Listener Reviews

One of my favorite things about Search Engine is that PJ and the team answer questions that I hadn’t realized I’d been asking in the deepest layer of my subconscious for eons.Like, “Oh yeah… how *do* online car dealers juggle all those different state regulations?” I legitimately remember wondering that while purchasing a car a few years back, then got distracted by, you know, the car. So it’s nice to have an answer now!Keep up the great work, y’all!

I loved Reply All, and I love Search Engine even more. I like the intimate feel of the episodes, the good mix of serious and quirky topics, and PJ’s willingness to be vulnerable and figure it all out (or not) out with us.

Search Engine started out good, but over the past year has gotten great. PJ and the team have hit their stride! A must listen.

I listen to every episode. Always interesting and holds my attention. And I learn interesting things as a bonus.

Search Engine is always about more than the topic of the week. It always strikes me as finding the deeply human in every topic. It is funny/sad and always involving. I never skip an episode.

At one of the dumbest moments in recent American history, when everyone lost their minds over BLM and DEI, Reply All decided to swan dive into irrelevance for no good reason, taking podcasting legends PJ Vogt and Shruthi Pinnamaneni with it. But thank God (or chaos?) for Search Engine, because now we get the same addictive, brainy storytelling—minus the self-inflicted drama. PJ and Shruthi have a rare gift: they can tell a story that’s ROFL funny, deeply meaningful, and capable of sparking real change. This is a podcast nobody should sleep on.

PJ Vogt can be your imaginary friend too, I’ll share since he wont be distracted from our imaginary friendship. Always interesting and surprising.

Interesting topics, thoughtful reporting and wonderful storytelling. Well done 🙏🏼🌟

Always interesting, always unexpected, always worth my listening time.

Well worth your time. I listen as soon as it drops each week.

This show is a delight!

Great reporting, in- depth research answering interesting, though-provoking questions.

Fun and interesting episodes. Long time favorite of mine.

Search Engine team continues to bring their magic: deep reportage on subjects frivolous and profound. Compelling stories, tightly edited and filled with surprises. Plus a legit soundtrack, easily the most thoughtful music I’ve ever heard behind a podcast.

This is my favorite podcast. Nuanced consideration of our complex weird world.

Always interesting, I learn a lot from it

Thoughtful, funny, smart, engaging, and always entertaining. So glad this show exists. Hope they keep cranking out episodes for a long time to come.

Beautifully produced, well reported, and extremely human. This show is exactly what I want when I click on a podcast—something that helps me stay optimistic and curious about the world.

Search Engine has such a great random mix of questions they cover that it’s impossible not to have an episode where even your skeptical “I don’t really like podcasts” friend will find one here that they want to listen to. Some shows are deep existential, some are simply about whether airline coffee is sanitary or not or why the number of roaches in cities went down mysteriously. Love y’all!

This is a nice, well made podcast. My only issue is the episodes are often wayyy too long. For example if the episode is about why people would buy luggage at an airport, before getting to the question we get an unnecessary 40 minute history on airports… for many episodes you can safely skip the first half.

Always look forward to a new episode. Truly my favourite podcast ❤️

I’m still giving the main show 4 stars because I love it. However, if you’re a long time listener, I do not recommend subscribing to Incognito Mode. I signed up thinking there would be more new episodes but all they really did is unpublish/rename old episodes and called them “Incognito Mode” episodes. If you want to support independent podcasting or don’t want ad-breaks, go for it but don’t sign up expecting a lot of new content, at least not currently.

This show is absolute perfection for anyone who loves to learn. Not only does he deep dive into interesting topics and do incredibly professional research and story telling, every episode is somehow connected to the human experience, even for things that don’t directly impact your life. The production is top notch and listening to this show is one of my favorite ways to relax while I do shopping or other mundane tasks!

When are we going to hear from a woman on this show? Every expert or person with an opinion is a man on this show. It’s disappointing how disproportionately male the guests are.