Episodes

Jan. 10, 2025

Is it ok to just work all the time?

A conversation with Ira Glass.
Dec. 27, 2024

Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret?

An investigation into a mysterious room.
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 out The Small Bow. Support our show: searchengine.show To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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. The internet, itself, now looked different. Huh? A conversation with former podcast host Sarah Haider. Support Search Engine at search engine.show To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more abou...
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 course, unpack the story of the entire airport -- how these hellish modern places of security and commerce came to be. Alastair Gordon's Naked Airport. Unclaimed Baggage. Support Search Engine at search engine.show To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices...
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.
Nov. 15, 2024

The White Subaru Hell Loop

Search Engine’s crack automotive team investigates.
Nov. 8, 2024

How did the first democracy die?

The story of the first people who invented democracy, and what it did to them.
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?
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 happened. If AI might change the world, and OpenAI is leading the field -- how worried should we be? We check in with tech reporter Casey Newton of the newsletter Platformer and the podcast Hard Fork. Listen to our previous OpenAI episode (https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/who-should-...
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.
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.
Oct. 10, 2024

Death, Sex & Money x Search Engine

This week, we're sharing an episode of a show we love, Death, Sex & Money.
Oct. 4, 2024

The Mystery of the Vape Shop Kratom

This week we have for you ... not a whodunnit, but a what did I do?
Sept. 20, 2024

Is everyone pretending to understand inflation (or just me)?

The single issue that might decide the upcoming presidential election also happens to be: very confusing. Political economist Mark Blyth helps us understand: how inflation starts, how inflation is stopped, and shares his theory about why the powers-that-be may be just as confused about inflation as we are. Support the show: searchengine.show To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https...
Sept. 13, 2024

A stubborn lunatic’s guide to making great art

25 years ago, The Sopranos, the best television show ever created, premiered. This week, a new documentary called Wise Guy asks the question: how did a show considered so risky & uncommercial even get made? We’re interviewing Wise Guy director Alex Gibney about that question, and about how stubborn lunatics like him and David Chase got to make the projects they wanted to make. Incognito Mode, our ad-free, no-rerun, bonus episode feed. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices...
Sept. 6, 2024

Can I microdose veganism?

If you care about animals, but don't want to stop eating them... what's the least you could do while doing the most good?
Aug. 16, 2024

What's the best phone to do crimes on?

For years, the must-have phone for the discerning drug trafficker or hitman was a brand you may not have heard of: AN0M. Reporter Joseph Cox tells us the story of the AN0M phone, its sudden rise and shocking fall, and the shadowy group behind its invention. Joseph's new book: Dark Wire. Incognito Mode, our ad-free, no-rerun, bonus episode feed. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ht...
Aug. 9, 2024

Is there a sane way to follow this election?

We are in an eighty-eight day sprint to the Presidential election. How would you follow this story if you wanted to actually understand something, instead of, like me, just feeling very anxious several times a day? We talk to Ezra Klein about how he follows elections and his own strange role in this election cycle. If you'd like to check out some of Ezra's election coverage this year, here are some good places to start. Democrats Have a Better Option than Biden (February, 2024) Are Democrats ...
Aug. 2, 2024

The End

A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world.
July 26, 2024

The Kidnapping of Ape #8398

An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery.
July 19, 2024

Genesis

This week: Bitcoin.
July 12, 2024

The Bidding War

A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America.
June 26, 2024

Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 2)

We travel to Germany to trace techno's history from Detroit to Berlin.