Omnibus
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.
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Episodes
Longitudinal Film (Entry 734.PS9010) 03.03.2020 1:19:27
In which British documentarians and Austin slackers alike use the movies to unveil the mysteries of aging and mortality, and John leaves a series of women waiting for him at train stations in Spain. Certificate #48149
Hands Across America (Entry 565.PR1121) 27.02.2020 1:13:30
In which the 1980s fad for charity pop singles inspires an ambitious geographic stunt, and Ken plans a foolproof way to assassinate Jamie Farr. Certificate #26004
Operation Just Cause (Entry 869.EZ4510) 25.02.2020 52:19
In which the bizarre 1989 American invasion of Panama kicks off our modern era of on-the-nose Pentagon naming conventions, and John is reminded of a dominatrix, as usual. Certificate #19345.
Trafalgar vs. Carmania (Entry 1325.IS2314) 20.02.2020 1:03:43
In which the First World War begins in an unexpected fashion, with two ocean liners blowing holes in each other off the coast of Brazil, and Ken gets gaslit into buying a tuxedo. Certificate #32056.
The Dogon (Entry 369.DE0419) 18.02.2020 58:12
In which an African tribe proves so eager to please that they convince generations of ethnographers that alien visitors from Sirius are real, and John gets annoyed that ancient astronauts never invented baseball. Certificate #26731.
Cincinnati Chili (Entry 223.2K0440) 13.02.2020 49:04
In which an early fast food boom, Greek immigration, and (of course) the World's Fair conspire to trick Ohioans into redefining "chili," and John gets justifiably upset about bananas on spaghetti. Certificate #24598.
Snow Valley, Oklahoma (Entry 1182.JB2419) 11.02.2020 1:12:35
In which a Vermonter with an ill-conceived dream brings skiiing very briefly to the Sooner State, and Ken attempts to secure his family some very rare Pokemon cards. Certificate #17398.
The Tootsie Pop Indian (Entry 1317.LA0312) 06.02.2020 1:09:43
In which an American candy company refuses to honor a longstanding bit of playground lollipop lore, and Ken tries to calculate the homeopathic healing power of Tootsie Rolls. Certificate #33486.
Chastity Belts (Entry 209.LV2113) 04.02.2020 55:19
In which Renaissance satirists and modern amateur historians accidentally create a physiologically impossible medieval device, and John has a theory about locksmiths and cocaine. Certificate #49406.
Coppicing (Entry 276.PS8015) 30.01.2020 49:29
In which a forgotten medieval art of tree-harvesting is revived by the sustainability movement, and Ken blames the coming environmental catastrophe on "sugar energy." Certificate #22560.
Harry Dexter White (Entry 1428.LK0817) 28.01.2020 1:08:50
In which the American architect of post-World War II global capitalism turns out to have a dark and traitorous secret, and John imagines he would be a huge hassle for his spy handlers. Certificate #25923.
The Death of Trolleys (Entry 320.GN4519) 23.01.2020 1:01:41
In which we find General Motors and its corporate co-conspirators not guilty on the charge of killing American streetcar lines, and Ken gets very excited about funicular railways. Certificate #14871.
George Bush's Crack Dealer (Entry 524.JB1808) 21.01.2020 56:09
In which the president of the United States lies to the nation about how he got three ounces of crack cocaine into the Oval Office, and John is asked to leave a crime scene. Certificate #34620.
Backgammon (Entry 090.EX2816) 16.01.2020 1:07:10
In which an ancient Mesopotamian board game briefly becomes a 1970s signifier for glamour and sophistication, and Ken's life is changed by an intense childhood game of Clue. Certificate #31179.
Masquerade (Entry 763.PS10424) 14.01.2020 1:08:29
In which an outsider artist hides a rabbit by a statue and thereby gets a million people to start digging up the English countryside, and John "man-solves" a Satanic temple. Certificate #14162.
The Tech Model Railroad Club (Entry 1282.1C1220) 09.01.2020 1:01:46
In which a room full of MIT train nerds becomes ground zero for modern American hacker culture and computer architecture, and Ken blames Star Wars for ruining children's toys. Certificate #33564.
Byzantine Rhinokopia (Entry 170.JB4102) 07.01.2020 47:59
In which the Byzantine throne is contested by various Machiavellian schemes willing to mutilate the noses of their political rivals, and John reveals which Marx brother he is most sexually attracted to. Certificate #34954.
Fort Knox (Entry 493.2CH0913) 02.01.2020 1:06:13
In which a World War I army camp in northern Kentucky is chosen to house over $200 billion in gold bullion, and Ken proposes nationalizing America's safety deposit boxes. Certificate #2504.
Induced Demand (Entry 637.EZ1704) 31.12.2019 1:05:34
In which we learn why new highway lanes, no matter how spacious, tend to fill to capacity within weeks of opening, and John takes on a hypothetical megacorporation called Goober. Certificate #38938.
The Leafblower (Entry 707.DA0414) 26.12.2019 51:11
In which ecologically problematic outdoor power tools accidentally become an official part of the Omnibus, all because John's neighbor refuses to call "Leafbusters." Certificate #25458.
The Christmas Pickle (Entry 220.IS0108) 24.12.2019 1:04:24
In which a Spokane antique store creates a fake Bavarian holiday tradition from scratch, and John's beard makes him look bigger. Certificate #31503.
The Max Headroom Intrusion (Entry 767.JB2415) 19.12.2019 1:19:04
In which we examine the broadcast-jamming fad of the 1980s, including a puzzling incident involving a masked Chicago prankster, and Ken wants to be a font cop. Certificate #29692.
Interferon (Entry 652.PS10303) 17.12.2019 53:44
In which a strange, sticky new protein is declared—on the basis of very little evidence—to be a cure-all in the war against cancer, and Ken refuses to make the necessary sacrifices to become a skateboarding star. Certificate #40478.
Ada Lovelace (Entry ADA737PR3118) 12.12.2019 1:21:09
In which a 19th-century countess overcomes her father's scandalous celebrity and her mother's love of parallelograms to become the world's first computer programmer, and John comes to regret renaming Alexa. Certificate #46507.
Square Dancing (Entry 1211.JB2111) 10.12.2019 54:21
In which we learn that America's love affair with do-si-dos is a relatively recent and artificial form of nostalgia jump-started by Henry Ford's hatred for jazz, and Ken misremembers "krumping." Certificate #42537.
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