The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy. But all too often, the darker, colder days of winter,... more

With the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, we wanted to revisit this episode from last year. The Oscars seems to... more

After his cartooning career failed to take off, a German artist named Arno Funke started extorting department stores.  He went... more

“Bronze Age Pervert” is the moniker of an influential far-right thinker. He has hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter.... more

When Andrew Leland was a teenager he learned he had a rare disease that would cause him to become blind... more

A car mechanic named Jeff Carpoff invented a portable solar generator. Companies like Geico and Progressive Insurance bought thousands of... more

Xochitl Gonzalez spent years planning the weddings of New York’s wealthiest couples. This is the story of the craziest wedding... more

A developer named Domenic Broccoli wanted to build an IHOP in Fishkill, New York. But after it was discovered that... more

Laos used to be known as “the land of a million elephants.” Now, there are only about 800 elephants left... more

Simone Gold, a former ER doctor, is the founder of a non-profit called “America’s Frontline Doctors,” known for spreading misinformation... more

How did the Guinness World Records company come to be? And how, in the age of the internet, does the... more

The history of Dr. Bronner’s soap is even crazier than the famously crazy writing on the side of a Dr.... more

In 2010, an art collector named Forrest Fenn published a memoir called “The Thrill of the Chase,” in which he... more

A woman in Louisiana named Donna Metrejean fell in love with a D.E.A agent in Oregon named Robert Golden. She... more

Comedian Dave Chappelle has been buying up properties in the tiny town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. The residents have mixed... more

In celebration of Bloomsday on June 16th, we’re bringing you a special James Joyce mystery. Ten years after achieving stratospheric... more

When a benign urban planning concept is co-opted by conspiracy theorists, an unsuspecting professor becomes the target of right-wing death... more

Every month in New York City, a small group of people who feel like they’ve been ostracized for holding unpopular... more

Nearly all of the high-end microchips in the world - the ones we depend on for our phones and cars ... more

When a nurse named Tiffany Dover fainted on camera after getting a Covid vaccine, anti-vaxxers assumed the worst. Shortly after,... more

On the Replica app, you can create an AI-powered chatbot to talk to, befriend, sext and even virtually marry. The... more

In 2012, Melania Trump tweeted a photo of a smiling beluga whale and captioned it “what is she thinking?” Eleven... more

Celebrity autographs are a billion dollar industry. And in New York City, “Radio Man” is better at collecting them than... more

Is it possible to live for even a day without plastic? Stunt journalist extraordinaire A.J. Jacobs tries his best. And... more

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian man nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” went from being a street criminal to a hot dog seller to... more

In 2013, two women started a Facebook group called “Buy Nothing” for their local community on Bainbridge Island to swap... more

UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial... more

The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award... more

Tipping. Dinner parties. Canceling plans. We could all use an etiquette guide that teaches us to live without pissing people... more

What happens when extinct animal skeletons meet the “Joe Rogan Experience”? The answer is murky, freezing, and may contain submerged... more

What happens when you pretend you’re a medical miracle? Lots of things, as TV writer Elisabeth Finch found out –... more

Suspicious art dealers, fraudulent documents, and huge egos--the only thing worse than the uppity art world is how much it... more

Robbi Jade Lew broke the world of poker with an incredibly unlikely win against Garrett Adelstein. Her win went viral... more

Inside the flourishing world of online plant fanclubs lies a deep, dark obsession: people who dedicate their entire lives to... more

Hawaii’s Kauai island is overrun by half a million feral cats, many of which are infected with toxoplasmosis. These infected... more

Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player in the world, accused 19-year-old Hans Niemann of cheating. Why? Because Niemann beat him... more

One of the first computer hackers was a woman. She pulled some of the most elaborate computer hacks of the... more

New York’s curbside Christmas tree business is run by a small group of ruthless, shadowy men. Owen Long, a tree... more

A group of DEA agents from Fresno, California figures out the real name of a Dark Web drug kingpin. But... more

Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan talks about his article for The Atlantic, "How to Avoid the White Savior Industrial Complex," which... more

A crime in Park Slope, Brooklyn – the heart of gentrified Brooklyn – leads residents to form a neighborhood watch... more

Michele McPhee traces a wild scam to bilk the U.S. Government out of $500 million. The plan was hatched by... more

A.J. Jacobs spent a month following the most conservative interpretation of the Constitution possible. One not far from how the... more

In this week's episode, we're LARPing, live-action roleplaying that gets you to step out of your own shoes and into... more

Allison P. Davis wrote “My Tinder Decade” a New York Magazine cover about being on the dating app from the... more

A Mexican doctor and former crack addict’s TED talk at Burning Man helped popularize hallucinogenic toad poison as a treatment... more

Douglas Ruskhoff was invited to speak to a group of tech guys at a conference in the middle of the... more

Every week host Joel Stein picks a long magazine article that fascinates him – and then actually reads the whole... more