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PODCAST

Omnibus

Every week, Ken Jennings and John Roderick add a new entry to the OMNIBUS, an encyclopedic reference work of strange-but-true stories that they are compiling as a time capsule for future generations.

history

All Episodes

1:01:46

Episode 222: The Tech Model Railroad Club (Entry...

Omnibus ·

2020/01/09

In which a room full of MIT train nerds becomes ground zero for modern American hacker culture and computer architecture, and Ken blames Star Wars for ruining children's toys. Certificate #33564.

en

49:00

Episode 221: Byzantine Rhinokopia (Entry 170.JB4102)

Omnibus ·

2020/01/07

In which the Byzantine throne is contested by various Machiavellian schemes willing to mutilate the noses of their political rivals, and John reveals which Marx brother he is most sexually attracted to. Certificate #34954.

en

1:06:13

Episode 220: Fort Knox (Entry 493.2CH0913)

Omnibus ·

2020/01/02

In which a World War I army camp in northern Kentucky is chosen to house over $200 billion in gold bullion, and Ken proposes nationalizing America's safety deposit boxes. Certificate #2504.

en

1:06:35

Episode 219: Induced Demand (Entry 637.EZ1704)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/31

In which we learn why new highway lanes, no matter how spacious, tend to fill to capacity within weeks of opening, and John takes on a hypothetical megacorporation called Goober. Certificate #38938.

en

53:41

Episode 218: The Leafblower (Entry 707.DA0414)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/26

In which ecologically problematic outdoor power tools accidentally become an official part of the Omnibus, all because John's neighbor refuses to call "Leafbusters." Certificate #25458.

en

1:07:15

Episode 217: The Christmas Pickle (Entry 220.IS0108)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/24

In which a Spokane antique store creates a fake Bavarian holiday tradition from scratch, and John's beard makes him look bigger. Certificate #31503.

en

1:23:28

Episode 216: The Max Headroom Intrusion (Entry...

Omnibus ·

2019/12/19

In which we examine the broadcast-jamming fad of the 1980s, including a puzzling incident involving a masked Chicago prankster, and Ken wants to be a font cop. Certificate #29692.

en

57:38

Episode 215: Interferon (Entry 652.PS10303)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/17

In which a strange, sticky new protein is declared—on the basis of very little evidence—to be a cure-all in the war against cancer, and Ken refuses to make the necessary sacrifices to become a skateboarding star. Certificate #40478.

en

1:21:09

Episode 214: Ada Lovelace (Entry ADA737PR3118)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/12

In which a 19th-century countess overcomes her father's scandalous celebrity and her mother's love of parallelograms to become the world's first computer programmer, and John comes to regret renaming Alexa. Certificate #46507.

en

55:51

Episode 213: Square Dancing (Entry 1211.JB2111)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/10

In which we learn that America's love affair with do-si-dos is a relatively recent and artificial form of nostalgia jump-started by Henry Ford's hatred for jazz, and Ken misremembers "krumping." Certificate #42537.

en

1:02:07

Episode 212: The Toyota Hilux (Entry 1323.JG0119)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/05

In which an oddly named model of Toyota pickup becomes the truck of choice for Marty McFly, Top Gear fans, polar explorers, and ISIS. Certificate #16197

en

1:03:25

Episode 211: The Duchess of Bedford (Entry 383.PR2301)

Omnibus ·

2019/12/03

In which one of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting atones for her gossip scandals at court by inventing a brand new meal, and John blames museum docents for all his schedule problems. Certificate #48479.

en

1:10:37

Episode 210: Mother Jones (Entry 675.MK0333)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/28

In which an Irish immigrant pretending to be an old lady becomes a star of the American labor movement, and Ken ponders the death of middle initials. Certificate #12952.

en

1:09:54

Episode 209: The Rite of Spring Riot (Entry 1076.EZ2613)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/26

In which Ken blames the weirdest ballet premiere of all time on class warfare, bad hair and costuming choices, and anti-Russian xenophobia, and John renames the sport of gymnastics. Certificate #31616.

en

1:09:57

Episode 208: The Ambassador Bridge (Entry 039.EZ4705)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/21

In which one canny Detroit billionaire manages to gain sole control of the linchpin of American foreign trade, and John repeatedly insists he is not giving advice to terrorists. Certificate #36634.

en

46:02

Episode 207: Grass (Entry 546.MK0639)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/19

In which lawns are revealed to be covering three times as much of America as any other crop, and Ken explains why the tallgrass prairies of the 19th century produced no great tennis players. Certificate #31632.

en

57:49

Episode 206: Fern Fever (Entry 462.JB0816)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/14

In which Victorian England becomes obsessed with the beautiful fronds and sexy lifestyle of ferns, and John brings the Arts and Crafts movement to the grunge era. Certificate #31358.

en

59:10

Episode 205: Porfirio Rubirosa (Entry 1087.1K1210)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/12

In which a Dominican diplomat cozies up to one of history's worst dictators, marries the two richest women in the world, and creates our modern image of the macho "Latin lover," and Ken tries to revive some slang from 1980s sex comedies. Certificate #41003.

en

1:01:21

Episode 204: No-Fault Divorce (Entry 840.MK1009)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/07

In which Ronald Reagan, of all people, introduces a new legal philosophy of marriage and divorce to America in 1970, though it takes New York forty years to catch up. Certificate #27256.

en

1:19:40

Episode 203: Earth-Two (Entry 391.RV2101)

Omnibus ·

2019/11/05

In which a single 1961 comic book births a multiverse and reshapes our modern understanding of parallel dimensions in art as well as life, and John wistfully fantasizes about an honest Hitler. Certificate #46819.

en

704 results

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