2024 · 34 min
It’s an election year and so Search Engine’s campaign desk is answering the questions you really want answers to: all the political yard signs in your neighbors’ yards … do they do anything besides make everyone like each other less? Lees meer
An experiment that definitively answers this question.
Support the show!
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Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 2)
5 april 2024 · 1 uur 5 min
In part two of our story, we watch the state of New York try to pull off something we rarely see in America: a kind of reparations. A very ambitious dream encounters a thicket of details and complications. The whole time, cameras roll, broadcasting the meetings on YouTube. Lees meer
Help support the show!
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Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 1)
29 maart 2024 · 49 min
In 2021, New York legalized cannabis for adults. It was supposed to be the start of a legal market, led by people arrested during prohibition. Instead, a strange new market has flourished, seemingly every formerly empty store in the city now sells weed. How'd that happen? In part one, the history of prohibition and how it helps explain the mess we're in now. Lees meer
If you enjoyed the episode, consider supporting the show at searchengine.show
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A big announcement from Search Engine plus, "What's in your cocaine?"
22 maart 2024 · 14 min
We've launched a new premium feed called Incognito Mode. It includes bonus episodes of Search Engine and some other very special features. We're including a preview episode here: an interview with a very candid, high-level drug dealer about adulterants in the illicit drug supply. Sign up now, at searchengine.show or go there to learn more. Lees meer
(More thoughts about why we're doing this and the future of our show).
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How do we survive the media apocalypse?
15 maart 2024 · 59 min
Something strange, new, and unsettling is happening in media right now. Huge institutions, both newspapers and online outlets, are being severely transformed by layoffs. Lees meer
As a person just trying to find good information on the internet, what are you supposed to do? We’re joined this week again by Ezra Klein, who has an explanation for why this is happening, a prediction about where it’s going, and a prescription for what we all can do about it.
If you'd like to support Search Engine, you can do so over at searchengine.show
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Who's behind these scammy text messages we've all been getting?
8 maart 2024 · 1 uur 8 min
"Hi David, I’m Vicky Ho. Don’t you remember me?" Lees meer
An investigative reporter travels halfway around the world to find out who is sending him random wrong number texts and why. After you hear this story, you'll never look at these messages the same way again.
You can grab a copy of Zeke's book, Number Go Up, here.
If you want to support Search Engine, and access our premium feed, head over to searchengine.show.
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How do you make an addictive video game?
1 maart 2024 · 50 min
This episode will change how you look at games. We talk to Ben Brode, the designer behind Hearthstone and Marvel Snap, about how a creative person learns to make the things they love, and about the secret ideas hiding in games as simple as rock-papers-scissors. Lees meer
If you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
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Where did all the roaches go?
23 februari 2024 · 39 min
Cockroaches were a scourge that scuttled through the cracks and crevices of homes all throughout America. And then one day, large numbers of them mysteriously disappeared. A miracle for humankind? Sure. But for cockroaches: the world's grimmest true crime story. Lees meer
This story is a collaboration with our friends over at Radio Atlantic.
If you want to support Search Engine, you can do that over at pjvogt.com.
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What are we gonna do about all these cats?
9 februari 2024 · 50 min
A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activists. What should we do about an invasive species beloved by many Americans -- cats? We hear from people on both sides of the war, and from one person who sits exactly in the middle. Lees meer
Support the show!
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How do you survive fame?
2 februari 2024 · 1 uur 9 min
Actor Molly Ringwald joins us to talk about a time in her life when her job was to pretend to be a normal American teenager, a job which made it impossible to actually be a normal American teenager. Lees meer
How did she learn to survive? In an era when the internet has turned many more people into public figures, what can everybody else learn from her?
Plus, Sruthi Pinnamaneni tries to learn more about a rare and enchanting song.
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Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 2)
26 januari 2024 · 32 min
This week, the shocking finale of our investigation into who -- or what -- has been leaving chicken bones strewn across the sidewalks of American cities. Our team of investigators returns with surveillance footage, and a recording of a superintendent with a rat-hitting stick. Plus, an exclusive interview with a public servant with a vision for a revolution in American urban trash collection. Lees meer
Check out Manny, Noah, and Devan online.
And if you'd like to support Search Engine, you can sign up for our newsletter here.
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Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 1)
19 januari 2024 · 37 min
A team of investigators with an unusual set of skills joins us this week to solve a mystery that haunts dog owners across modern American cities. On our journey, we'll have video surveillance, thousands of years of poultry history, and some hard truths about highway apples. Lees meer
Check out Manny, Noah, and Devan online.
And if you'd like to support Search Engine, you can sign up for our newsletter here.
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When do you know it’s time to stop drinking?
12 januari 2024 · 57 min
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. Lees meer
You can find the Search Engine newsletter here.
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Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 2)
15 december 2023 · 39 min
We bring you the shattering conclusion to our investigation into whether a New York City sushi restaurant is swapping their tuna rolls for “the ex-lax fish.” The DNA test is in. Lees meer
Can we trust anyone? Are our fish safe to eat? What’s the email address where you submit for the Pulitzers? We have answers.
Plus a bonus this week — the 5-second rule is put to a laboratory test.
If you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter at pjvogt.com.
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Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 1)
8 december 2023 · 42 min
We investigate unsettling rumors that fish purveyors may be mislabeling fish to save a buck. Our path leads us deep into the shadowy world of blackmarket fish sales, and sends us hot on the trail of the infamous ex-lax fish. Plus, we look back to antiquity for the first ever recorded emergency podcast. Lees meer
Support the show at pjvogt.com!
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Who should be in charge of AI?
1 december 2023 · 53 min
This week, the story of a very brief, very absurd revolution at the world’s leading artificial intelligence company, OpenAI. And we try to answer the quite real question that might be animating all of the drama. Lees meer
Check out Casey Newton's newsletter Platformer and our newsletter, too.
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Why don’t we eat people?
17 november 2023 · 58 min
A question from a four-year-old tips us into an investigation of one of our most fundamental taboos: cannibalism. With help from New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield and writer Kelefa Sanneh. Lees meer
Support the show! at pjvogt.substack.com
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The Bull of Wall Street
10 november 2023 · 48 min
Every day in Manhattan, about 1,000 people will stand outside in a long line waiting for their chance to take a picture with a bronze bull. On many of those days, PJ Vogt stares at the scene trying to decode what exactly is going on here. This week, he get answers, and a story that leads back to one of the most peculiar art crimes of the 1980s. Lees meer
If you want to see the images & video referenced in this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
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Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 2)
3 november 2023 · 45 min
In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle. Lees meer
We meet a doctor who spent two decades convinced that her brain does not work correctly, and who struggled to find someone who believed her.
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Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 1)
27 oktober 2023 · 55 min
One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And afterwards wonders -- how did these drugs becomes so popular, so fast? This week, the story of amphetamine's birth, life, death, and rebirth in America. (Methylphenidates, too.) Lees meer
If you want to comment on this episode or financially support the show, head to pjvogt.com
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Is there a sane way to use the internet?
20 oktober 2023 · 56 min
Ezra Klein joins Search Engine this week to answer a question that's increasingly confounded us: how do I use the internet now? How do I get information about the things I care about, without getting sucked into a vortex of opinion, unearned certainty, and yelling? Lees meer
If you'd like reading recommendations based on this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
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The Fond Du Lac Apartment Mystery
6 oktober 2023 · 53 min
Why would the government give Korianne a coupon for a free apartment that she can’t find? We have a question from a listener who finds herself very lost in Wisconsin. And a bonus question, from the internet’s own Taylor Lorenz: What happens when you pay someone else to surf your internet? Lees meer
If you want to see the images & videos referenced in this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
And you can order Taylor Lorenz's new book here.
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Where did the 8 billion dollars go?
29 september 2023 · 1 uur 4 min
This week, the story of former crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. The government alleges he stole over eight billion dollars from the customers of the crypto exchange he started, FTX. Lees meer
Our question ... how do you blow eight billion dollars? Investigative financial reporter Zeke Faux helps us answer our question.
Be sure to check out Zeke's book, Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall. If you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter: pjvogt.com.
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Why are we still buying diamonds?
22 september 2023 · 55 min
They’re shiny rocks that we’ve somehow agreed embody romance and eternity. But diamonds, it turns out, are not as rare as we think. And these days, they can be made in a lab. So why do we continue to spend so much money on them? This week, the story of a century-long, international scheme. And the story of how it fell apart. Lees meer
If you want to see the articles and videos referenced in this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
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Why’s it so hard to figure out how many people watch Stranger Things?
15 september 2023 · 55 min
Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things, would like to know why won’t Netflix just tell her how many people watch the show? Plus the question underneath that question … might the internet have broken our TV industry? We get answers with help from Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. Lees meer
Review the show!
Check out my newsletter this week for some thoughts about how this story might relate to the podcast industry.
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Does anyone actually like their job?
1 september 2023 · 40 min
... 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. Lees meer
If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter: pjvogt.com
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Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 2)
18 augustus 2023 · 46 min
We speak to Luis, a former fentanyl dealer and user who tells us why a dealer might want to put fentanyl in less lethal drugs. Luis also tells us how he learned the rules of dealing, and how the rules changed over his multi-decade career. Lees meer
If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter: pjvogt.com
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Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 1)
11 augustus 2023 · 35 min
Isn't it bad business to kill your own customers? In part one of our answer to this question, we talk to reporter Ben Westhoff, who helps us understand how Fentanyl became a street drug in the first place. He'll share recordings taped in a Chinese Fentanyl lab, and explain why some dealers might want to poison their own customers with the drug. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter. Lees meer
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Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments?
4 augustus 2023 · 43 min
Our quest for answers this week 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 houses with backyard roller coasters, tiny apartments inside of shopping malls, and then we think a little bit about death. Happy Friday! Lees meer
If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.
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What's it like to slowly go blind?
28 juli 2023 · 54 min
We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew takes us inside the blind internet, and teaches us how you deal with anxiety about the things you can't control that aren't going away. Lees meer
Check out Andrew's new book, The Country of the Blind. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head here.
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What's going on with Elon Musk?
21 juli 2023 · 57 min
Search Engine investigates the erratic behavior of the world’s wealthiest man with Hard Fork’s Casey Newton. The three top theories for why Elon Musk has begun to act strangely, including one theory that upset our understanding of reality itself. Lees meer
If you'd like to read more about this episode or support the show financially, go here.
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How do I find new music now that I’m old and irrelevant?
14 juli 2023 · 42 min
We enlist a very overqualified person to answer this question, writer Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. Kelefa listens to more music than practically anyone on earth, and this week he breaks down how even a normal person can find new stuff when they feel like their ears have rusted. Lees meer
Check out the Search Engine newsletter for playlist recommendations from Kelefa, Search Engine's Noah John, and PJ Vogt.
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Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee?
7 juli 2023 · 50 min
Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsafe to drink because the onboard water tanks are only cleaned once a year. We investigate and learn some disgusting lessons along the way. Go to our newsletter here to see the images referenced in this episode. Lees meer
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How sad are the monkeys in the zoo?
12 mei 2023 · 37 min
To answer this question, we’ll unpack a scientific battle centuries in the making, one that involves a serial killer elephant and a suicidal dog. We’ll also learn a new way that people who are ambivalent about zoos can now go to zoos in good conscience. Guest: Dr. Laurel Braitman, author of Animal Madness. Lees meer
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Animal-Madness/Laurel-Braitman/9781451627015
Subscribe to our free newsletter and/or support the show with a paid subscription here.
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Introducing: Search Engine
13 januari 2023 · 1 min
No question too big, no question too small. A new show that’ll be out soon. You can hear it here, on this feed. The one you're on now. Question you'd like answered? Email pjvogt85@gmail.com
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09 The End
22 december 2022 · 52 min
A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world.
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08 The Kidnapping of Ape #8398
28 juni 2022 · 37 min
An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celebrities suddenly start selling us on NFTs last year? (To help support the show or subscribe to the free newsletter, check out http://www.pjvogt.com)
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07 The Drug Trader
27 mei 2022 · 31 min
This week we follow a dollar underground. For notes, further reading, or to support this project visit pjvogt.com.
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06 The Lunatic Who Crashed Crypto
13 mei 2022 · 31 min
This week, a story of about how crypto just imploded due to one risky, financial product. And the fight-loving, Twitter-addicted founder who invented that product for his adoring army of lunatics. Lees meer
Visit Crypto Island at pjvogt.com if you'd like to help support this project. There's a newsletter about how these episodes are made, too.
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05 Genesis
7 mei 2022 · 1 uur 5 min
This week: Bitcoin. We trace it from its humble origins in a .PDF to the movement it has spawned, all over three days at an enormous Bitcoin conference in Miami. Lees meer
Visit Crypto Island at pjvogt.com if you'd like to ask questions about this episode, help support this project, or to simply view a photograph of this reporter collapsed from a panic attack. There's a newsletter about how this episode was made, too.
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04 The Skeptic
5 april 2022 · 42 min
The strange journeys of Cas Piancey, a baker turned crypto skeptic. (For notes & further reading on this episode, check out my newsletter at pjvogt.com).
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03 Miguel
25 maart 2022 · 15 min
A conversation with Miguel Piedrafita. Why would a 19-year-old from Spain want to buy the US Constitution?
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02 ConstitutionDAO
23 maart 2022 · 49 min
A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. (Listen to introduction episode before this one, if you haven't! Also for notes & further reading on this episode, check out my newsletter at pjvogt.com).
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01 Welcome to Crypto Island
14 maart 2022 · 17 min
An introduction to this limited series. A video of a mysterious tropical island populated entirely by Bitcoin dynasts and Dogecoin princelings sends a reporter on a new journey.