Episodes
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Episode 170: Peak Phosphorus (Entry 911.PS9703)
July 11th, 2019 | 55 mins 57 secs
In which one of the key nutrients for all life on Earth washes inexorably into the ocean all day every day, which really stresses Ken out. Certificate #52178
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Episode 169: John Dee (Entry 325.DA0202)
July 9th, 2019 | 56 mins 8 secs
In which Queen Elizabeth's top astrologer dreams up the British Empire, solar power, and possibly even James Bond, and then loses his whole reputation to a charlatan with no earlobes, leading John to create a list of scientists who should have stayed in their lane. Certificate #44269
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Episode 168: Quonset Huts (Entry 1023.PS6103)
July 4th, 2019 | 54 mins 11 secs
In which the U.S. military builds hundreds of thousands of weird half-cylindrical shelters out of corrugated steel, and Ken reports on what they would look like with stained-glass windows. Certificate #35704
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Episode 167: Droodles (Entry 382.AC0212)
July 2nd, 2019 | 1 hr 7 mins
In which we remember Frank Zappa's favorite 1950s fad, brought to you by the inventor of Mad Libs, and John remembers why people actually thought a Sasquatch lived on top of the Space Needle back in foggier times. Certificate #48261.
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Episode 166: Furries (Entry 508.GN2716)
June 27th, 2019 | 58 mins 12 secs
In which hundreds of thousands of people dress in big plush animal suits as a hobby, identity, or fetish, and Ken explains the secret Family Feud notebooks of his childhood. Certificate #26505
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Episode 165: Town Line, New York (Entry 1323.2C0617)
June 25th, 2019 | 53 mins 18 secs
In which a tiny village secedes from the United States to join the Confederacy and forgets to rejoin for almost a century--even though it's in upstate New York just miles from the Canadian border. Certificate #42052.
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Episode 164: Cold Fusion (Entry 242.PR2004)
June 20th, 2019 | 1 hr 3 mins
In which two of the world's smartest electrochemists get fooled by a botched experiment and the promise of fame, and John reveals that GPS mysticism is his pseudoscience. Certificate #19668.
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Episode 163: The Kamehameha Colonists (Entry 681.IS4204)
June 18th, 2019 | 52 mins 39 secs
In which over a hundred of Honolulu's elite private school students are shipped off to some of the world's most remote islands on a top-secret government mission, and Ken wonders if sea turtles can feel dread. Certificate #22194.
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Episode 162: Maraschino Cherries (Entry 758.PR0819)
June 13th, 2019 | 55 mins 55 secs
In which we learn how a historical delicacy of Croatia got bastardized into a staple of American cocktails and sundaes, and John is upset when his third grade teacher pays him in ice cream instead of cash. Certificate #28197.
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Episode 161: Cursive (Entry 307.DA0508)
June 11th, 2019 | 58 mins 22 secs
In which we trace script handwriting from ancient Egypt all the way up to the modern culture wars, and John and Ken argue over the ugliest cursive capital letter: is it J or Q? Certificate #32892.
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Episode 160: Lilly Pulitzer (Entry 1007.LK1227)
June 6th, 2019 | 44 mins 50 secs
In which the messy orange-eating of a runaway heiress creates a colorful new summer look for American women, and Ken goes way too far with his Kennedy assassination theories. Certificate #12306.
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Episode 159: Bone Wars (Entry 141.PS14107)
June 4th, 2019 | 50 mins 16 secs
In which America's two greatest dinosaur hunters ruin their lives in an unhinged battle of spite and revenge, which John finds extremely romantic. Certificate #24269.