What is...? A Jeopardy! Podcast

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Week of November 24: A Fig Leaf Can't Contain Me Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

The imperial run of Harrison Whitaker marches on, and though he faces a couple tough challenges throughout the week, he heads into the weekend a 14-day champion. Ken also gets to feel like a champion on this episode as we get a few wonderful Ken's Korner moments, Jeopardy! fans fume about his Simpsons residuals, and we dive deep on Jim Thorpe. Plus, Harrison unknowingly gives us a couple gems of anecdotes and a response that tickles us.

If you want to be tickled, why not donate to our Patreon? We won't actually tickle you, but our content might! Head on over to patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month gets you a bonus episode every month, access to our entire back catalogue, access to our Discord, and MORE! Join today!

SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine: "Why Are Jim Thorpe's Olympic Records Still Not Recognized?" by Sally Jenkins

Special thank you as always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of November 17: (Chewbacca Noise) Nov 25, 2025

Show notes

Harrison Whitaker is a joy to watch play Jeopardy!, but he also makes our job very hard this week, as his constant parade of correct answers makes it hard to make fun of anything. But comedy finds a way, as we have Jeopardy! fans fuming over something that makes no sense at all, we learn Harrison and John have a shared experience with the elderly, and we dive deep on Nikola Tesla.

If you want some more ELECTRIC content, head on over to our Patreon to support the show! For just $5/month at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, you'll get a new bonus episode every month, access to our Discord, and much more! Don't hesitate!

SOURCE: Tesla Universe: "A Story of Youth Told By Age" by Nikola Tesla

Special thank you as always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of November 10: 7 Hot Sexy Emily Heller Bikini Pics Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

Now that we have your attention, it's another episode of our Jeopardy! podcast! Googling ourselves leads to some mixed results but there were no mixed results for new champ Harrison Whitaker this week, as he steamrolls the competition on his way to a fantastic week and perhaps superchampdom. Plus, we wonder about his British accent, we dive deep on Queensland, and a contestant gets absolutely brutalized by Ken in the anecdotes.

If you wanna get brutalized by more of our content, you can head on over to patreon.com/jeopardypodcast and donate to the show! You'll get a new bonus episode every month, access to our entire back catalogue immediately, and access to our very cool Discord, where we're always talking Jep! (and other stuff). Join today!

SOURCE: The Moreton Bay Courier: "The Arrival and Reception of His Excellency Sir George F. Bowen"; Brisbane Times: "Proclamation Day, When Queensland Became a New Colony" by David Gibson; Queensland State Archives: "The Birth of Modern Queensland"

Special thank you as always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of November 3: What Color is Shrek's Penis? Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

That's the type of hard-hitting question we answer on the show this week, as John returns from his one-week layoff to tell tales about visiting Reno, Nevada and Emily buys a hat that prompts said conversation. Emily also narrowly avoids jury duty, we meet a potentially very strong champion in Allegra Kuney, and a Jeopardy! clue has us pondering everything we ever knew about The Flintstones. Plus, we dive deep on Pong.

If you want even more of your bold J! questions answered, head on over to patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month helps support the show AND gets you a new bonus episode every month, including the most recent, where John trains on a movie board with our friend, comedian Josh Gondelman. Plus, you'll get immediate access to our entire back catalogue AND access to our Discord. Fun!

SOURCE: The Week: "Pong at 50: The Video Game That 'Changed the World'" by Julia O'Driscoll; IGN: "Al Alcorn Interview" by Cam Shea

Special thank you as always to The Jeopardy! Fan and J-Archive.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of October 27: Meet Me at the Tug Hole w/ Isaac Hirsch Nov 04, 2025

Show notes

It's fun careers week on Jeopardy! John is off licking his World Series wounds, so Emily is joined by Jeopardy! Master & 9-game champion Isaac Hirsch. We discuss Aaron Levine's run, the history of Martha's Vineyard, and Isaac's short-lived career as a fake elevator operator. Jeopardy! fans fume about the one question they're sick of answering, so we ask some others, like: how many head injuries should you claim on the Alex Trebek stage? Did Bakersfield ever have an apostrophe? And, oh my god, is Diana Nyad a fraud??

If you want to help support the show, consider donating at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month gets you access to a new bonus episode every month PLUS access to our entire back catalogue, our Discord, and MORE! Last week, John went back into the dojo to train on a movie board written by our friend Joel Bergen and our other friend, comedian Josh Gondelman, also comes along for the ride. You don't wanna miss it!

This episode is produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of October 20: Two For Me, One For You Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Apologies for the delay but John was up late watching the Blue Jays game because he is an idiot!!! No idiots on J! this week though, as we watch two very good champions dominate the proceedings over the course of a great 5 days of J! including an EPIC game. Plus, Emily gets fooled by a JFAF headline, we get a Response of the Year candidate from Tom, and we dive deep on the Algonquin Round Table.

Want to be part of a brilliant and progressive club yourself? Join our Patreon! For just $5/month at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, you get all of our bonus episodes (including a new one every month), access to our Discord, and more fun stuff! This week, John is back for some training as our friend Joel gives John a movie board to help him out and our friend Josh Gondelman comes along for the ride. You won't wanna miss it!

SOURCE: New York Times: "The Algonquin at 75" by Arnold W. Erhlich; "Wit at the Round Table: Was It, Er, Um, Square?" by William Grimes

Special thank you as always to The Jeopardy! Fan and J-Archive.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Art by Max Wittert. Music by Nate Heller.

Week of October 13: You Gotta See This Guy Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

We are back and we are delirious as John is coming off of a work trip and the fact his Toronto Blue Jays just minutes prior to recording clinched a spot in the World Series. But hey, we have a fun week of one-day champs concluding with Dargan Ware, a guy that you simply have to see. Elsewhere, we get a very charming Jeopardy! anecdote, John very much agrees with what the fans are fuming about this week, and we dive deep on Agatha Christie.

Donate to the show! We had Paolo Pasco on a bonus episode last week and he was delightful and charming and made some puzzles for us. Plus, you get immediate access to our entire back catalogue and access to our Discord! Join now: patreon.com/jeopardypodcast

SOURCE: The Home of Agatha Christie: "About Agatha Christie"; Irish Times: "Agatha Christie: A Realist Writer Who Created True Literary Magic" by Jan Carson

Special thank you as always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of October 6: Absolute Clown Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

TJ Fisher makes it to the Tournament of Champions and we learn about the duality of Jeopardy! headlines as the US Mirror goes wild over his victory (and defeat). We go wild for this great week of games too as Ken gets a Trebek-like slam on a contestant's anecdote, we go heavy on Wager Talk™, we get a "Name of the Year" candidate, and we dive deep on VeggieTales.

Speaking of tales, we spin a few in our brand-new bonus episode out this week as 7-game champ Paolo Pasco joins us for an interview and for the first edition of "Paolo's Puzzle Corner", as he runs Emily and John through some of his famous puzzles. It's only available at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month gets you access to all of our bonus episodes, access to our Discord, and lots of other fun stuff. Join today!

SOURCE: Yahoo!: "Secret DIY Origins of 'VeggieTales' Success"; DigitalMediaFX.com: "VeggieTales: What's the Big Idea?" by Noell Wolfgram Evans

Special thank you always to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was producer by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of September 29: The Ghost of Merv Griffin Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

The Ghost of Merv Griffin is here and so is the ghost of John and Emily's 30s, as Emily finally hits the big 4-0 and John is soon to follow. We discuss the feeling of getting older, Emily's big birthday bash that was attended by some high-profile J! contestants, and a suspect gift that was given to Emily by one of those very same contestants. Oh, and a week of Jeopardy! happened in where we get a couple Response of the Weeks from the same player in the same category and the Jeopardy! fans fume and fool Emily over a RARE Final Jeopardy! occurrence. Plus, we dive deep on Secretariat.

If you want to be a generational talent, you can sign up for our Patreon and help support the show! It's just $5/month for a bunch of additional content, access to our Discord, and more fun stuff! Give it a whirl at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast!

SOURCE: Sports Illustrated: "Pure Heart" by William Nack.

Special thank you to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.

Week of September 22: Read It the Way I Wrote It Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

We say goodbye to one great champion last week and welcome another this week as Steven Olson has a great run and comes up with a couple Responses of the Week along the way. We also get some wagering controversy in Friday's game, Ken reflects on his fashion choices during his 74-game run, and we dive deep on Occupy Wall Street.

If you want to dive way deeper into our show, help support it at patreon.com/jeopardypodcast, where $5/month gets you our entire back catalogue of bonus episodes, access to our Discord, and a new bonus episode every month. Or two, if we are super busy and can't record one in time because we are stupid.

SOURCE: The New Yorker: "Pre-Occupied: The Origins and Future of Occupy Wall Street" by Mattathias Schwartz

Special thank you as always to The Jeopardy! Fan and J-Archive.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Art by Max Wittert. Music by Nate Heller.

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