This week, the show takes you behind the scenes at L'Oréal’s research center in New Jersey. Malcolm Gladwell delves into the complexities of cosmetic formulation and the AI partnership with IBM. Learn how AI is poised to revolutionize the creation of beauty products, to make them even more sustainable and innovative. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/p...
Jul 20, 2025•27 min
With the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, we wanted to revisit this episode from last year. The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars str...
Mar 09, 2024•38 min
After his cartooning career failed to take off, a German artist named Arno Funke started extorting department stores. He went by “Dagobert,” the German name for the character of Scrooge McDuck in the cartoon DuckTales. His crime spree lasted for years and made him a folk hero across Germany. Recently, reporter Jeff Maysh got to meet him. You can read Jeff Maysh’s New Yorker article “The Strange Story of Dagobert, the ‘DuckTales’ Bandit” here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-strange-s...
Sep 21, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 46
“Bronze Age Pervert” is the moniker of an influential far-right thinker. He has hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. His book is a top-seller on Amazon, and was reviewed by a former Trump administration official. Journalist Graeme Wood knew him before all that, back when he was just a college student in tevas. You can read Graeme Wood’s Atlantic story “How Bronze Age Pervert Charmed the Far Right” here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/bronze-age-pervert-costin-alam...
Sep 14, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 45
When Andrew Leland was a teenager he learned he had a rare disease that would cause him to become blind by the time he reached middle age. He recently decided to prepare by attending a special school for blind people. You can read Andrew’s essay for the New Yorker, “How to Be Blind” here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/how-to-be-blind And you can find Andrew’s new book, The Country of the Blind here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635964/the-country-of-the-blind-by...
Sep 07, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 44
A car mechanic named Jeff Carpoff invented a portable solar generator. Companies like Geico and Progressive Insurance bought thousands of his generators because they got tax credits for doing so. But there was something not quite right about Carpoff’s invention. You can read Ariel Saber’s Atlantic story, “The Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme that hooked Warren Buffett and the US Treasury,” here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/06/dc-solar-power-ponzi-scheme-scandal/673782/ See omnys...
Aug 31, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Xochitl Gonzalez spent years planning the weddings of New York’s wealthiest couples. This is the story of the craziest wedding she’s ever planned. You can read Xochitl Gonzalez’s Atlantic story “The Fake Poor Bride,” here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/07/luxury-wedding-planners-industrial-complex-cost/674169/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 24, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 42
A developer named Domenic Broccoli wanted to build an IHOP in Fishkill, New York. But after it was discovered that the plot of land he was planning to build on may have been a Revolutionary War grave site, he became embroiled in a war of his own. You can read Reeves Wiedeman’s New York Magazine story “The Battle of Fishkill” here: https://www.curbed.com/article/ihop-fishkill-ny-domenic-broccoli-revolutionary-war.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 17, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Laos used to be known as “the land of a million elephants.” Now, there are only about 800 elephants left in the country. Reporter Paul Kvinta went undercover to learn about the illegal elephant trade, and ended up putting in an offer on an elephant himself. You can read read Paul Kvinta’s Outside Magazine story “I Bought an Elephant to Find Out How to Save Them,” here: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/asian-elephant-trafficking-captivity-laos/ See omnystudio.com/listen...
Aug 10, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Simone Gold, a former ER doctor, is the founder of a non-profit called “America’s Frontline Doctors,” known for spreading misinformation about COVID. After she was arrested for taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, she received millions of dollars in donations. And that’s when the feuding within her organization began. You can read Joel Stein’s Financial Times story, “How a squad of MAGA warriors flush with cash turned on each other” here: https://www.ft.com/stream/3264fe6d-3997-493c-9f77-e565...
Jul 27, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 39
How did the Guinness World Records company come to be? And how, in the age of the internet, does the company make money? Imogen West-Knights spent a year investigating. She learned how to be a record adjudicator (it’s riskier than it sounds), met a man who has broken more than 700 records, and tried to break a record herself. You can read Imogen West-Knight’s Guardian story, “The Strange Survival of Guinness World Records,” here: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/may/25/guinness-world-record...
Jul 20, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 38
The history of Dr. Bronner’s soap is even crazier than the famously crazy writing on the side of a Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle. The company was founded by a man who escaped from a mental asylum. Now it is the top-selling natural soap brand in North America. How did this happen? Carrie Battan paid their headquarters a visit to find out. You can read Carrie Battan’s GQ story, “Is Dr. Bronner’s the Last Corporation With a Soul,” here: https://www.gq.com/story/dr-bronners-corporate-success See omnystu...
Jul 13, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In 2010, an art collector named Forrest Fenn published a memoir called “The Thrill of the Chase,” in which he described hiding a treasure chest somewhere in the United States. His memoir inspired hundreds of thousands of treasure hunters to scour the country for it. Now, over a decade later, much about this chest still remains a mystery. You can read Svati Kirsten Narula’s story “America’s Greatest Hidden Treasure Was Found—So Why Are People Still Looking?” here: https://www.popularmechanics.com...
Jul 06, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 36
A woman in Louisiana named Donna Metrejean fell in love with a D.E.A agent in Oregon named Robert Golden. She uprooted her whole life to be with him. But all was not what it seemed. You can read Jeff Maysh’s story “Undercover Lovers” here: https://jeffmaysh.substack.com/p/undercover-lovers See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 29, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Comedian Dave Chappelle has been buying up properties in the tiny town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. The residents have mixed feelings about their powerful neighbor’s real estate decisions and it’s been splitting the town in two. Reporter Tyler J. Kelley paid a visit to Yellow Springs to see if it’s really becoming Chappelleville. You can read Tyler J. Kelley’s Bloomberg story “What Happens When Dave Chappelle Buys Up Your Town” here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-dave-chappelle-yellow-spri...
Jun 22, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In celebration of Bloomsday on June 16th, we’re bringing you a special James Joyce mystery. Ten years after achieving stratospheric and unlikely fame, the world’s greatest Ulysses scholar disappeared. Reporter Jack Hitt went on a quest to find out if he was dead, alive or insane. You can read Jack Hitt’s New York Times story “The Strange Case of the Missing Joyce Scholar, here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/magazine/the-strange-case-of-the-missing-joyce-scholar.html See omnystudio.com/liste...
Jun 15, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 33
When a benign urban planning concept is co-opted by conspiracy theorists, an unsuspecting professor becomes the target of right-wing death threats. Tiffany Hsu covered the story of the 15 minute city conspiracy for The New York Times. You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/technology/carlos-moreno-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theories.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 01, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Every month in New York City, a small group of people who feel like they’ve been ostracized for holding unpopular opinions and their supporters meet up to chat, debate, and even sing folk songs. Reporter Emma Green attended a recent gathering. You can read Emma Green’s New Yorker story “The Party is Cancelled” here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-party-is-cancelled See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 25, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Nearly all of the high-end microchips in the world - the ones we depend on for our phones and cars – are manufactured in an unassuming factory in Taiwan. Virginia Heffernan is one of the few reporters to go inside. She wrote about what she saw for Wired. You can read Virginia Heffernan's story, "I Saw the Face of God in a Semiconductor Factory" here: https://www.wired.com/story/i-saw-the-face-of-god-in-a-tsmc-factory/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 18, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 30
When a nurse named Tiffany Dover fainted on camera after getting a Covid vaccine, anti-vaxxers assumed the worst. Shortly after, the internet was awash in conspiracy theories that she was dead. NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny set out to prove that Tiffany Dover was alive. This turned out to be more difficult than she could have imagined. You can read Brandy Zadrozny’s story, “Conspiracy theorists made Tiffany Dover into an anti-vaccine icon,” here: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/t...
May 11, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 29
On the Replica app, you can create an AI-powered chatbot to talk to, befriend, sext and even virtually marry. The service has millions of users. Some of them are now discovering that having a friend or spouse that’s owned by a private company comes with downsides. Pranshu Verma wrote "They fell in love with AI bots. A software update broke their hearts" for The Washington Post. You can read the full story here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/30/replika-ai-chatbot-update/ See o...
Apr 27, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In 2012, Melania Trump tweeted a photo of a smiling beluga whale and captioned it “what is she thinking?” Eleven years later, Sabrina Imbler, a journalist at Defector Media, decided to try to answer that question. You can read Sabrina Imbler’s full story, “What Was She Thinking? An Investigation,” here: https://defector.com/what-was-she-thinking-an-investigation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 20, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Celebrity autographs are a billion dollar industry. And in New York City, “Radio Man” is better at collecting them than anybody else. He also regularly appears as an extra in movies and TV shows. How did a formerly homeless man come to be so beloved by celebrities? And how did he get so good at getting their autographs? Drew Schwartz wrote “Meet Radio Man: Autograph King, Friend of George Clooney, ‘Bum’” for the New York Times. You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17...
Apr 13, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Is it possible to live for even a day without plastic? Stunt journalist extraordinaire A.J. Jacobs tries his best. And fails miserably. You can read the full New York Times story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/style/plastic-free.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 06, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian man nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” went from being a street criminal to a hot dog seller to owning a catering company that provides services to the Russian government. Oh yeah– and he’s also the head of a private military company that’s sending soldiers all over the world. How did Prigozhin turn global conflict into a lucrative business? And what could happen if he decides he’s had enough of Vladimir Putin’s rule? Julia Ioffe wrote about Prigozhin for her publication, Puck...
Mar 30, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In 2013, two women started a Facebook group called “Buy Nothing” for their local community on Bainbridge Island to swap unwanted items for free. But their small group quickly grew, becoming a national movement with millions of users. A coup within Buy Nothing raised questions about if it’s possible to create a utopian project within a broken society. Vauhini Vara reported on the saga of Buy Nothing for Wired Magazine. You can read the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/the-battle-for-b...
Mar 23, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 22
UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial conspiracy. For years, rapper Pras Michél has allegedly been doing the bidding of wanted Malaysian billionaire, Jho Low. Pras’s baffling, Icarian story involves one of the greatest financial scandals in history, an international hostage negotiation, and the possibility of a decadeslong prison sentence. Matthew Campbell co-wrote this story for Business Week. You can read it here: http...
Mar 16, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 21
The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars streaker. You can read the full story here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-...
Mar 10, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Tipping. Dinner parties. Canceling plans. We could all use an etiquette guide that teaches us to live without pissing people off. Luckily, New York Magazine has one – and it went viral. We (politely) asked Choire Sicha, who edited that guide, to come on our show. You can read the full list from New York Magazine here: https://www.thecut.com/article/tipping-rules-etiquette-rules.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 02, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 19
What happens when extinct animal skeletons meet the “Joe Rogan Experience”? The answer is murky, freezing, and may contain submerged cars. This week, we bring on Michael Wilson from the New York Times, who wrote about how a fossil-excavating reality TV star came on Joe Rogan’s podcast to make a bombshell claim: that there are mammoth tusks at the bottom of the East River. What ensues is a no-holds-barred bone rush. You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/nyregion/joe...
Feb 23, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 18
