Omnibus - podcast cover

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.\r\n","$":{"audioboom:html":"1"}}
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Episodes

Pneumatic Tubes (Entry 955.JN0308)

In which mail, cash, trash, passengers, burgers, and cats are sent zipping through vast networks on puffs of compressed air, and John would like to be sent a horny landscaper. Certificate #46257.

Nov 06, 20251 hr 37 min

The Spirit of Australia (Entry 1203.PS7716)

In which an power tools salesman builds the world's fastest boat in his Sydney backyard and somehow survives the experience, and John thinks it's funny to be accordion-shaped in the past. Certificate #16230.

Oct 23, 20251 hr 27 min

Spam (Entry 1195.JB0607)

In which a Minnesota meat concern changes the face of world cuisine by passing their surplus pork shoulder off on hungry soldiers, and Ken imagines a pre-war Sir Mix-a-Lot. Certificate #53117.

Oct 16, 20251 hr 17 min

The False Dmitrys (Entry 451.2K0428)

In which three or four pretenders decide to pass themselves off as a very convincingly killed Russian prince, and John realizes some jobs have dripping access. Certificate #51533.

Oct 09, 20251 hr 43 min

Laugh Tracks (Entry 704.EC0202)

In which a mystery of Nazi propaganda, once solved, powers television sitcoms for decades to come, and Ken wonders about the least talented part of a guitarist. Certificate #37919.

Oct 02, 20251 hr 31 min

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Entry 826.RV2213)

In which post-war science finally develops the perfect system for spelling things over radio and telephones, and John learns he has been misspelling a pretty famous play. Certificate #50168.

Sep 25, 20251 hr 22 min

Muzak (Entry 820.1S1616)

In which a series of engineers, entrepreneurs, and classic TV producers discover that America wants gentle music piped into its public spaces, and Ken likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Certificate #54082.

Sep 18, 20251 hr 29 min

The MGM Auction (Entry 783.JB2813)

In which wheeler-dealers and Debbie Reynolds pillage a priceless trove of movie treasure for pennies on the dollar, and Ken has never been in his own conference room. Certificate #38661.

Sep 04, 20251 hr 34 min

Allan Bakke, M.D. (Entry 093.SS0510)

In which a Marine vet and NASA engineer changes the course of American public policy when he fails to get into medical school, and John has no pith. Certificate #29277.

Aug 29, 20251 hr 32 min

Radioactive Boy (Entry 1026.JB4132)

In which a Detroit-area teen overachieves in Boy Scouts by trying to build a nuclear reactor in a potting shed, and Ken only wants capitalized toys. Certificate #50176.

Aug 21, 20251 hr 43 min

Dollar Princesses (Entry 370.NU3603)

In which a generation of English peers and their sons look to fix their leaky castle roofs by marrying wealthy American "buccaneers," and John has never kidnapped anyone in Bulgaria. Certificate #33143.

Aug 14, 20251 hr 43 min

Teddy Girls (Entry 1283.PR3122)

In which the dandyish vintage finds of postwar British teens set a blueprint for the rest of 20th-century youth fashion, and Ken keeps getting hit in the head by nose flutes on the bus. Certificate #13953.

Aug 07, 20251 hr 13 min

The Integratron (Entry 650.SS0117)

In which a 700-year-old Venusian designs a mysterious whitewashed dome in the Mojave Desert, and John would like to change history at the mutiny on the Bounty. Certificate #13181.

Jul 31, 20251 hr 22 min

Chemtrails (Entry 212.AM0407)

In which internet-era conspiracy theorists become convinced that jet contrails are weather control masterminded from Fairbanks, Alaska, and Ken thinks John sounds like a Muppet for exactly one syllable. Certificate #52946.

Jul 24, 20251 hr 31 min

Ex-Millionaires (Entry 438.EC0514)

In which some of the bankers who lost their shirts in the Great Depression find a cushy retirement in the Bronx instead of jumping out windows, and John will never say anyone isn't gay. Certificate #35727.

Jul 17, 20251 hr 16 min

Margarine (Entry 759.JU0525)

In which butter substitutes have to overcome scientific hurdles, dairy-friendly laws, and bad news about trans fats, and Ken thinks Germany is trying to control olive oil. Certificate #34384.

Jul 10, 20251 hr 19 min

Chopin's Heart (Entry 218.JB4124)

In which Poland's most famous exile partially returns to Warsaw to posthumously annoy both tsars and Nazis, and John's restaurant idea has some light cannibalism. Certificate #31277.

Jul 03, 20251 hr 26 min

Hostile Architecture (Entry 601.PR2907)

In which today's cities face tough choices on how to guide urban behavior with incredibly uncomfortable-looking design features, and Ken would pee on a fly but not a bee. Certificate #19421.

Jun 26, 20251 hr 19 min

The War Between the States (Entry 1409.IS1902)

In which it takes decades for America to decide whether its civil war was an insurrection or an invasion, nomenclature-wise, and John walks very erratically on his orange shag carpet. Certificate #26478.

Jun 19, 20251 hr 27 min

The Dreadnought Hoax (Entry 380.PS6831)

In which six bored, Cambridge-connected bohemians con their way onto the British Empire's naval flagship by dressing as African royalty, and Ken thinks John is either Batman or a Karen. Certificate #19722.

Jun 12, 20251 hr 33 min

The Comics Code Authority (Entry 248.2CH2115)

In which a crusading social psychiatrist drums up the moral panic that gets two mega-popular comic book genres banned from America's newsstands, and John agrees that punching Hitler is unmissable. Certificate #44894.

Jun 05, 20251 hr 32 min

Gorillas, Discovery of (Entry 540.PS10420)

In which it takes Europe over two thousand years to figure out that the greatest of the great apes is not just Carthaginian folklore, and Ken would like to be considered merciful. Certificate #46468.

May 29, 20251 hr 12 min

Victorian Hairwork (Entry 1394.LK2118)

In which the popularity of "mourning bequeathments" and the death of the Prince Consort lead to an explosion of morbid family handicrafts, and John gives away the same piano twice. Certificate #50902.

May 22, 20251 hr 18 min

Hawaiian Guitar (Entry 572.PS14409)

In which a Honolulu teenager discovers a rusty bolt by the side of the road and changes the face of 20th-century music across multiple genres, and Ken is surprised to learn what Aerosmith, Paul Shaffer, and Harvard have in common. Certificate #35281.

May 15, 20251 hr 16 min

Vows of Silence (Entry 1403.PS10730)

In which a famed monastic tradition is revealed to be a modern misunderstanding of the chattiness of religious life, and Ken does not want to know what a Robot Guitar really is. Certificate #38497.

May 08, 20251 hr 23 min

Rock Paper Scissors (Entry 1079.1CH2613)

In which an ancient Chinese game of intransitive balance changes the world as both a children's pastime and a decision-making method, and John has the candy tastes of a pioneer child. Certificate #23611.

May 01, 20251 hr 17 min

Lemmings (Entry 711.MK1503)

In which the documentary films of the Arctic are revealed to be full of lies, leading to one misunderstood rodent, and John thinks about a vole in a bowl. Certificate #25575.

Apr 24, 20251 hr 9 min

Pulgasari (Entry 1007.IS4602)

In which North Korea jump-starts its fledgeling monster movie industry by literally kidnapping talent from across the DMZ, and Ken was distracted by skateboarding. Certificate #37139

Apr 17, 20251 hr 24 min
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