We are Ken Jennings and John Roderick. We speak to you from our present, which we can only assume is your distant past, the turbulent time that was the early 21st century.

Fearing the great cataclysm that will surely befall our civilization, we began this

monumental reference of strange and obscure human knowledge.

These recordings represent our attempt to compile and preserve wonders and esoterica that would otherwise be lost.

So whether you're listening from an advanced civilization or have just reinvented the technology to decrypt our transmissions,

this is our legacy to you.

This is our time capsule.

This is the omnibus. Oh, You have accessed entry 853 dot PS 13709 certificate number

34368. Nutshell studies of unexplained death.

Do you remember when we were,

when our podcast was just a twinkle in our eyes, our trip to Hotlana, Georgia to meet with our new corporate

masters?

To pitch our podcast to them.

That's right.

And to see their expensive question mark shaped table.

That's right in their conference room.

We were headed down.

I think we've probably told this story, but went down to meet with the the people at I Heart

Media and our initial pitch was for a podcast called The Worst,

where we were going to talk about the worst things

in all spaces, right?

That was a great pitch, the worst.

...