Search Engine

Latest Episodes:

How do you survive fame? Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

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.

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.

Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 2) Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

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.

Check out Manny, Noah, and Devan online.

And if you'd like to support Search Engine, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 1) Jan 19, 2024

Show notes

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.

Check out Manny, Noah, and Devan online.

And if you'd like to support Search Engine, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

When do you know it’s time to stop drinking? Jan 12, 2024

Show notes

This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writerA.J. Daulerio about his own story of recovery, and the story of how he found himself opening a very unusual community on the internet.

You can find the Search Engine newsletter here.

Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 2) Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

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.

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.

Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 1) Dec 08, 2023

Show notes

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.

Support the show at pjvogt.com!

Who should be in charge of AI? Dec 01, 2023

Show notes

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.

Check out Casey Newton's newsletter Platformer and our newsletter, too.

Why don’t we eat people? Nov 17, 2023

Show notes

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.

Support the show! at pjvogt.substack.com

The Bull of Wall Street Nov 10, 2023

Show notes

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.

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.

Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 2) Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

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 convinced that her brain does not work correctly, and who struggled to find someone who believed her.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected