Etchings (Entry 428.GN3907)
In which filthy Restoration comedy, Horatio Alger, and a sensational murder trial conspire to create a very odd pick-up line, and John requires an extra syllable in "Tijuana." Certificate #2793.
May 05, 2020•55 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
The Wild Goose (Entry 1432.MT0823)
In which John Wayne buys a decommissioned minesweeper as his luxury yacht and it outlasts its more famous French sister ship, which is probably now full of slugs. Certificate #28232.
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr 4 min
(LIVE) The Wreck of the Titan (Entry 1446.EZ2734)
In which a failed periscope inventor predicts the greatest disaster of his time with apparently paranormal accuracy, and special guest Aimee Mann is warned away from the supernatural in no uncertain terms. Certificate #27264.
Apr 28, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Prairie Schooners (Entry 975.NU0703)
In which the west is won by long fleets of covered wagons "sailing" on to the Oregon Territory, and Ken thinks it was mistake to capitalize the Northwest Passage. Certificate #18089.
Apr 23, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Ferdinandea (Entry 461.RV1620)
In which the European powers scramble to claim an infant pile of basalt in the Mediterranean, and John wonders how steampunk the Libyan submarine fleet might be. Certificate #50204.
Apr 21, 2020•47 min
Green Funerals (Entry 549.1S3113)
In which John describes environmentally friendly modern alternatives to burial, and refuses to apologize for leaving an urn full of ashes under his piano for a decade. Certificate #37628.
Apr 16, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Bode's Law (Entry 138.JB2212)
In which amateur algebra experts figure out where the planets in the solar system should be, and are (briefly) proven right, and Ken gets his hair cut by a ghost. Certificate #36737.
Apr 14, 2020•59 min
Genoan Insurance (Entry 522.MT0634)
In which the modern insurance industry is born when medieval Italian merchants form syndicates to manage risk, and Ken manages risk by making people order pancakes. Certificate #46598.
Apr 09, 2020•53 min
Streaking (Entry 1234.RV1615)
In which dumb campus fads return to the American spotlight in 1973 thanks to a mild winter and legions of nude undergrads, and John gradually remembers his own complicated streaking history. Certificate #41916.
Apr 07, 2020•1 hr 10 min
The De Havilland Beaver (Entry 328.DE0203)
In which the Great White North is serviced and explored by the greatest bush plane of all time, and Ken decides that aircraft shouldn't be named after bugs. Certificate #35435.
Apr 02, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Mesoamerican Ball Game (Entry 778.JB3122)
In which pre-Columbian civilizations spend thousands of years banging each other up with heavy rubber balls, and John tries to replace professional sports with stick-fighting. Certificate #28586.
Mar 31, 2020•1 hr
Naked Came the Stranger (Entry 823.MT2538)
In which a droll Long Island reporter and his newsroom buddies accidentally create one of the all-time great dirty books, and Ken is skeptical of the nudist lifestyle. Certificate #50150.
Mar 26, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Sadie Hawkins Day (Entry 1094.GN3912)
In which a hippie-hating cartoonist accidentally creates a (slightly) gender-equalizing campus tradition, and John spends hours poring over newspaper bridge columns. Certificate #44390.
Mar 24, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Chinook Jargon (Entry 215.1C1413)
In which a very old Native American trading pidgin becomes a regional language and 20th-century slang, and Ken goes to a movie theater that basically confessed to genocide. Certificate #5725.
Mar 19, 2020•53 min
Patagonian Giants (Entry 907.MT0627)
In which the world's tallest tribe, if they even exist, are enslaved by Ferdinand Magellan and downsized by subsequent visitors, and John reminds us of the importance of good posture. Certificate #33392.
Mar 17, 2020•55 min
Bill W. (Entry 122.NU0603)
In which one rough night for a traveling salesman in Akron, Ohio births a new spiritual approach to addiction recovery, and Ken suggests some interesting anagrams for post-human Presbyterian listeners. Certificate #19544.
Mar 12, 2020•2 hr 30 min
Hikikomori (Entry 587.1K2225)
In which a generation of traumatized Japanese young people increasingly decide never to come out of their bedrooms, whereas John insists on dying alone. Certificate #50644.
Mar 10, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Cow Magnets (Entry 289.JL0118)
In which we learn that ruminants are eating a lot more metal nowadays than they used to, and that Ken would like to have a gravel spoon at dinner. Certificate #28929
Mar 05, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Longitudinal Film (Entry 734.PS9010)
In which British documentarians and Austin slackers alike use the movies to unveil the mysteries of aging and mortality, and John leaves a series of women waiting for him at train stations in Spain. Certificate #48149
Mar 03, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Hands Across America (Entry 565.PR1121)
In which the 1980s fad for charity pop singles inspires an ambitious geographic stunt, and Ken plans a foolproof way to assassinate Jamie Farr. Certificate #26004
Feb 27, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Operation Just Cause (Entry 869.EZ4510)
In which the bizarre 1989 American invasion of Panama kicks off our modern era of on-the-nose Pentagon naming conventions, and John is reminded of a dominatrix, as usual. Certificate #19345.
Feb 25, 2020•52 min
Trafalgar vs. Carmania (Entry 1325.IS2314)
In which the First World War begins in an unexpected fashion, with two ocean liners blowing holes in each other off the coast of Brazil, and Ken gets gaslit into buying a tuxedo. Certificate #32056.
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 4 min
The Dogon (Entry 369.DE0419)
In which an African tribe proves so eager to please that they convince generations of ethnographers that alien visitors from Sirius are real, and John gets annoyed that ancient astronauts never invented baseball. Certificate #26731.
Feb 18, 2020•58 min
Cincinnati Chili (Entry 223.2K0440)
In which an early fast food boom, Greek immigration, and (of course) the World's Fair conspire to trick Ohioans into redefining "chili," and John gets justifiably upset about bananas on spaghetti. Certificate #24598.
Feb 13, 2020•49 min
Snow Valley, Oklahoma (Entry 1182.JB2419)
In which a Vermonter with an ill-conceived dream brings skiiing very briefly to the Sooner State, and Ken attempts to secure his family some very rare Pokemon cards. Certificate #17398.
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 13 min
The Tootsie Pop Indian (Entry 1317.LA0312)
In which an American candy company refuses to honor a longstanding bit of playground lollipop lore, and Ken tries to calculate the homeopathic healing power of Tootsie Rolls. Certificate #33486.
Feb 06, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Chastity Belts (Entry 209.LV2113)
In which Renaissance satirists and modern amateur historians accidentally create a physiologically impossible medieval device, and John has a theory about locksmiths and cocaine. Certificate #49406.
Feb 04, 2020•55 min
Coppicing (Entry 276.PS8015)
In which a forgotten medieval art of tree-harvesting is revived by the sustainability movement, and Ken blames the coming environmental catastrophe on "sugar energy." Certificate #22560.
Jan 30, 2020•49 min
Harry Dexter White (Entry 1428.LK0817)
In which the American architect of post-World War II global capitalism turns out to have a dark and traitorous secret, and John imagines he would be a huge hassle for his spy handlers. Certificate #25923.
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 9 min
The Death of Trolleys (Entry 320.GN4519)
In which we find General Motors and its corporate co-conspirators not guilty on the charge of killing American streetcar lines, and Ken gets very excited about funicular railways. Certificate #14871.
Jan 23, 2020•1 hr 2 min