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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.

Episodes

The Earth from Space (Entry 391.GN0115)

In which centuries of inaccurate illustrations of our planet are abruptly upended by satellites and awestruck astronauts, and John never drew spaceships, just Japanese fighter planes. Certificate #35817.

Feb 29, 20241 hr 15 min

The Food Pyramid (Entry 487.MT0611)

In which budget-conscious Swedes rearrange American ideas about nutritious eating, and Ken is pretty sure M&Ms are not getting smaller. Certificate #54063.

Feb 22, 20241 hr 22 min

The Guano Islands Act (Entry 554.PS10407)

In which we celebrate 167 years of Americans being able to claim any island they like as long as it has enough bird poop on it, and John thinks you can dip a pole in liberty. Certificate #39867.

Feb 15, 20241 hr 6 min

The Great Idaho Beaver Drop (Entry 548.JL0202)

In which a remote part of Idaho solves its beaver dam problem with some surplus parachutes and an even more remote part of Idaho, and Ken applies the transitive property to mules and culverts. Certificate #31297.

Feb 08, 20241 hr 21 min

Naturism (Entry 827.GE0225)

In which German health nuts give the world the idea of social nude recreation before the Nazis can tell them not to, and John thinks of something that is better than itching. Certificate #53668.

Feb 01, 20241 hr 19 min

The Ice Trade (Entry 615.PS14717)

In which the ponds of New England become the wellspring of a new worldwide web of perishable foods, and Ken learns that gum is a forest treat. Certificate #23725.

Jan 25, 20241 hr 11 min

Einstein's Brain (Entry 399.JB1909)

In which the estate of the century's greatest scientist becomes a $200 million enterprise even as his brain tissue languishes in a cider box, and John compares it to pastrami. Certificate #21917.

Jan 18, 20241 hr 18 min

Warren Miller (Entry 789.IS5707)

In which a ski bum with dad jokes explores new frontiers of film distribution and extreme sports, and Ken is a water machine. Certificate #48941.

Jan 11, 20241 hr 18 min

Yu-Mex (Entry 1455.1C1408)

In which the rift between two Communist dictators leads to a blooming of mariachi culture in the fertile soil of the Balkans, and John is baffled by Vietnamese karaoke. Certificate #46465.

Jan 04, 20241 hr 10 min

Prodigies, Failed (Entry 990.LK0240)

In which the smartest people in the world bloom early but often struggle to live up that promise later in life, and Ken's phone thinks he lives at the zoo. Certificate #50285.

Dec 28, 20231 hr 20 min

The Eggnog Riot (Entry 398.RO1313)

In which a late-night Christmas party in a West Point barracks gets out of hand, almost changing the course of the Civil War, and John is not anti-Julius. Certificate #32683.

Dec 21, 20231 hr 19 min

The Caning of Charles Sumner (Entry 180.PR2314)

In which tensions over slavery and its westward expansion boil over into an assault on the floor of the United States Senate, and Ken does not have a single cloak. Certificate #46116.

Dec 14, 20231 hr 11 min

Legal Baby Names (Entry 710.LK0160)

In which governments around the world deliberate on how creatively parents may name their children, and John thinks "Tilden" sounds like a kind of cheese. Certificate #26934.

Dec 07, 20231 hr 23 min

Jellyfish Blooms (Entry 671.PS10425)

In which the world's overfished oceans begin to teem with a sudden surplus of ancient and puzzling invertebrates, and Ken just wants sex tourists not to pee on his bunion. Certificate #23757.

Nov 30, 20231 hr 16 min

Winamp (Entry 1433.PR2603)

In which a teenaged slacker from Sedona with a love for llamas jump-starts the digital music age, and John explains why large people prefer old things. Certificate #38550.

Nov 23, 20232 hr 32 min

London Bridge (Entry 733.LK1626)

In which the successor to one of the great medieval bridges is shipped to the Arizona desert by an American tycoon, and Ken is skeptical about product placement in slasher movies. Certificate #28472.

Nov 16, 20231 hr 13 min

Cryonics (Entry 302.1C1535)

In which a science fiction-loving professor dreams of conquering death with the cold, hard science of low-temperature preservation, and John just wants to be a brain with a nose. Certificate #48643.

Nov 09, 20232 hr 31 min

Christian Rock (Entry 220.EP0519)

In which evangelical Christians wrestle with the problem of whether rock music is inherently good, evil, or neither. and Ken wonders about angel monkeys. Certificate #34822.

Nov 02, 20231 hr 21 min

Lodge Night (Entry 731.GN2922)

In which the rituals of Masonry and its more casual offshoots produce a "golden age of fraternalism" for American men, and John is discomfited by noisy day care teachers. Certificate #35320.

Oct 26, 20231 hr 11 min

Uranium Cubes (Entry 1376.1K0710)

In which the remains of a useless Nazi "chandelier" unexpectedly emerge in Maryland and Washington, and Ken thinks about Bilbo Baggins too late. Certificate #35410.

Oct 19, 20231 hr 10 min

Raised by Wolves (Entry 1028.GE4927)

In which the legend of feral children is traced from ancient mythology all the way up to Smurfs and Russian street dogs, and John cannot recommend the Madrid Zoo. Certificate #22714.

Oct 12, 20231 hr 13 min

Tom of Finland (Entry 1315.EX0402)

In which an adman who survived Nazi and Soviet invasions goes on to reinvent gay eroticism, and Ken wonders which Founding Father looked best naked. Certificate #7136.

Oct 05, 20231 hr 17 min

The Magic Gang (Entry 747.EX0722)

In which a ghost-written memoir explains how a great British stage magician defeated Rommel in North Africa with his trickery, and John considers saying "Abracadabra" as a swear. Certificate #37883.

Sep 28, 20231 hr 1 min

The Traffic Jam of the Century (Entry 1325.EZ1704)

In which a perfect storm of construction, coal mining, and Communist commemoration creates twelve days of gridlock in central China, and Ken imagines an ancient Roman in a stadium parking garage. Certificate #34985.

Sep 21, 20231 hr 8 min

One Glass of Red Wine (Entry 866.DE3233)

In which one Canadian newsman convinces America for several decades that daily drinking is the key to solving the "French Paradox," and John thinks Ken looks inhibited holding a spatula. Certificate #13766.

Sep 14, 20231 hr 16 min

(LIVE) Hiroo Onoda (Entry 867.1C1526)

In which Japanese soldiers, unwilling to believe that World War II is over, hold out for decades on islands all over the Pacific, and Ken will never give up on bar soap. Certificate #44164.

Sep 07, 202359 min

Kids on Milk Cartons (Entry 686.DE2407)

In which a nationwide panic over "stranger danger" turns regional dairies into activists for missing children, and John likes when things are "de minimis." Certificate #25468.

Aug 31, 20231 hr 19 min

The NS Savannah (Entry 849.MK0436)

In which the world's first nuclear-powered merchant vessel is launched in all its modernist glory, and Ken wants an infinitely long ship. Certificate #26615.

Aug 24, 20231 hr 13 min

The DuMont Network (Entry 386.LK2417)

In which the three nascent American broadcast networks face a challenge from a scrappy engineering lab, and John thinks gadgeteers should be certified. Certificate #28450.

Aug 17, 20231 hr 19 min

Universe 25 (Entry 1350.GE0907)

In which the "behavioral sink" of rodent utopias is discovered in a Maryland barn, and Ken sings about a urinal trough. Certificate #38792.

Aug 10, 20231 hr 17 min