Search Engine

Something strange, new, and unsettling is happening in media right now. Huge institutions, both newspapers and online outlets, are being severely transformed by layoffs. As a person just trying to find good information on the internet, what are you supposed to do? We’re joined this week again by Ezra Klein, who has an explanation for why this is happening, a prediction about where it’s going, and...

"Hi David, I’m Vicky Ho. Don’t you remember me?" An investigative reporter travels halfway around the world to find out who is sending him random wrong number texts and why. After you hear this story, you'll never look at these messages the same way again. You can grab a copy of Zeke's book, Number Go Up , here . If you want to support Search Engine , and access our premium feed, head over to sear...

This episode will change how you look at games. We talk to Ben Brode, the designer behind Hearthstone and Marvel Snap, about how a creative person learns to make the things they love, and about the secret ideas hiding in games as simple as rock-papers-scissors. If you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.

Cockroaches were a scourge that scuttled through the cracks and crevices of homes all throughout America. And then one day, large numbers of them mysteriously disappeared. A miracle for humankind? Sure. But for cockroaches: the world's grimmest true crime story. This story is a collaboration with our friends over at  Radio Atlantic . If you want to support Search Engine , you can do that over at p...

A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activists. What should we do about an invasive species beloved by many Americans -- cats? We hear from people on both sides of the war, and from one person who sits exactly in the middle. Support the show!

Actor Molly Ringwald joins us to talk about a time in her life when her job was to pretend to be a normal American teenager, a job which made it impossible to actually be a normal American teenager. How did she learn to survive? In an era when the internet has turned many more people into public figures, what can everybody else learn from her? Plus, Sruthi Pinnamaneni tries to learn more about a r...

This week, the shocking finale of our investigation into who --  or what  -- has been leaving chicken bones strewn across the sidewalks of American cities. Our team of investigators returns with surveillance footage, and a recording of a superintendent with a rat-hitting stick. Plus, an exclusive interview with a public servant with a vision for a revolution in American urban trash collection. Che...

A team of investigators with an unusual set of skills joins us this week to solve a mystery that haunts dog owners across modern American cities. On our journey, we'll have video surveillance, thousands of years of poultry history, and some hard truths about highway apples. Check out Manny, Noah, and Devan online . And if you'd like to support Search Engine, you can sign up for our newsletter here...

This week, a question a podcast has no business trying to answer. We talk to writer   A.J. Daulerio about his own story of recovery, and the story of how he found himself opening a very unusual community on the internet . You can find the Search Engine newsletter here .

We bring you the shattering conclusion to our investigation into whether a New York City sushi restaurant is swapping their tuna rolls for “the ex-lax fish.” The DNA test is in. Can we trust anyone? Are our fish safe to eat? What’s the email address where you submit for the Pulitzers? We have answers. Plus a bonus this week — the 5-second rule is put to a laboratory test. If you'd like to support...

We investigate unsettling rumors that fish purveyors may be mislabeling fish to save a buck. Our path leads us deep into the shadowy world of blackmarket fish sales, and sends us hot on the trail of the infamous ex-lax fish. Plus, we look back to antiquity for the first ever recorded emergency podcast. Support the show at pjvogt.com !

This week, the story of a very brief, very absurd revolution at the world’s leading artificial intelligence company, OpenAI. And we try to answer the quite real question that might be animating all of the drama. Check out Casey Newton's newsletter Platformer and our newsletter, too.

A question from a four-year-old tips us into an investigation of one of our most fundamental taboos: cannibalism. With help from New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield and writer Kelefa Sanneh. Support the show! at pjvogt.substack.com

Every day in Manhattan, about 1,000 people will stand outside in a long line waiting for their chance to take a picture with a bronze bull. On many of those days, PJ Vogt stares at the scene trying to decode what exactly is going on here. This week, he get answers, and a story that leads back to one of the most peculiar art crimes of the 1980s. If you want to see the images & video referenced...

In part two of our story about ADHD medications, we approach the question from a different angle. We meet a doctor who spent two decades convinced that her brain does not work correctly, and who struggled to find someone who believed her.

One of the millions of millennials given prescription stimulants to treat ADHD decides to quit. And afterwards wonders -- how did these drugs becomes so popular, so fast? This week, the story of amphetamine's birth, life, death, and rebirth in America. (Methylphenidates, too.) If you want to comment on this episode or financially support the show, head to  pjvogt.com

Ezra Klein joins Search Engine this week to answer a question that's increasingly confounded us: how do I use the internet now? How do I get information about the things I care about, without getting sucked into a vortex of opinion, unearned certainty, and yelling? If you'd like reading recommendations based on this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter.

Search Engine is VERY EXCITED to share the news that Heavyweight, one of our favorite shows, is now available wherever you download podcasts. To celebrate, and to herald the release of their new season, we're sharing one of our favorite episodes of the show. We will be back with a new episode of our own on October 21.

Why would the government give Korianne a coupon for a free apartment that she can’t find? We have a question from a listener who finds herself very lost in Wisconsin. And a bonus question, from the internet’s own Taylor Lorenz: What happens when you pay someone else to surf your internet? If you want to see the images & videos referenced in this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, h...

This week, the story of former crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. The government alleges he stole over eight billion dollars from the customers of the crypto exchange he started, FTX. Our question ... how do you blow eight billion dollars? Investigative financial reporter Zeke Faux helps us answer our question. Be sure to check out Zeke's book,  Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Stagge...

They’re shiny rocks that we’ve somehow agreed embody romance and eternity. But diamonds, it turns out, are not as rare as we think. And these days, they can be made in a lab. So why do we continue to spend so much money on them? This week, the story of a century-long, international scheme. And the story of how it fell apart. If you want to see the articles and videos referenced in this episode, or...

Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things , would like to know  why won’t Netflix just tell her how many people watch the show ? Plus the question underneath that question … might the internet have broken our TV industry? We get answers with help from Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. Review the show !  Check out my newsletter this week for some thoughts about how this story might relate to the podcast industry.

... Or, am I being lied to by a Brooklyn-based musician? At twenty-five, I had a question for The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn. This week, I finally got to ask it. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter: pjvogt.com

We speak to Luis, a former fentanyl dealer and user who tells us why a dealer might want to put fentanyl in less lethal drugs. Luis also tells us how he learned the rules of dealing, and how the rules changed over his multi-decade career. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter: pjvogt.com

Isn't it bad business to kill your own customers? In part one of our answer to this question, we talk to reporter Ben Westhoff, who helps us understand how Fentanyl became a street drug in the first place. He'll share recordings taped in a Chinese Fentanyl lab, and explain why some dealers might want to poison their own customers with the drug. If you have questions or comments about this episode,...