411 (Entry 495.LK2003)
In which telephone users once had access to a surprising array of helpful and informative services, and Ken got rid of his landline to spite Al-Qaeda. Certificate #26038.
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Omnibus
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Episodes
Whistling (Entry 1427.DE2323)
In which an ancient linguistic and religious practice becomes a jaunty, ambulatory musical form before falling into decline, and John does not want to see condors in a hospital. Certificate #45133.
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 13 min
The Population Bomb (Entry 966.GE2803)
In which centuries of sterilization-happy doomsayers fail to predict a game-changing revolution in wheat, and Ken thinks Pakistan wants John to clean out his fridge. Certificate #2037.
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 20 min
The King Under the Mountain (Entry 688.RO1311)
In which dozens of national sleeping guys with long beards wait in caves for their countries to need them again, and John thinks Tom Cruise should not be in a courtyard. Certificate #53610.
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 13 min
New Urbanism (Entry 835.SS0711)
In which conservative Sun Belt retirees and progressive urbanists agree on a nostalgic but radical revolution in city design, and Ken does a Norman Rockwell impression. Certificate #34959.
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Soviet Spartacus (Entry 1194.EX2116)
In which a Thracian slave from two thousand years earlier becomes a proletarian role model and Communist sports hero, and John prefers action stars with boogers. Certificate #37084.
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Electrical Sockets (Entry 400.JS0215)
In which the long war between alternating and direct current produces power outlets that multiply nto a dizzying world of configurations, and Ken needs a grounding prong. Certificate #29673.
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Tartans (Entry 1279.DE2230)
In which Scottish clans each choose a distinctive plaid based on a romantic Highland history that didn't really happen, and John takes a hard hit while playing Frisbee in a skirt. Certificate #26624.
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 21 min
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment (Entry 1352.GE3028)
In which a constitutional change finally happens after a two-hundred-year delay just to spite one Texas poli sci professor, and Ken likes it when scriveners get away scot-free. Certificate #43079.
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 15 min
The Teddy Bear Shipwreck (Entry 1283.PR2433)
In which the toy market is revolutionized by a faddish stuffed animal that would be priceless today if it hadn't disappeared, and John buys the concept of a rabbit. Certificate #24398.
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Sea Peoples (Entry 1120.1K2248)
In which the great Mediterranean civilizations of the late Bronze Age collapse virtually overnight due to some mysterious visitors, and Ken knows a lot about white broccoli. Certificate #9795.
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 9 min
The Coconut Revolution (Entry 239.JE0207)
In which Melanesian eco-revolutionaries fight off helicopter gunships with literal slingshots and homemade diesel, and John makes a shocking announcement about all scientists. Certificate #54146.
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Poutine (Entry 973.PS10709)
In which a curd-heavy side from central Quebec belatedly becomes the national dish of a land with no real national cuisine, and Ken learns so much about Sacramento culture. Certificate #30037.
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 9 min
The Fenian Raids (Entry 461.DE2849)
In which a secret society of plucky Civil War veterans hatches a plan to return Ireland to the Irish by—wait for it—invading Canada, and John doesn't think the people who sold him wine coolers actually exist. Certificate #12129.
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Comic Sans (Entry 248.2C1009)
In which even the most hated typeface in the history of desktop publishing has its defenders, and Ken isn't sure why he owns cargo shorts. Certificate #54861.
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Oh, You Kid! (Entry 862.GA0519)
In which a flirty but forgotten Tin Pan Alley song leads to the first great moral panic in pop music history, and John sneakily borrows someone else's shanty town. Certificate #12960.
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Pickleball (Entry 937.EZ4621)
In which a state politician's lack of badminton equipment leads to the invention of the hottest sport of the 21st century, and Ken is slightly present. Certificate #42131.
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Stradivarius Violins (Entry 1231.PS9203)
In which researchers squabble for centuries about the secret ingredient that made one Cremonese craftsman the greatest musical instrument-maker of all time, and John seasons guitars under a bus. Certificate #36611.
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 6 min
The Forbidden Island (Entry 489.LV2523)
In which a king agrees to hand over his seventh-best island in the hopes of creating a haven for his native Hawaiian language and culture, and Ken does not want to greet Zach. Certificate #43273.
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Fermi Problems (Entry 462.MK0819)
In which the last universal physicist demonstrates to his students that ballpark estimates in math can be as powerful as precision, and John isn't sure if Romanians can count tomatoes. Certificate #46480.
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Love Canal (Entry 737.PR2526)
In which an ill-advised utopian scheme to bypass Niagara Falls becomes America's first toxic waste catastrophe, and Ken knows the main thing that water does. Certificate #42025.
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Turtle Soup (Entry 1351.SS0212)
In which the great gourmet food of 19th-century "frolics" suddenly disappears from American menus, and John thinks humankind often looks to weasels. Certificate #32793.
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Harambe (Entry 567.JM0506)
In which the tragic death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo launches a tidal wave of viral content on social media, and Ken explains bad table manners as an accident of birth. Certificate #23616.
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 28 min
The Brushy Mountain Prison Breakout (Entry 159.AC0523)
In which the most notorious convict in America attempts no fewer than four separate escapes from the Alcatraz of the Cumberland Mountains, and John would never disparage the banjo. Certificate #1746.
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 37 min
The Western Washington Windshield Epidemic (Entry 1422.RV0613)
In which a mysterious outbreak of "glass pox," possibly a result of nuclear testing, hits the Pacific Northwest, and Ken doesn't think Sherlock Holmes knows any teenagers. Certificate #40197.
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Talking Drums (Entry 1275.1C1407)
In which the Yoruba people of Nigeria create a new kind of "speech surrogacy" for news and storytelling using a versatile percussion section, and John only needs two pedals to get to Sounds-Like-Garbage-Land. Certificate #51913.
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 24 min
The Antarctic Snow Cruiser (Entry 052.1K0732)
In which a polar expedition builds a massive RV to road-trip around Antarctica but brings the wrong tires, and Ken wonders if admirals like sexy calendars. Certificate #23408.
May 30, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Electroculture (Entry 401.MT1308)
In which the earliest discoverers of electricity disagree on whether it helps flowers, turnips, and myrtle shrubs to grow, and John punishes himself with sprouts. Certificate #27338.
May 23, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Somerton Man (Entry 1189.PS7902)
In which a clue-filled dead body appears on a beach in Adelaide, Australia, sparking a tantalizing 75-year mystery, and Ken is not a team of seventh graders. Certificate #35821.
May 16, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Kim's Video (Entry 687.MT0542)
In which the collapse of the video rental industry sends one valuable and eccentric archive to an obscure and disaster-plagued town in western Sicily, and E. coli is no match for John. Certificate #43318.
May 09, 2024•1 hr 31 min
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