Overview
710 Episodes
In which David Hyde (Blue City Blues, Seattle Nice) meets John in the bunker to discuss the 1849 Astor Place Opera House Riot and the welcome return of the timeless Ken-era art of razzing Canadians. Certificate #26694.
Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2026
In which Futureling Ariela Silberstein gives John his Cold War fix while discussing the mysterious disappearance of nine Soviet hikers. Certificate #48070.
Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2026
In which Nick Butler (Sometimes Weekly) recalls exploding limos, kayfabe and a future President. Certificate #44697
Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2026
In which Futureling (and occasional magician’s assistant) Jennifer MacFarlane discusses pigeons and a family story from the southern Netherlands in the fall of 1944. Certificate #23861.
Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2026
In which comedian Lisa Lane and John revisit late 20th-century nostalgia, and what technology has done to the delicate art of knocking on strangers’ doors. Certificate #12881
Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2026
In which comedian and writer Alex Falcone discusses weather balloons, broken arrows, and the most general of mills. Certificate #35593.
Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2026
In which an Atari founder turns borrowed ideas into a gaming empire, makes a killing, and launches Rick Rat’s Pizza—guided by Futureling Keli Boucher. Certificate #48560.
Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2026
In which Bob Crawford, author of America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick and bass player for The Avett Brothers, waxes on William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and an unfortunately named Peacemaker. Certificate #34343.
Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2026
In which giant university marching drums, mythic African war drums, and even a Salvadoran bronze masterpiece take center stage — guided by Futureling Natalie Hudson. Certificate #31992.
Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2026
In which Futureling Hugh Scott unpacks the saga of drifter, doctor, and self-declared president William Walker. Certificate #28903
Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2026
In which Futureling Katie Tarara uncovers the surprising rise of a symbol of French celebration in the American Southwest. Certificate #31308
Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2026
In which a lonely concrete pyramid in North Dakota uncovers the story of America’s ambitious—and short-lived—Cold War missile defense system, with guest Michael Milner. Certificate #1502
Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2026
In which comedian Saul Henry discusses the global reach of Worcestershire sauce and regional British accents. Certificate #37300.
Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2026
In which Futureling Robert educates John about Germany's all-time best-selling author—and fraudster—Karl May. Special appearance by Einstein. Certificate #23821.
Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2026
In which Erin Dawson, a trans black metal musician who goes by the moniker Genital Shame, explores the nature of prank calls, their cultural significance, and Longmont Potion Castle. Certificate #50858.
Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2026
In which writer and podcaster Grant Brisbee reveals the history of baseball's worst stadium. Special appearance by Richard Nixon and The Beatles. Certificate #31484.
Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2026
In which various crackpots and Russians decide that three hundred years of the European "dark ages" simply didn't happen, and Ken doesn't want his eulogy to be vague. Certificate #22651.
Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2026
In which author, music executive and host of the Identified podcast Nabil Ayers discusses selling used CDs, The Terminator, The Drum Doctor and more. Certificate #48391.
Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2026
In which Linus Chan explores American citizenship, the law, and the long shadow of the Missouri Compromise. Certificate #24581.
Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2026
Hear a teaser for The History Bureau: Putin and the Apartment Bombs, from the BBC. In September 1999, just weeks after a 46-year-old Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings across Russia, killing hundreds of people while they slept.The attacks plunged the country into panic. Families fled their homes. Residents patrolled their blocks around the clock. An entire nation paralyzed by fear. But who did it? It's a mystery that has fuelled some chilling theories.Over 25 years later, journalists who covered the bombings still can't agree on who planted the explosives or why. Presenter Helena Merriman returns to the story with the reporters who were there on the ground.If you like what you hear, find The History Bureau: Putin and the Apartment Bombs on BBC.com, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds.
Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2026
In which Futureling Kate tells John about the rise, fall, and attempted revival of a millennial obsession. Certificate #30063.
Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2026
In which Futureling Richard Stephens tells of the rapid rise of a Revolutionary general through the military ranks, the challenges he faced as a person of color in a predominantly white society, and the decline of his legacy under Napoleon’s regime. Certificate #40773.
Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2026
In which a WWII fighter plane crashes on a Greenland ice sheet in 1942 and is painstakingly recovered and restored by a pilot over two decades. Certificate #25573.
Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2026
In which a politician is banished to Singapore’s theme-park island, recounted by Nathan Jennings. Certificate #41799
Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2026
In which the illegitimate son of a Cornish housekeeper rises to the top of the British Museum Egyptology department. Featuring futureling and the host of the podcast Books of All Time Rose Judson. Certificate #43419.
Transcribed - Published: 26 December 2025
Wherein dozens of Orca were kidnapped in an unspeakable scene and Christopher didn’t bring a laptop (and John didn’t have a camera yet). Certificate #41344.
Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2025
In which a plucky immigrant "printer's devil" creates a newspaper that puzzles and pays off generations of young American boys, and John avoids a chainsaw duel. Certificate #31682.
Transcribed - Published: 11 December 2025
In which a government-backed desert race for unmanned vehicles ignites the technologies driving the autonomous future now creeping into our cities - with guest Andrew Miller. Certificate #49327
Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2025
In which Jack Kirby, a titan of American pop culture, confronts the disappearance of thousands of pages of his original comic art—and the battle over his place in creating modern pop culture guided by guest host Joseph J. Darowski. Certificate #43383
Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025
In which two young Depression-era clerks break from their dull routines and embark on a canoe trip. Certificate #44688
Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025
In which three well-meaning Atlanta executives accidentally announce their surrender in the cola wars, and Ken reads a letter. Certificate #38738.
Transcribed - Published: 13 November 2025
In which mail, cash, trash, passengers, burgers, and cats are sent zipping through vast networks on puffs of compressed air, and John would like to be sent a horny landscaper. Certificate #46257.
Transcribed - Published: 6 November 2025
In which a Wyoming-educated economist gets big in Japan by inventing modern business theory, and Ken wants to be able to wince on a call. Certificate #36485.
Transcribed - Published: 30 October 2025
In which an power tools salesman builds the world's fastest boat in his Sydney backyard and somehow survives the experience, and John thinks it's funny to be accordion-shaped in the past. Certificate #16230.
Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2025
In which a Minnesota meat concern changes the face of world cuisine by passing their surplus pork shoulder off on hungry soldiers, and Ken imagines a pre-war Sir Mix-a-Lot. Certificate #53117.
Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2025
In which three or four pretenders decide to pass themselves off as a very convincingly killed Russian prince, and John realizes some jobs have dripping access. Certificate #51533.
Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2025
In which a mystery of Nazi propaganda, once solved, powers television sitcoms for decades to come, and Ken wonders about the least talented part of a guitarist. Certificate #37919.
Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2025
In which post-war science finally develops the perfect system for spelling things over radio and telephones, and John learns he has been misspelling a pretty famous play. Certificate #50168.
Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2025
In which a series of engineers, entrepreneurs, and classic TV producers discover that America wants gentle music piped into its public spaces, and Ken likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Certificate #54082.
Transcribed - Published: 18 September 2025
In which television stations spend decades signing off every night after the national anthem, and John likes to keep a stiff upper lip during Mormon TV ads. Certificate #31942.
Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2025
In which wheeler-dealers and Debbie Reynolds pillage a priceless trove of movie treasure for pennies on the dollar, and Ken has never been in his own conference room. Certificate #38661.
Transcribed - Published: 4 September 2025
In which a Marine vet and NASA engineer changes the course of American public policy when he fails to get into medical school, and John has no pith. Certificate #29277.
Transcribed - Published: 29 August 2025
In which a Detroit-area teen overachieves in Boy Scouts by trying to build a nuclear reactor in a potting shed, and Ken only wants capitalized toys. Certificate #50176.
Transcribed - Published: 21 August 2025
In which a generation of English peers and their sons look to fix their leaky castle roofs by marrying wealthy American "buccaneers," and John has never kidnapped anyone in Bulgaria. Certificate #33143.
Transcribed - Published: 14 August 2025
In which the dandyish vintage finds of postwar British teens set a blueprint for the rest of 20th-century youth fashion, and Ken keeps getting hit in the head by nose flutes on the bus. Certificate #13953.
Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2025
In which a 700-year-old Venusian designs a mysterious whitewashed dome in the Mojave Desert, and John would like to change history at the mutiny on the Bounty. Certificate #13181.
Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2025
In which internet-era conspiracy theorists become convinced that jet contrails are weather control masterminded from Fairbanks, Alaska, and Ken thinks John sounds like a Muppet for exactly one syllable. Certificate #52946.
Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2025
In which some of the bankers who lost their shirts in the Great Depression find a cushy retirement in the Bronx instead of jumping out windows, and John will never say anyone isn't gay. Certificate #35727.
Transcribed - Published: 17 July 2025
In which butter substitutes have to overcome scientific hurdles, dairy-friendly laws, and bad news about trans fats, and Ken thinks Germany is trying to control olive oil. Certificate #34384.
Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2025
In which Poland's most famous exile partially returns to Warsaw to posthumously annoy both tsars and Nazis, and John's restaurant idea has some light cannibalism. Certificate #31277.
Transcribed - Published: 3 July 2025
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Omnibus, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.