Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 2)
In part two of our story, we watch the state of New York try to pull off something we rarely see in America: a kind of reparations. A very ambitious dream encounters a thicket of details and complicat...
5 Apr 20241h 8min
Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 1)
In 2021, New York legalized cannabis for adults. It was supposed to be the start of a legal market, led by people arrested during prohibition. Instead, a strange new market has flourished, seemingly e...
29 Mar 202452min
A big announcement from Search Engine plus, "What's in your cocaine?"
We've launched a new premium feed called Incognito Mode. It includes bonus episodes of Search Engine and some other very special features. We're including a preview episode here: an interview with a v...
22 Mar 202413min
How do we survive the media apocalypse?
Something strange, new, and unsettling is happening in media right now. Huge institutions, both newspapers and online outlets, are being severely transformed by layoffs. As a person just trying to fin...
15 Mar 20241h 2min
Who's behind these scammy text messages we've all been getting?
"Hi David, I’m Vicky Ho. Don’t you remember me?" An investigative reporter travels halfway around the world to find out who is sending him random wrong number texts and why. After you hear this story,...
8 Mar 20241h 11min
How do you make an addictive video game?
This episode will change how you look at games. We talk to Ben Brode, the designer behind Hearthstone and Marvel Snap, about how a creative person learns to make the things they love, and about the se...
1 Mar 202453min
Where did all the roaches go?
Cockroaches were a scourge that scuttled through the cracks and crevices of homes all throughout America. And then one day, large numbers of them mysteriously disappeared. A miracle for humankind? Sur...
23 Feb 202442min
What are we gonna do about all these cats?
A question that has launched a battle between bird-loving ecologists and ardent, cat-defending activists. What should we do about an invasive species beloved by many Americans -- cats? We hear from pe...
9 Feb 202453min
