Every episode, in order.
50 reconsiderations and counting. Tap any title for show notes and the audio.
- 050
Rainbows with Lulu Miller
Why are there so many songs about rainbows (and what's on the other side)? A bridge between worlds, a map to a pot of gold, the centerpiece of a Lisa Frank trapper-keeper, and of course, an ever-changing symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, the rainbow has been a profound part of the human experience for thousands of years. For this early Pride Month episode, science correspondent and bisexual seagull Lulu Miller explains to Sarah the history of our understanding of rainbows: why they exist, what ...
- 049
What to Carry, What to Burn with Blair Braverman
Ada Blackjack wants one thing: To make enough money to bring her son home from an orphanage. But good work is hard to find in 1920s Nome, Alaska, so when four strangers come to town, looking to hire someone for a secret yearlong expedition, Ada embarks on the trip—not knowing that she'll be the only one of them to survive. This is the first episode of YWA correspondent Blair Braverman's new podcast, What to Carry, What to Burn. To hear the second half of Ada's story (also featuring Sar...
- 048
Desperation Pie with Sarah Archer
What would you do for a desperation pie? Kitchen correspondent Sarah Archer is here to talk with Sarah about the American food trends that marked the 20th century and how they related to the political and cultural changes of a nation in need of constant culinary inventiveness. They discuss the specialties of the barren Depression Era, the food-related propaganda and rationing of the wartime years, the meteoric rise of post-war disposability, the premade mixes and "exotic" dishes of midcentury...
- 047
The Great American Spelling Bee with Gabe Henry
Can you use the word in a sentence? For this episode, Spelling Correspondent Gabe Henry takes Sarah through the surprisingly rampageous (r-a-m-p-a-g-e-o-u-s) history of the Spelling Bee, a uniquely American phenomenon. From the earliest examples of late night "spelling matches," to the rough-and-tumble contests of the early frontier, to the controversy of the first National spelling bee, it turns out that these mild-mannered academic flexes were once both raucous and revolutionary. Gabe also ...
- 046
Crop Circles with Chelsey Weber-Smith
What do men really get up to at the pub? For this April Fools' Day episode, Sarah tells urban legend correspondent Chelsey Weber-Smith of American Hysteria the history and the mystery behind crop circles, those sophisticated patterns left imprinted in corn and wheat fields said to be made by alien beings. For years, no one could find a rational reason for their mysterious existence as they spread across various countries; that is, until a pair of surprising culprits finally came forward to re...
- 045
How to Deprogram a Guy in 10 Days with Endless Thread
Free yourself. What does it take to get someone to leave a cult? What happens if the cult is all around us? In this episode, Ben Brock Johnson & Amory Sivertson of NPR's Endless Thread podcast join Sarah for a discussion about the cultier aspects of our culture, politics, and history, from the surprising origin of the anti-vax movement to the online communities that conspiracy theories can provide to lonely seekers. Together they try to figure out if it is indeed possible to "deprogram" t...
- 044
The Worst Movie Ever Made? with Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson
From the bonus vault! What actually makes a movie "bad"? In this bonus episode, Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson of the film podcast Unspooled tell Sarah the story of what many consider to be the worst film of all time: the 1987 adventure comedy Ishtar. From the movie's chaotic production to its perplexing public ridicule, together they analyze whether Ishtar is as bad as people say or if our culture just loves to jump on a snarky bandwagon. Digressions include James Cameron schadenfreude, $19 A...
- 043
The Bluebelle with Blair Braverman
Do we ever finish surviving? Sarah tells Survival Correspondent Blair Braverman the incredible story of 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault, who was lost at sea for several days on a flimsy cork dinghy. She also explains the sinister truth behind the "accident" that set her adrift, her harrowing time on the open ocean, and what her life was like after she became a survivor. Along the way, Sarah and Blair discuss the tragedy of having your story silenced, the big things that help us pull through t...
- 042
Keiko Part 3 with Brianna Bowman
Would you ride on the back of a random orca at the beach? For the final part of this series on Free Willy star Keiko, deep sea correspondent Brianna Bowman tells Sarah about his rewilding and return to the open ocean -- something that up until that point had never been done before.
- 041
Keiko Part 2 with Brianna Bowman
The movies freed Willy, but what about Keiko? For the second part of our trilogy on the biggest aquatic star of the 90s, deep sea correspondent Brianna Bowman takes Sarah through Keiko's journey to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for rehabilitation and the developing plan to return him to the open ocean.
- 040
Keiko Part 1 with Brianna Bowman
Can a killer whale really jump that high? For kids of the 90s, the adventure movie Free Willy introduced us to magic of the orca through its charismatic megafauna star, Keiko. In part one of our series, deep sea correspondent Brianna Bowman tells Sarah about his journey from free marine mammal to imprisoned entertainer to Hollywood royalty.
- 039
Where I Live: The Listener Holiday Special
"We've always been inventing and reinventing new worlds for taking care of each other. We just have to notice." We asked our subscribers to send us audio postcards to encapsulate where they live, what makes it special, and what people get wrong about the place that they call home.
- 038
Cold War Santa with Sarah Archer
What happens when Santa trades his sleigh for a rocket ship? Christmas correspondent Sarah Archer tells Sarah about how the Cold War era affected the image of old Kris Kringle through the rampant consumerism and shiny new technology of a post-war economy.
- 037
The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry
Remember being a teen and coming up with "cool" ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th century was annoying their mom, England, with the hip words that were being edited and added to their lexicon.
- 036
Introducing: The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall
Listen now to the first episode of Sarah's new 8-part series with CBC Podcasts, The Devil You Know. In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale.
- 035
Midnight Ghost Shows with Chelsey Weber-Smith
What do you get when you combine a horror movie audience, a spiritualist seance, and a haunted house attraction? Beginning in the 1930s and lasting into the 1960s, midnight ghost shows were ghoulishly chaotic, wonderfully campy 4D theater performances that accompanied the scary movies of the era, beloved by a mostly-teenage audience who often became a part of the show themselves.
- 034
The Auralyn with Blair Braverman
Are you a survival pessimist or a survival optimist? Blair Braverman surprises Sarah with a harrowing, heartening, and sometimes hilarious tale of love and endurance in the face of certain death.
- 033
Samantha Smith vs. the Cold War with Maris Kreizman
Who really ended the Cold War, Ronald Reagan or a ten-year-old girl? Eighties correspondent Maris Kreizman joins us for a heartfelt conversation about America's Youngest Ambassador, Samantha Smith, a child who wrote a letter to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov in hopes of cooling nuclear tensions.
- 032
The Insanity Defense with Mackenzie Joy Brennan
What do John Hinckley Jr. and a jazz age tuberculosis patient have in common? Legal correspondent Mackenzie Joy Brennan takes Sarah through some of the strange cases that helped make—and break—the insanity defense in America.
- 031
Corn Mazes with Chelsey Weber-Smith
Can you find your way out of the maize? The corn maze has become an enduring attraction of the American autumnal experience, seen at touristy family farms next to pumpkin patches and haunted houses.
- 030
Pee-wee Herman Part 2 with Jamie Loftus
In the second part of our series, pop culture historian Jamie Loftus takes us through the meteoric rise of Pee-wee Herman and the withering of Paul Reubens' world as dubious allegations surface that threaten to turn a beloved children's character into a real life villain.
- 029
Pee-wee Herman Part 1 with Jamie Loftus
What's today's secret word? Paul Reubens spent years bringing to life one of America's most beloved characters, Pee-wee Herman, an icon of joy for weirdos of all ages.
- 028
The Hitler Diaries with Adrian Daub
What happens when you're just a little too good at forging the diaries of Adolf Hitler? And why did so many people want to read them?
- 027
Coyotes! with Lulu Miller
Who is out there behind the howling midnight parties in the distance? For generations we have coexisted in varying degrees of rivalry, conflict, and admiration with the North American canine known as the coyote.
- 026
Inventing the Teenager with Harmony Colangelo
Where did all these teens come from? Harmony Colangelo, co-host of This Ends at Prom, is here to explain how, before Americans got to worry about what teenagers were up to, we first had to decide what they were.
- 025
Is Your House Too Clean? with Sarah Archer
Have you scrubbed down the top of your fridge lately? Home & garden correspondent Sarah Archer is here to tell us how and when we got so obsessed with the antiseptically clean house as a status symbol.
- 024
Hoax Memoir Spectacular!
This week, flim flam correspondent and certified April Fool Chelsey Weber-Smith is here to talk about a fistful of fake memoirs, featuring girls raised by wolves; the chicken pox of James Frey; what poetry can give us that memoir can't.
- 023
Your Joy and Resilience Stories
At the end of our last episode, we asked you to call in and tell us what has been bringing you joy, connecting you to your community, and where you've been finding hope in these last few months.
- 022
The Worst Oscars Ever?? with Michael Schulman
What do Lily Tomlin, Snow White, and Kenny Ortega have in common? They were all part of the 61st Academy Awards, a broadcast now remembered as the worst of all time, and masterminded by Allan Carr.
- 021
Emotional Labor with Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton of Bad Therapist
What is "emotional labor," and why is it probably not what your boyfriend accuses you of making him do when you want him to go to Ikea with you?
- 020
Alice Kyteler and the First Witchcraft Trial in Ireland with Molly Aitken
In County Kilkenny, Ireland, in an early year of a century not too long before our own, Alice Kyteler was accused of witchcraft. But the story doesn't end there.
- 019
Aron Ralston with Blair Braverman
What would you do if you were pinned down by an 800-pound boulder, and no one knew where you were? In 2003, Aron Ralston had to answer that question.
- 018
Singing in the New Year with Carolyn Kendrick and Each Machine
There's one last present at the toe of our stocking, and it's a new album by producer Carolyn Kendrick.
- 017
Santa Claus with Sarah Archer
Where did he come from? Where is he going? We know you have questions, so bundle up if it's snowing, and sing out your favorite holiday song.
- 016
Cola Wars with Miles Klee
Miles Klee can't take it anymore. This week, a tale of corporate intrigue, world domination, and soda.
- 015
Elizabeth Bathory with Princess Weekes
"Our alleged serial killers deserve better than this." Was Elizabeth Bathory the most prolific serial killer of all time, or was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Do we even have the tools to know?
- 014
Halloween History with Chelsey Weber-Smith
Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts/ Covens of witches with all of their hosts.
- 013
A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show Tour with American Hysteria
What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah and Chelsey Weber-Smith for a historical, theatrical, ecstatic spectacular for the living and dead.
- 012
Revolutions and Resistance with Kellie Carter Jackson
Kellie Carter Jackson, author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, is here to take us on a trip through American history where we learn about revolutions, change, and joy not from a few white men, but from generations of Black women.
- 011
Lawrence v. Texas Part 2 with Marcus McCann
Times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress.
- 010
Lawrence v. Texas Part 1 with Marcus McCann
Or, is it legal to have gay sex in your own home? This week, Marcus McCann takes us back to the 2003 Supreme Court case that challenged a Texas anti-sodomy law.
- 009
The Jane Collective with Moira Donegan
As long as the law is male, women must be outlaws. This week, Moira Donegan takes us back to Chicago in 1969, when an underground feminist collective got fed up with doctors, and started providing abortions themselves.
- 008
Dungeons & Dragons & The Satanic Panic with Adrian Daub
This week we travel back to the 80s, when America's parents decided to freak out over some kids rolling dice and drawing things on graph paper!
- 007
Rosie Ruiz and the Marathon Women with Maggie Mertens
Maggie Mertens tells us a tale of the first women who fought to run the marathon, and of one woman who decided to cut to the finish line.
- 006
Has the Supreme Court Always Been This Terrible? with Mackenzie Joy Brennan
What is originalism, and what does it have to do with all these bribes? Mackenzie Joy Brennan has some answers.
- 005
Balloonfest '86! with Harmony Colangelo
The city of Cleveland will not be made to apologize for its balloons. Harmony Colangelo defends the mistake on the lake.
- 004
Phones Are Good, Actually with Taylor Lorenz
This week, Taylor Lorenz fights our latest moral panic. Are phones really making kids anxious, or are kids just good at noticing what's going on?
- 003
Immigration with Alejandra Oliva
Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth, came by to catch us up on the last few decades of American immigration policy.
- 002
The Tradwife Rises with Sarah Archer
Sarah Archer came by to make an episode from scratch. What's the real history of the American housewife? Where did the tradwife come from, and why?
- 001
Rosa Parks with Princess Weekes
Today, Princess Weekes takes us to meet the real Rosa Parks.