Search Engine

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 if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

... 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 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our quest for answers this week sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invisible rules and fights that determine what our neighborhoods look like. We also learn about houses with backyard roller coasters, tiny apartments inside of shopping malls, and then we think a little bit about death. Happy Friday! If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head to our newsletter. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew takes us inside the blind internet, and teaches us how you deal with anxiety about the things you can't control that aren't going away. Check out Andrew's new book, The Country of the Blind. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Search Engine investigates the erratic behavior of the world’s wealthiest man with Hard Fork’s Casey Newton. The three top theories for why Elon Musk has begun to act strangely, including one theory that upset our understanding of reality itself. If you'd like to read more about this episode or support the show financially, go here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We enlist a very overqualified person to answer this question, writer Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. Kelefa listens to more music than practically anyone on earth, and this week he breaks down how even a normal person can find new stuff when they feel like their ears have rusted. Check out the Search Engine newsletter for playlist recommendations from Kelefa, Search Engine's Noah John, and PJ Vogt. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsafe to drink because the onboard water tanks are only cleaned once a year. We investigate and learn some disgusting lessons along the way. Go to our newsletter here to see the images referenced in this episode. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To answer this question, we’ll unpack a scientific battle centuries in the making, one that involves a serial killer elephant and a suicidal dog. We’ll also learn a new way that people who are ambivalent about zoos can now go to zoos in good conscience. Guest: Dr. Laurel Braitman, author of Animal Madness. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Animal-Madness/Laurel-Braitman/9781451627015 Subscribe to our free newsletter and/or support the show with a paid subscription here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No question too big, no question too small. A new show that’ll be out soon. You can hear it here, on this feed. The one you're on now. Question you'd like answered? Email pjvogt85@gmail.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celebrities suddenly start selling us on NFTs last year? (To help support the show or subscribe to the free newsletter, check out http://www.pjvogt.com) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we follow a dollar underground. For notes, further reading, or to support this project visit pjvogt.com. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, a story of about how crypto just imploded due to one risky, financial product. And the fight-loving, Twitter-addicted founder who invented that product for his adoring army of lunatics. Visit Crypto Island at pjvogt.com if you'd like to help support this project. There's a newsletter about how these episodes are made, too.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week: Bitcoin. We trace it from its humble origins in a .PDF to the movement it has spawned, all over three days at an enormous Bitcoin conference in Miami.  Visit Crypto Island at pjvogt.com if you'd like to ask questions about this episode, help support this project, or to simply view a photograph of this reporter collapsed from a panic attack. There's a newsletter about how this episode was made, too.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The strange journeys of Cas Piancey, a baker turned crypto skeptic. (For notes & further reading on this episode, check out my newsletter at pjvogt.com). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A conversation with Miguel Piedrafita. Why would a 19-year-old from Spain want to buy the US Constitution?  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. (Listen to introduction episode before this one, if you haven't! Also for notes & further reading on this episode, check out my newsletter at pjvogt.com). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices