Lemmings (Entry 711.MK1503)
In which the documentary films of the Arctic are revealed to be full of lies, leading to one misunderstood rodent, and John thinks about a vole in a bowl. Certificate #25575.
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 14 min
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.
Episodes
Pulgasari (Entry 1007.IS4602)
In which North Korea jump-starts its fledgeling monster movie industry by literally kidnapping talent from across the DMZ, and Ken was distracted by skateboarding. Certificate #37139
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 27 min
The World's Tallest Building (Entry 1444.GE1104)
In which the measurement of spires and skyscrapers becomes a source of architectural squabbles and global prestige, and John hides in the forest with a guitar. Certificate #51591.
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 28 min
Anthropology Days (Entry 053.NU1516)
In which the planners of the third modern Olympics scour the globe hoping to populate a human zoo and maybe make the exhibits do sports, and Ken thinks the periodic table needs some work. Certificate #53289.
Apr 03, 2025•2 hr 31 min
The Mona Lisa Heist (Entry 800.JN1206)
In which an Italian workman creates a cultural icon when he attempts to repatriate a Renaissance masterpiece from the laxly secured Louvre, and John upstages Ken's sturgeon. Certificate #35100.
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 24 min
Genuine Leather (Entry 522.GE0321)
In which the tanning industry invents a fancy-sounding term for one of its worst grades of leather, and Ken learns his childhood jacket may have had epaulets. Certificate #46978.
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 21 min
The Dionne Quintuplets (Entry 352.JB0525)
In which five adorable and identical Franco-Ontarians become an international sensation and then wards of the state, and John doesn't know what to call the bulb of Canada. Certificate #31042.
Mar 13, 2025•2 hr 35 min
Pedestrianism (Entry 913.PS1833)
In which the first great sporting fad of the 19th century springs from great feats of British walking, and Ken isn't sure how to use protozoa as a metaphor for time. Certificate #21218.
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 28 min
The Battle of the Sisters (Entry 104.GE3008)
In which Hollywood's greatest case of sibling rivalry begins with a swimming pool injury and ends at the Oscars, and John rediscovers pop music thanks to the Queeb. Certificate #30747.
Feb 27, 2025•2 hr 36 min
The Golden Age of Porn (Entry 537.1C0618)
In which we celebrate the post-Valentine's season by looking back at the sleazy 1970s when adult films briefly became mainstream chic, and Ken avoids a Y2K for his marriage. Certificate #25369.
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 20 min
The Oracle of Delphi (Entry 872.1S0911)
In which a veiled, fume-huffing priestess tells the ancient world what to do for over a millennium, and John only knows what time it is from his truck clock. Certificate #25192.
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Balloon Man (Entry 094.DE1501)
In which a Disneyland-trained dreamer invents a new art form with the help of a cookie entrepreneur and a jellybean innovator, and Ken has a theory about the worst balloon vendors. Certificate #32691.
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 26 min
The EGOT (Entry 398.AC2810)
In which an inescapable awards-season acronym is jump-started twenty-five years earlier by an eccentric TV cop actor and a pop reference book, and John's family would like to kick in hotel room doors. Certificate #42952.
Jan 30, 2025•2 hr 31 min
Martin Luther King, Sr. (Entry 688.PR1301)
In which an Atlanta pastor changes his name after a very inspiring visit to Germany and begins an American civil rights dynasty, and Ken gets to make a chart. Certificate #45274.
Jan 23, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Spontaneous Combustion (Entry 1206.PR0627)
In which scientists and paranormal investigators puzzle over a string of mysterious deaths beginning with a "dull and heavy" Italian countess, and John learns about the peat of the Maldives. Certificate #40714.
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 19 min
Canal Mania (Entry 178.PR0516)
In which British investors power the Industrial Revolution with arguably too many waterways for the nation's barges, and Ken thinks escalators are not cheating. Certificate #27217.
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 24 min
The Carrington Event (Entry 189.2P0312)
In which a solar storm in 1859 leads to eye-popping auroras and a harboring of technological doom, and John compares gold pan and pizza sizes. Certificate #54094.
Jan 02, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Elf on the Shelf (Entry 404.PR1503)
In which the childhood Christmas tradition of two Georgia twins becomes a cultural tug-of-war over surveillance psychology, and Ken is going to buy a light blue tree. Certificate #45509.
Dec 26, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Space Contraband (Entry 1194.JB1312)
In which astronauts and cosmonauts smuggle sandwiches, golf clubs, harmonicas, collectibles, and ashes into orbit, and John wants to blow bubbles on the Moon. Certificate #54825.
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Lazy Susans (Entry 706.LK1237)
In which a Cantonese restaurant in San Franciscos's Chinatown spreads American revolving-table technology worldwide, and Ken wonders how long it takes to get sick of a musician in your spare bedroom. Certificate #43576.
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min
The Tooth Fairy (Entry 1317.SS0606)
In which ancient sorcery, changeling myths, and Edwardian fads combine to create America's only homegrown childhood rite of passage, and John's dentist turns teeth into boats. Certificate #19230.
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 16 min
411 (Entry 495.LK2003)
In which telephone users once had access to a surprising array of helpful and informative services, and Ken got rid of his landline to spite Al-Qaeda. Certificate #26038.
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Whistling (Entry 1427.DE2323)
In which an ancient linguistic and religious practice becomes a jaunty, ambulatory musical form before falling into decline, and John does not want to see condors in a hospital. Certificate #45133.
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 13 min
The Population Bomb (Entry 966.GE2803)
In which centuries of sterilization-happy doomsayers fail to predict a game-changing revolution in wheat, and Ken thinks Pakistan wants John to clean out his fridge. Certificate #2037.
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 20 min
The King Under the Mountain (Entry 688.RO1311)
In which dozens of national sleeping guys with long beards wait in caves for their countries to need them again, and John thinks Tom Cruise should not be in a courtyard. Certificate #53610.
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 13 min
New Urbanism (Entry 835.SS0711)
In which conservative Sun Belt retirees and progressive urbanists agree on a nostalgic but radical revolution in city design, and Ken does a Norman Rockwell impression. Certificate #34959.
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Soviet Spartacus (Entry 1194.EX2116)
In which a Thracian slave from two thousand years earlier becomes a proletarian role model and Communist sports hero, and John prefers action stars with boogers. Certificate #37084.
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Electrical Sockets (Entry 400.JS0215)
In which the long war between alternating and direct current produces power outlets that multiply nto a dizzying world of configurations, and Ken needs a grounding prong. Certificate #29673.
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Tartans (Entry 1279.DE2230)
In which Scottish clans each choose a distinctive plaid based on a romantic Highland history that didn't really happen, and John takes a hard hit while playing Frisbee in a skirt. Certificate #26624.
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 21 min
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment (Entry 1352.GE3028)
In which a constitutional change finally happens after a two-hundred-year delay just to spite one Texas poli sci professor, and Ken likes it when scriveners get away scot-free. Certificate #43079.
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 15 min