The Fresnel Lens (Entry 501.1C1312)
In which an efficient new piece of French glassware changes the history of lighthouses, and Ken learns the exact age of Discovery. Certificate #52246.
Aug 26, 2021•56 min
Omnibus
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Episodes
Goodnight Moon (Entry 539.PR0324)
In which a modernist Manhattan bohemian accidentally writes the great American bedtime story, and John regrets making his professor voice Austrian. Certificate #44141.
Aug 24, 2021•59 min
The Mpemba Effect (Entry 813.JB3829)
In which scientists from Aristotle up to modern-day Tanzania try to understand the paradoxical way water seems to freeze, and Ken thinks baseball should have cheerleaders. Certificate #25481.
Aug 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min
The Mafeking Cadet Corps (Entry 746.IS2903)
In which a hero of the Second Boer War turns an ill-advised siege into a worldwide youth movement, and John isn't sure if one can tell time with a cannon. Certificate #31247.
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min
The Cuyahoga River Fire(s) (Entry 309.IS4302)
In which the American government only gets serious about environmental cleanup after a river in Cleveland bursts into flame well over a dozen times, and Ken believes he could manufacture gravel. Certificate #12398.
Aug 12, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Fiji's Declaration of Independence (Entry 467.EC0306)
In which a Pacific nation loses its founding document and has to ask nicely for a photocopy replacement, and John missed his chance at an assumed identity. Certificate #23621.
Aug 10, 2021•55 min
The Oosik (Entry 868.GN0223)
In which walrus genitals supply an important element to Alaskan folk art, and Ken will not inspect the underside of a wallaby. Certificate #45999.
Aug 05, 2021•59 min
The Next Dalai Lama (Entry 836.MT0208)
In which the uninterrupted 600-year succession of Tibetan Buddhist leadership is threatened by political oppression, and John admires a hat that looks like a banana. Certificate #32762.
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min
The Fulda Gap (Entry 505.2K0316)
In which a series of valleys in central Germany become the focus of Cold War military strategy for generals "fighting the last war," and Ken orders a baby online. Certificate #51668.
Jul 29, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Lieutenant Nun (Entry 718.2C1102)
In which a "Basque transvestite" leaves her San Sebastian convent in 1607 to become one of the most dangerous men in South America, and John thinks an Italian pope would be a little naughtier than a Spanish one. Certificate #11658.
Jul 27, 2021•52 min
Games Buddha Wouldn't Play (Entry 514.PP0203)
In which a great spiritual leader lists all the kinds of dice and pick-up sticks and toy windmills that are off-limits to the enlightened, and Ken wants to lick a tetherball pole. Certificate #25968.
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Union Dixie (Entry 1368.EZ2046)
In which the same folk song is embraced by both sides of the U.S. Civil War, albeit with different lyrics, and John accuses a Supreme Court justice of having a racist ringtone. Certificate #27330.
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Mulberry Mania (Entry 815.2S0523)
In which early America, hoping to keep up with the Chinese, is caught up in an obsession with white mulberry trees, and Ken marvels at the hanky-panky that must go on in every Olympic Village. Certificate #26780.
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 28 min
An African in Greenland (Entry 022.JB3132)
In which a young man from French Togoland survives a snake attack and embarks on a lifelong quest to see the Arctic, and John loses a large rooster. Certificate #36809.
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Wuppertal Schwebebahn (Entry 1448.DE0227)
In which a German industrial town builds a unique new type of suspension railway that fails to catch on worldwide, and Ken disses the Eiffel Tower. Certificate #36460.
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Goat Glands (Entry 536.AC0409)
In which a Midwestern quack becomes a radio tycoon (and almost governor of Kansas) by extolling the virtues of animal testicles, and John eats cheese out of a pocket. Certificate #42674.
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr
Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath (Entry 423.JB3104)
In which we are introduced to the most exclusive cinema-musico-academic club on earth, and Ken volunteers to provide a guest rap. Certificate #32655.
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 20 min
The Zaire Space Program (Entry 1455.PS11516)
In which a maverick German engineer tries to give an African dictator his very own space program, and John reminds us that astronauts are often quite short. Certificate #48059.
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 15 min
The 1871 Whaling Disaster (Entry 399.1T0119)
In which a city-sized segment of the world's whaling fleet is trapped together in Arctic ice off Alaska, and Ken blames the horrors of the industrial world on whale ghosts. Certificate #31403.
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 19 min
James Frazier Reed (Entry 1044.EZ0510)
In which one pioneer's midlife crisis leads him to a brush with Donner Party death and then prosperity in gold rush California, and John is tempted to murder a bassist with a whip handle. Certificate #51638.
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 10 min
The Erika Typewriter (Entry 424.JB0412)
In which contraband East German equipment helps create an underground publishing movement in the Soviet Union, and Ken's favorite typeface is now tainted. Certificate #37914.
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Four-Leaf Clovers (Entry 495.JE3623)
In which a rare recessive plant gene produces a persistent superstition and a cutthroat collectors' competition, and John will never mock Allah. Certificate #12598.
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr
The Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi Valley (Entry 895.NU2406)
In which very, very large oil paintings become the 19th-century precursor of the modern movie theater, and Ken has never seen the sun rise by choice. Certificate #14751.
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Left Behind (Entry 709.1T0416)
In which some controversial Bible theology sells 65 million apocalypse thriller books and even shapes American foreign policy, and John can identify sinners on a plane. Certificate #40618.
Jun 08, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Nudie Suits (Entry 850.EX2631)
In which a Ukrainian-born tailor brings the first outrageous stage wear to the American music scene--but in country and western, not glam rock--and Ken is unsure about his sky-blue pants. Certificate #27201.
Jun 03, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Officials General (Entry 861.MK0640)
In which English inherits some "postpositive adjectives" from the Norman Conquest that continue to confuse high-ranking federal officials to this day, and John thinks companies should have one vice president tops. Certificate #18999.
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Interrobang (Entry 655.LK2040)
In which a series of typographic attempts to improve on the exclamation point and question mark are doomed to failure, and Ken is unable to justify the existence of the backslash. Certificate #22311.
May 27, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Mister Rogers's Operas (Entry 795.RO1502)
In which America's most beloved television host and moral exemplar composes a series of now-mostly-forgotten children's operas, and John thinks Star Wars is what ends childhood. Certificate #29242.
May 25, 2021•1 hr 34 min
Concordski (Entry 258.JE4606)
In which the Soviet Union attempts to close its "Concorde gap" with the West by developing its own terrible supersonic passenger jet, and John is okay with pilots showing off as long as they're in a bar. Certificate #36689.
May 20, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Olestra (Entry 864.LV0723)
In which Procter & Gamble spends almost thirty years trying to bring its fat substitute to market, only to see it vanish from the public memory almost immediately, and Ken just wants to eat devil's food cake. Certificate #51232.
May 18, 2021•1 hr 7 min
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