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Omnibus

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{"_":"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.\r\n","$":{"audioboom:html":"1"}}
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Episodes

ARkStorm (Entry 067.PS9303)

In which a periodic "atmospheric river" from the Pacific Ocean threatens to put a quarter of Californians underwater in the very near future, which scares Ken so much that he decides to drill holes in his couch. Certificate #23973.

Aug 08, 201954 min

The Monkey Selfie (Entry 803.MT2220)

In which the legal and creative rights of a crested macaque are debated on the world stage, and we learn Ken wants to look like Popeye. Certificate #2720.

Aug 06, 20191 hr 7 min

The Onion Futures Act (Entry 867.NU1105)

In which two savvy farmers try to corner the market on onions by buying up the whole Midwestern supply, and John compares Gerald Ford to a Jesuit. Certificate #25671.

Aug 01, 20191 hr 6 min

Bob Dylan's Christian Period (Entry 138.AC1631)

In which rock's most cryptic genius shocks the world by being "born again," releasing three uneven gospel albums and annoying a lot of concertgoers. Certificate #39323.

Jul 30, 201958 min

Canning (Entry 180.LK1219)

In which doomed Arctic explorers and a spiritualist's vacuum sealer help revolutionize the science of food storage, and John reveals that his "dueling scars" are actually from drinking cold canned pasta. Certificate #42072.

Jul 25, 201955 min

The Four-Color Map Problem (Entry 495.NU2653)

In which over a century of mathematicians are unable to solve a geometry problem straight out of a coloring book, computers provide their first ever math "proof," and Ken challenges John to map a donut. Certificate #28876.

Jul 23, 201949 min

The Church of the SubGenius (Entry 222.AC1605)

In which a fictional pipe-smoking salesman invents a new quasi-religion for ironists, Discordians, and weirdos, and Ken believes he could have prevented the Trojan War. Certificate #31147.

Jul 18, 201955 min

The Rural Purge (Entry 1091.PS6503)

In which CBS cancels a full slate of country-fried programming, reinventing TV and marginalizing rural America, and John somehow watches an awful lot of Hee Haw. Certificate #36841.

Jul 16, 201948 min

Peak Phosphorus (Entry 911.PS9703)

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

Jul 11, 201955 min

John Dee (Entry 325.DA0202)

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

Jul 09, 201954 min

Quonset Huts (Entry 1023.PS6103)

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

Jul 04, 201952 min

Droodles (Entry 382.AC0212)

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.

Jul 02, 20191 hr 5 min

Furries (Entry 508.GN2716)

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

Jun 27, 201956 min

Town Line, New York (Entry 1323.2C0617)

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.

Jun 25, 201953 min

Cold Fusion (Entry 242.PR2004)

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.

Jun 21, 20191 hr 1 min

The Kamehameha Colonists (Entry 681.IS4204)

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.

Jun 19, 201951 min

Maraschino Cherries (Entry 758.PR0819)

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.

Jun 13, 201954 min

Cursive (Entry 307.DA0508)

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.

Jun 11, 201956 min

Lilly Pulitzer (Entry 1007.LK1227)

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.

Jun 06, 201943 min

Bone Wars (Entry 141.PS14107)

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.

Jun 04, 201948 min

Pattie Boyd (Entry 148.DE2402)

In which two of the greatest rock guitarists of all time pine after the same woman, each marry her in turn, and somehow stay friends. Certificate #42401.

May 30, 201955 min

The Reindeer Wizards (Entry 1049.DE1811)

In which we remember the 1950s charity drive to raise reindeer funds for a tribe of Scandinavian telepaths--a problem they really should have seen coming. Certificate #37239.

May 28, 201946 min

Trapper Keepers (Entry 1331.IS0816)

In which a re-designed school binder becomes a mandatory school accessory and one of the great marketing successes of the 1980s, and Ken spends hours looking at erasers shaped like sushi. Certificate #31310.

May 23, 201951 min

Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr. (Entry 1229.MT1125)

In which an Esperanto-loving stage mom raises America's first celebrity child prodigy, who writes one of history's most famous poems before vanishing into a cloud of bigamy and scandal. Certificate #35551.

May 21, 201955 min

Plymouth Rock (Entry 955.EX3321)

In which John visits one of the most underwhelming (and breakable) landmarks in American history, and explains why its entire history is almost certainly made up. Certificate #33004.

May 16, 201947 min

Tortilla Chips (Entry 1320.GN4226)

In which America discovers Tex-Mex food at Disneyland, leading to the invention of Doritos and "extreme" snack foods, and Ken has clam chowder in his car. Certificate #42729.

May 14, 201951 min

Private Wojtek the Bear (Entry 988.HO1308)

In which we follow an army of exiled Polish soldiers from Siberia to Iran to Scotland, and learn why they taught a Syrian brown bear to carry ammo and eat cigarettes. Certificate #41871.

May 09, 201937 min

Hotel Detectives (Entry 601.GN4321)

In which we learn about palming doorknobs, spotting bunco artists and fornicators, and other old tricks of the "hotel dick" trade, and John steals some room service pizza. Certificate #51720.

May 07, 201941 min

The Charge of the Light Brigade (Entry 208.GN5009)

In which a series of underqualified officers and vague, sweeping gestures lead to a terrible military debacle, a good sweater, and a catchy poem, and Ken expresses some skepticism about Captain von Trapp. Certificate #38694.

May 02, 20191 hr 1 min
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