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Search Engine
Search Engine
PJ Vogt

No question too big, no question too small. On Search Engine, PJ Vogt answers the questions you might ask the internet when... more

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Episodes

What is jawmaxxing?

The story of how an alternative theory of dentistry made its way from medicine's fringes to an audience of young... more

22 Nov 2024 · 54 minutes
The White Subaru Hell Loop

A mortal human being finds himself stuck between two impressive organizations: the DMV, and an internet start-up called Carvana. He... more

15 Nov 2024 · 53 minutes
Presenting Gone South

Gone South, the Edward R. Murrow award-winning podcast, is back. Unlike previous seasons, writer and host Jed Lipinski brings listeners... more

13 Nov 2024 · 9 minutes
How did the first democracy die?

The story of the first people who invented democracy, and what it did to them. What's Wrong With Democracy? by Loren... more

08 Nov 2024 · 43 minutes
How do you sit quietly in the middle of a storm?

What if there was an event in the future, the outcome of which you couldn’t personally control, but it was... more

01 Nov 2024 · 1 hour, 8 minutes
Should we be worried about OpenAI?

A year ago, we saw a stand-off between OpenAI's non-profit board and its leader, Sam Altman. Since then, the board... more

25 Oct 2024 · 59 minutes
Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 2)

We reveal the one weird trick some billionaires use to pay less in federal income taxes than you do. And... more

18 Oct 2024 · 45 minutes
Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 1)

A rogue IRS contractor leaks the private tax returns of the country’s wealthiest citizens to a reporter. That reporter, ProPublica’s... more

18 Oct 2024 · 52 minutes
Death, Sex & Money x Search Engine

This week, we're sharing an episode of a show we love, Death, Sex & Money. We hope you enjoy it... more

10 Oct 2024 · 51 minutes
The Mystery of the Vape Shop Kratom

This week we have for you ... not a whodunnit, but a what did I do? A listener tries a... more

04 Oct 2024 · 1 hour, 7 minutes
Is everyone pretending to understand inflation (or just me)?

The single issue that might decide the upcoming presidential election also happens to be: very confusing. Political economist Mark Blyth... more

20 Sep 2024 · 56 minutes
A stubborn lunatic’s guide to making great art

25 years ago, The Sopranos, the best television show ever created, premiered. This week, a new documentary called Wise Guy asks... more

13 Sep 2024 · 59 minutes
Can I microdose veganism?

If you care about animals, but don't want to stop eating them... what's the least you could do while doing... more

06 Sep 2024 · 57 minutes
What's the best phone to do crimes on?

For years, the must-have phone for the discerning drug trafficker or hitman was a brand you may not have heard... more

16 Aug 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
Is there a sane way to follow this election?

We are in an eighty-eight day sprint to the Presidential election. How would you follow this story if you wanted... more

09 Aug 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
The End

A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world. (This summer we’re publishing some... more

02 Aug 2024 · 56 minutes
The Kidnapping of Ape #8398

An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celebrities suddenly... more

26 Jul 2024 · 41 minutes
Genesis

This week: Bitcoin. We trace it from its humble origins in a .PDF to the movement it has spawned, all... more

19 Jul 2024 · 1 hour, 8 minutes
The Bidding War

A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. This summer we’re publishing... more

12 Jul 2024 · 51 minutes
Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 2)

We travel to Germany to trace techno's history from Detroit to Berlin. The story of how, after the Wall fell,... more

26 Jun 2024 · 1 hour, 13 minutes
Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 1)

Two Americans embark on a quest: fly across an ocean to try to get into the most exclusive nightclub in... more

21 Jun 2024 · 55 minutes
What does it feel like to believe in God?

This week, we try to understand an experience that 74% of Americans routinely report having. The first of many conversations... more

14 Jun 2024 · 1 hour, 7 minutes
How much glue should you put in your pizza?

An internet breaking news story. As we told you last week, Google has begun offering AI-generated answers to search questions.... more

31 May 2024 · 45 minutes
How do we survive the media apocalypse? (Part 2)

Last week, Google announced a fundamental change to how the site will work, which will likely have dire effects for... more

22 May 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
Should this creepy search engine exist?

After stumbling on a new kind of search engine for faces, we called privacy journalist Kashmir Hill. She’s been reporting... more

10 May 2024 · 1 hour,
What do trigger warnings actually do?

A listener’s brother dies by suicide, and afterwards, she finds herself angered by trigger warnings about suicide. She wants to... more

03 May 2024 · 59 minutes
Where's my flying car?

Since not long after the car was invented, we have wanted to stick wings on them and fly them through... more

19 Apr 2024 · 55 minutes
Do political yard signs actually do anything?

It’s an election year and so Search Engine’s campaign desk is answering the questions you really want answers to: all... more

12 Apr 2024 · 37 minutes
Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 2)

In part two of our story, we watch the state of New York try to pull off something we rarely... more

05 Apr 2024 · 1 hour, 8 minutes
Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 1)

In 2021, New York legalized cannabis for adults. It was supposed to be the start of a legal market, led by... more

29 Mar 2024 · 52 minutes
A big announcement from Search Engine plus, "What's in your cocaine?"

We've launched a new premium feed called Incognito Mode. It includes bonus episodes of Search Engine and some other very... more

22 Mar 2024 · 13 minutes
How do we survive the media apocalypse?

Something strange, new, and unsettling is happening in media right now. Huge institutions, both newspapers and online outlets, are being... more

15 Mar 2024 · 1 hour, 2 minutes
Who's behind these scammy text messages we've all been getting?

"Hi David, I’m Vicky Ho. Don’t you remember me?" An investigative reporter travels halfway around the world to find out who... more

08 Mar 2024 · 1 hour, 11 minutes
How do you make an addictive video game?

This episode will change how you look at games. We talk to Ben Brode, the designer behind Hearthstone and Marvel... more

01 Mar 2024 · 53 minutes
Where did all the roaches go?

Cockroaches were a scourge that scuttled through the cracks and crevices of homes all throughout America. And then one day,... more

23 Feb 2024 · 42 minutes
What are we gonna do about all these cats?

A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activists. What should we do about an... more

09 Feb 2024 · 53 minutes
How do you survive fame?

Actor Molly Ringwald joins us to talk about a time in her life when her job was to pretend to... more

02 Feb 2024 · 1 hour, 12 minutes
Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 2)

This week, the shocking finale of our investigation into who -- or what -- has been leaving chicken bones strewn across the... more

26 Jan 2024 · 35 minutes
Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? (Part 1)

A team of investigators with an unusual set of skills joins us this week to solve a mystery that haunts... more

19 Jan 2024 · 40 minutes
When do you know it’s time to stop drinking?

This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writer A.J. Daulerio about his own... more

12 Jan 2024 · 1 hour,
Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 2)

We bring you the shattering conclusion to our investigation into whether a New York City sushi restaurant is swapping their... more

15 Dec 2023 · 42 minutes
Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 1)

We investigate unsettling rumors that fish purveyors may be mislabeling fish to save a buck. Our path leads us deep... more

08 Dec 2023 · 45 minutes
Who should be in charge of AI?

This week, the story of a very brief, very absurd revolution at the world’s leading artificial intelligence company, OpenAI. And... more

01 Dec 2023 · 56 minutes
Why don’t we eat people?

A question from a four-year-old tips us into an investigation of one of our most fundamental taboos: cannibalism. With help... more

17 Nov 2023 · 1 hour, 1 minute
The Bull of Wall Street

Every day in Manhattan, about 1,000 people will stand outside in a long line waiting for their chance to take... more

10 Nov 2023 · 51 minutes
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 2)

In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle. We meet a doctor... more

03 Nov 2023 · 48 minutes
Why'd I take speed for twenty years? (Part 1)

One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And afterwards wonders -- how... more

27 Oct 2023 · 58 minutes
Is there a sane way to use the internet?

Ezra Klein joins Search Engine this week to answer a question that's increasingly confounded us: how do I use the... more

20 Oct 2023 · 59 minutes
Heavyweight x Search Engine

Search Engine is VERY EXCITED to share the news that Heavyweight, one of our favorite shows, is now available wherever... more

09 Oct 2023 · 41 minutes
The Fond Du Lac Apartment Mystery

Why would the government give Korianne a coupon for a free apartment that she can’t find? We have a question... more

06 Oct 2023 · 56 minutes
Where did the 8 billion dollars go?

This week, the story of former crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. The government alleges he stole over eight billion dollars from... more

29 Sep 2023 · 1 hour, 7 minutes
Why are we still buying diamonds?

They’re shiny rocks that we’ve somehow agreed embody romance and eternity. But diamonds, it turns out, are not as rare... more

22 Sep 2023 · 58 minutes
Why’s it so hard to figure out how many people watch Stranger Things?

Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things, would like to know why won’t Netflix just tell her how many people watch the show?... more

15 Sep 2023 · 58 minutes
Does anyone actually like their job?

... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician? At twenty-five, I had a question for The Hold... more

01 Sep 2023 · 43 minutes
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 2)

We speak to Luis, a former fentanyl dealer and user who tells us why a dealer might want to put... more

18 Aug 2023 · 49 minutes
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 1)

Isn't it bad business to kill your own customers? In part one of our answer to this question, we talk... more

11 Aug 2023 · 38 minutes
Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments?

Our quest for answers this week sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invisible... more

04 Aug 2023 · 46 minutes
What's it like to slowly go blind?

We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew takes us inside the... more

28 Jul 2023 · 57 minutes
What's going on with Elon Musk?

Search Engine investigates the erratic behavior of the world’s wealthiest man with Hard Fork’s Casey Newton. The three top theories... more

21 Jul 2023 · 1 hour,
How do I find new music now that I’m old and irrelevant?

We enlist a very overqualified person to answer this question, writer Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular... more

14 Jul 2023 · 45 minutes
Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee?

Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsafe to drink because... more

07 Jul 2023 · 53 minutes
How sad are the monkeys in the zoo?

To answer this question, we’ll unpack a scientific battle centuries in the making, one that involves a serial killer elephant... more

12 May 2023 · 40 minutes
Introducing: Search Engine

No question too big, no question too small. A new show that’ll be out soon. You can hear it here,... more

13 Jan 2023 · 1 minute
09 The End

A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world. To learn more about listener... more

22 Dec 2022 · 55 minutes
08 The Kidnapping of Ape #8398

An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celebrities suddenly... more

28 Jun 2022 · 40 minutes
07 The Drug Trader

This week we follow a dollar underground. For notes, further reading, or to support this project visit pjvogt.com. To learn... more

26 May 2022 · 34 minutes
06 The Lunatic Who Crashed Crypto

This week, a story of about how crypto just imploded due to one risky, financial product. And the fight-loving, Twitter-addicted... more

13 May 2022 · 34 minutes
05 Genesis

This week: Bitcoin. We trace it from its humble origins in a .PDF to the movement it has spawned, all... more

07 May 2022 · 1 hour, 8 minutes
04 The Skeptic

The strange journeys of Cas Piancey, a baker turned crypto skeptic. (For notes & further reading on this episode, check... more

05 Apr 2022 · 45 minutes
03 Miguel

A conversation with Miguel Piedrafita. Why would a 19-year-old from Spain want to buy the US Constitution?  To learn more... more

25 Mar 2022 · 17 minutes
02 ConstitutionDAO

A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. (Listen to introduction episode... more

23 Mar 2022 · 52 minutes
01 Welcome to Crypto Island

An introduction to this limited series. A video of a mysterious tropical island populated entirely by Bitcoin dynasts and Dogecoin... more

14 Mar 2022 · 18 minutes
Search Engine
01 Welcome to Crypto Island
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Description

An introduction to this limited series. A video of a mysterious tropical island populated entirely by Bitcoin dynasts and Dogecoin princelings sends... more