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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

Single Taxers (Entry 1164.LV2716)

In which a forgotten Gilded Age celebrity suggests reinventing the tax code so that landowners pay their fair share, and John is discomfited by the city of Altoona. Certificate #41467.

Dec 07, 202157 min

The Phantom of New Guinea (Entry 928.IS0117)

In which a purple-clad comic strip hero becomes a warrior totem in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea, and John locates the Dominican Republic of Asia. Certificate #24126.

Nov 30, 202158 min

The Ma Bell Breakup (Entry 744.LK1214)

In which the U.S. government finally succeeds, after decades, in breaking up a massive telephone monopoly, and John is unfamiliar with a funny poem about an elephant. Certificate #22481.

Nov 25, 20211 hr 17 min

The Longest Prizefight (Entry 733.HE1032)

In which a seven-hour boxing match tests the patience of New Orleans crowds and changes the rules of the sport, and Ken thinks straws should be made of cornstarch. Certificate #26215.

Nov 23, 20211 hr 8 min

The Smiley Face Killer(s) (Entry 1177.JB2414)

In which investigators differ on whether binge-drinking or a homicidal conspiracy is killing American college students, and John plays Frogger to get to the East River. Certificate #23582.

Nov 18, 20211 hr 5 min

The Great Bell of Dhammazedi (Entry 548.EX3925)

In which the largest bell ever cast spends four centuries in the mud at the bottom of a Burmese river, and Ken makes a terrible grandfather clock decision. Certificate #50855.

Nov 16, 202149 min

The Kalakala (Entry 681.2S1918)

In which a burned-out ferry becomes an art deco American icon of the future and then a derelict eyesore, and Ken blames Seattle for the great San Francisco fire of 1906. Certificate #19361.

Nov 11, 20211 hr 13 min

The All-Americans Go to Japan (Entry 032.1K0728)

In which a Tokyo newspaperman with big dreams lures Babe Ruth onto a pre-war baseball barnstorming tour, and John regrets that fancy lounges are mostly for drinking. Certificate #36360.

Nov 09, 202157 min

Eternal September (Entry 428.1C1533)

In which the 1993 back-to-school week that never ended kills an early outpost of the internet, and Ken annoys online Winnie-the-Pooh fans. Certificate #47957.

Nov 04, 20211 hr 11 min

Salmon Chaos (Entry 1098.LK0506)

In which a viral craze inspires hundreds of young Taiwanese folks to put a fish in their names, and John hits a cement wall in his attempts to mate. Certificate #50920.

Nov 02, 20211 hr 16 min

Myers-Briggs (Entry 821.2T0223)

In which two pioneering women and amateur Jungians devise a way to classify sixteen different types of human personality, and Ken explains his Star Trek slash fiction. Certificate #36282.

Oct 28, 20211 hr 23 min

Bloody Mose (Entry 134.EZ1106)

In which America's first city for free Black people rises from the salt marshes of Spanish Florida, and John regrets quoting a Monty Python sketch. Certificate #31305.

Oct 26, 20211 hr 1 min

Ramtha (Entry 1029.AC1616)

In which the discovery of quantum mechanics leads inevitably to the reappearance of a 30,000-year-old warrior god from a lost continent, and Ken proposes missionaries for silverware. Certificate #27324.

Oct 21, 20211 hr 26 min

The Cahokia Mounds (Entry 173.IS2502)

In which a complex of massive earthworks in southern Illinois is assumed to have been built by Vikings, Hindus, or Welshmen, and John is fascinated by sexy voodoo. Certificate #34924.

Oct 19, 20211 hr 10 min

The Cheapside Hoard (Entry 210.MT0620)

In which a mysterious treasure is founded in a central London basement, and Ken has a question about the various beads and bangles of Aerosmith. Certificate #7089.

Oct 14, 20211 hr 7 min

Potsdam Giants (Entry 972.1S1704)

In which the "soldier king" of Prussia recruits and kidnaps Europe's tallest men to serve as his grenadiers, and John admires "merry" people of every height. Certificate #10109.

Oct 12, 202157 min

Merkins (Entry 777.1C1115)

In which we trace the surprisingly long and eventful history of body hair grooming, and Ken wonders if Brad Pitt will be hot forever. Certificate #33732.

Oct 07, 20211 hr 1 min

Laetrile (Entry 696.MK1618)

In which apricot pits are discovered to be a cause of cyanide toxicicity rather than a cure for cancer, and John wanders Europe under the protection of a United States Senator. Certificate #527.

Oct 05, 20211 hr 1 min

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (Entry 182.PS4303)

In which erosion on North Carolina's Outer Banks prompts the government to move a twelve-story lighthouse half a mile inland, and Ken is in favor of shipwrecks when the ships are bad. Certificate #6374.

Sep 30, 20211 hr 9 min

The Cotsworth Calendar (Entry 283.JB0306)

In which a gifted Yorkshire boy fails to talk the League of Nations into a thirteen-month year, and John thinks autumn gets short shrift. Certificate #25901.

Sep 28, 20211 hr 3 min

The Erie War (Entry 424.PR2822)

In which America's richest men invent many, many types of securities fraud while tussling over a New York State railroad, and Ken imagines a zoo full of cows. Certificate #32641.

Sep 23, 20211 hr 12 min

Kennewick Man (Entry 683.GN2304)

In which a prehistoric nomad becomes the center of a heated legal battle nine thousand years after his death, and John announces a hydroplane race. Certificate #17567.

Sep 21, 20211 hr 12 min

The Wave (Entry 1415.1K0814)

In which the invention of a Bay Area cheerleader becomes science's most exhaustively studied stadium ritual, and Ken doesn't think harbor seals come in different colors. Certificate #4418.

Sep 09, 20211 hr 6 min

Middle Initials (Entry 786.LK0161)

In which twentieth-century America becomes the only time and place in history when people drop letters into their names, and John renames himself in the phone book. Certificate #21831.

Sep 07, 20211 hr 3 min

The Great Diamond Hoax (Entry 548.MT1344)

In which a clever drillbit company accountant cons banking bigwigs into believing an acre of Wyoming is covered in precious gems, and Ken suggests a touching tribute to Paul Anka. Certificate #52348.

Sep 02, 20211 hr 18 min

The Chicago Seekers (Entry 213.RV0103)

In which a failed Chicago flying saucer cult leads to a landmark study in social psychology, and John blames religious fervor on diet pills. Certificate #17854.

Aug 31, 20211 hr 28 min
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