Search Engine
Kanalaren Xehetasunak
Search Engine
We try to make sense of the world, one question at a time. No question too big, no question too small.Hosted by PJ Vogt, edited by Sruthi Pinnamaneni. Named one of the best podcasts of all time by Time Magazine
Atal Berriak
137 atal
Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret? (classic)
An investigation into a mysterious room. A room that the most famous family in England apparently does not want you to see.
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Why do we have to pay into the new Anti-Weaponization Fund?
The President has created a 1.776 billion dollar fund of taxpayer money he can direct to whoever he wants. Huh? How did this happen, and what might ha...
Presenting: Family Lore
Presenting an episode of Family Lore, a new show on the Audacy network. The granddaughter of a prolific Jewish art collector who fled Europe during Wo...
The many lives of Taiwan
We go deep into the story of Taiwan. How a tiny island escaped demise, chartered a course from colonial subjugation through mass Barbie production and...
Why are people excited about nuclear power again?
Nuclear energy was a taboo for decades, but it’s coming back, it’ll power AI data centers for Google and Microsoft. What does new nuclear technology l...
What if the cemetery goes out of business? (classic)
We're supposed to be buried there forever, right? Right?? Answers this week from writer David Sloane, who grew up in a cemetery and spent his adult li...
Where’s the best free restaurant bread in America?
An enterprising reporter goes on a quest to find the restaurant serving the absolute best free bread in this country, and finds it. She returns to Sea...
The Cost of War
The United States has begun a conflict with Iran that two thirds of the American public does not understand. One question we can try to answer: how mu...
What we got wrong about GLP-1s
Search Engine is breaking its cowardly three-year silence on GLP-1s. We have been curious about them. We have been afraid of getting in trouble. We ar...
The Trial of the Driverless Car
In blue cities throughout the country, unions and politicians are fighting to ban driverless cars. We travel to Boston, where the fight has reached a...
Are you a good driver?
The story of how a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. And, an answer to the question: are the robots actually safer dr...
Odd Lots x Search Engine
This week, we’re sharing an episode from Odd Lots. An interview with The Economist's Mike Bird about how Chinese real estate became the biggest bubble...
Mysteries of a Chatbot
Anthropic hired philosophers to teach its AI to be good. In their tests, the AI blackmailed a human to keep itself alive. Writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus we...
Why don’t we eat people? (classic)
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 criti...
How Peptides Conquered the Internet
Two decades ago, bodybuilders on niche internet forums started injecting peptides. Now they're in the secret mini-fridges of some teenage boys. How di...
Are flushable wipes actually flushable?
A simple question leads us on a journey from the bowels of New York City through the courtrooms of South Carolina to the disgusting truth.
Suppo...
The Venezuelan Curse (Part 2)
The conclusion to our story about Venezuela. How a country goes from a prosperous democracy to a poverty-ravaged dictatorship.
The End (our 202...
The Venezuelan Curse
For the past year, there's been a steady drumbeat of headlines about Venezuela. Now the US has invaded, arrested its president, and installed itself i...
The Fediverse Experiment
Our present version of the internet is arguably the worst it’s ever been. Which means – any shot at changing things, even an unlikely one – is worth t...
Heavyweight x Search Engine
As a very special holiday treat, we are sharing a story from one of our favorite podcasts, Heavyweight.
Gregor's parents are pushing 90. Gregor...
A Perfectly Average Anomaly
A man walks into an airport body scanner, and with eerie consistency, the machine flags the exact same part of his body. What could be going on? Searc...
Unlocked: The State of Search Engine 2025
As a special, one-time holiday treat, we're sharing something we only usually offer on our premium feed, Incognito Mode. Our annual board meeting! We...
What's the best phone to do crimes on? (classic)
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...
How to talk (or not talk) politics at family holidays
This week, in honor of the holiday season — can you, should you change your family’s politics through holiday conversation. If so, how? A conversation...
Colossus 2
In part two of our story about Elon Musk’s growing data center empire, we visit the battle between people in Memphis and xAI. And we try to understand...
Colossus 1
Tech billionaires have made an enormous bet on AI, the biggest bet that tech has made on anything in a very long time. Reporter Sruthi Pinnamaneni goe...
An Anthropology of Gooners
A reporter spends a year diving into a subculture of young men online who unite around their extreme commitment to constant, unadulterated porn consum...
America vs. China
People review everything, but they almost never review what it’s like to live in another country. Until now.
We interview a writer who’s lived...
The Rage in the Cage
Can you tickle your way to victory in an MMA fight? An investigation into a sports scandal with journalist Pablo Torre.
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Cocomelon For Adults
Last week, OpenAI released an app that quickly shot to the #1 spot in Apple's App Store. Sora is like TikTok, except all the videos are AI generated....
Talk Easy x Search Engine
This week, we’re sharing something we loved. An interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross about a life made out of conversation.
Check out Talk Eas...
Is my favorite new TV show this year a ripoff?
The makers of the medical drama The Pitt have been sued. The allegation: that the show is an unauthorized copy of ER.
This week, investigative...
The Obituary
Not long after Alex’s wife Whitney dies, he looks at her obituary and discovers something strange. A sect of people online has hijacked her story and...
How does a rationalist make a baby?
A member of an unusual Bay Area community decides to try to have a baby in an unusual way – by putting out a very large prize for anyone who can help...
A Dubai Chocolate theory of the internet
Garbage Day's Ryan Broderick traces the rise of this goopy green chocolate, and explains how Chinese social media is beginning to tug on US culture in...
Are microplastics really a problem?
Our listener Louisa is very annoyed by her sister’s preoccupation with keeping her children away from microplastics. Louisa wonders: are people with m...
What does it feel like to believe in God? (classic)
This week, we try to understand an experience that 74% of Americans routinely report having. The first of many conversations (perhaps?). This one, an...
The Cuddly Killer (classic)
A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activists. What should we do about an invasive species...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? - Part 2 (classic)
In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle.
We meet a doctor who spent two decades convinc...
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? - Part 1 (classic)
One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And afterwards wonders -- how did these drugs becomes...