Omnibus
HowStuffWorks
Every week, Ken Jennings and John Roderick add a new entry to the OMNIBUS, an encyclopedic reference work of strange-but-true stories that they are compiling as a time capsule for future generations.
Location:
United States
Genres:
History Podcasts
Networks:
HowStuffWorks
Description:
Every week, Ken Jennings and John Roderick add a new entry to the OMNIBUS, an encyclopedic reference work of strange-but-true stories that they are compiling as a time capsule for future generations.
Language:
English
Episodes
Elf on the Shelf (Entry 404.PR1503)
12/26/2024
In which the childhood Christmas tradition of two Georgia twins becomes a cultural tug-of-war over surveillance psychology, and Ken is going to buy a light blue tree. Certificate #45509.
Duration:01:20:50
Space Contraband (Entry 1194.JB1312)
12/19/2024
In which astronauts and cosmonauts smuggle sandwiches, golf clubs, harmonicas, collectibles, and ashes into orbit, and John wants to blow bubbles on the Moon. Certificate #54825.
Duration:01:15:24
Lazy Susans (Entry 706.LK1237)
12/12/2024
In which a Cantonese restaurant in San Franciscos's Chinatown spreads American revolving-table technology worldwide, and Ken wonders how long it takes to get sick of a musician in your spare bedroom. Certificate #43576.
Duration:01:14:56
The Tooth Fairy (Entry 1317.SS0606)
12/5/2024
In which ancient sorcery, changeling myths, and Edwardian fads combine to create America's only homegrown childhood rite of passage, and John's dentist turns teeth into boats. Certificate #19230.
Duration:01:25:06
411 (Entry 495.LK2003)
11/28/2024
In which telephone users once had access to a surprising array of helpful and informative services, and Ken got rid of his landline to spite Al-Qaeda. Certificate #26038.
Duration:01:15:47
Whistling (Entry 1427.DE2323)
11/21/2024
In which an ancient linguistic and religious practice becomes a jaunty, ambulatory musical form before falling into decline, and John does not want to see condors in a hospital. Certificate #45133.
Duration:01:24:44
The Population Bomb (Entry 966.GE2803)
11/14/2024
In which centuries of sterilization-happy doomsayers fail to predict a game-changing revolution in wheat, and Ken thinks Pakistan wants John to clean out his fridge. Certificate #2037.
Duration:01:27:05
The King Under the Mountain (Entry 688.RO1311)
11/7/2024
In which dozens of national sleeping guys with long beards wait in caves for their countries to need them again, and John thinks Tom Cruise should not be in a courtyard. Certificate #53610.
Duration:01:21:41
New Urbanism (Entry 835.SS0711)
10/31/2024
In which conservative Sun Belt retirees and progressive urbanists agree on a nostalgic but radical revolution in city design, and Ken does a Norman Rockwell impression. Certificate #34959.
Duration:01:26:09
Soviet Spartacus (Entry 1194.EX2116)
10/24/2024
In which a Thracian slave from two thousand years earlier becomes a proletarian role model and Communist sports hero, and John prefers action stars with boogers. Certificate #37084.
Duration:01:17:54
Electrical Sockets (Entry 400.JS0215)
10/17/2024
In which the long war between alternating and direct current produces power outlets that multiply nto a dizzying world of configurations, and Ken needs a grounding prong. Certificate #29673.
Duration:01:31:11
Tartans (Entry 1279.DE2230)
10/10/2024
In which Scottish clans each choose a distinctive plaid based on a romantic Highland history that didn't really happen, and John takes a hard hit while playing Frisbee in a skirt. Certificate #26624.
Duration:01:27:26
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment (Entry 1352.GE3028)
10/3/2024
In which a constitutional change finally happens after a two-hundred-year delay just to spite one Texas poli sci professor, and Ken likes it when scriveners get away scot-free. Certificate #43079.
Duration:01:14:50
Turtle Soup (Entry 1351.SS0212)
7/4/2024
In which the great gourmet food of 19th-century "frolics" suddenly disappears from American menus, and John thinks humankind often looks to weasels. Certificate #32793.
Duration:01:13:42
Harambe (Entry 567.JM0506)
6/27/2024
In which the tragic death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo launches a tidal wave of viral content on social media, and Ken explains bad table manners as an accident of birth. Certificate #23616.
Duration:01:33:22
The Brushy Mountain Prison Breakout (Entry 159.AC0523)
6/20/2024
In which the most notorious convict in America attempts no fewer than four separate escapes from the Alcatraz of the Cumberland Mountains, and John would never disparage the banjo. Certificate #1746.
Duration:01:43:49
The Western Washington Windshield Epidemic (Entry 1422.RV0613)
6/13/2024
In which a mysterious outbreak of "glass pox," possibly a result of nuclear testing, hits the Pacific Northwest, and Ken doesn't think Sherlock Holmes knows any teenagers. Certificate #40197.
Duration:01:23:47
Talking Drums (Entry 1275.1C1407)
6/6/2024
In which the Yoruba people of Nigeria create a new kind of "speech surrogacy" for news and storytelling using a versatile percussion section, and John only needs two pedals to get to Sounds-Like-Garbage-Land. Certificate #51913.
Duration:01:26:11
The Antarctic Snow Cruiser (Entry 052.1K0732)
5/30/2024
In which a polar expedition builds a massive RV to road-trip around Antarctica but brings the wrong tires, and Ken wonders if admirals like sexy calendars. Certificate #23408.
Duration:01:10:56
Electroculture (Entry 401.MT1308)
5/23/2024
In which the earliest discoverers of electricity disagree on whether it helps flowers, turnips, and myrtle shrubs to grow, and John punishes himself with sprouts. Certificate #27338.
Duration:01:16:00