Latest Episodes
Why are we still buying diamonds?
September 22, 2023
- 54:34
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...
Why’s it so hard to figure out how many people watch Stranger Things?
September 15, 2023
- 54:34
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...
Does anyone actually like their job?
September 1, 2023
- 39:58
... 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...
About The Show
No question too big, no question too small. On Search Engine, host PJ Vogt answers the kinds of questions you might ask the internet when you can't sleep. If you find the world bewildering, but also sometimes enjoy being bewildered by it, we're here for you. Publishes Fridays.
More Episodes
Why are we still buying diamonds?
September 22, 2023
- 54:34
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...
Why’s it so hard to figure out how many people watch Stranger Things?
September 15, 2023
- 54:34
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...
Does anyone actually like their job?
September 1, 2023
- 39:58
... 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...
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything? (Part 2)
August 18, 2023
- 45:34
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...
Why are drug dealers putting fentanyl in everything?
August 11, 2023
- 34:50
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...
Why can’t we just turn the empty offices into apartments?
August 4, 2023
- 43:15
Our quest for answers this week sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invisible rules and fights that...
What's it like to slowly go blind?
July 28, 2023
- 54:19
We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew takes us inside the blind internet,...
What's going on with Elon Musk?
July 21, 2023
- 57:05
Search Engine investigates the erratic behavior of the world’s wealthiest man with Hard Fork’s Casey Newton. The three top theories for...
How do I find new music now that I’m old and irrelevant?
July 14, 2023
- 41:32
We enlist a very overqualified person to answer this question, writer Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music...
Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee?
July 7, 2023
- 49:47
Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsafe to drink because the onboard water...
How sad are the monkeys in the zoo?
May 12, 2023
- 37:01
To answer this question, we’ll unpack a scientific battle centuries in the making, one that involves a serial killer elephant and a...
Introducing: Search Engine
January 13, 2023
- 01:10
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....
09 The End
December 22, 2022
- 51:59
A trip to Greenland, a chance encounter with Coolio, and the end of the world.
08 The Kidnapping of Ape #8398
June 28, 2022
- 37:25
An art heist in the crypto world plunges us headfirst into another mystery — why did so many celebrities suddenly start selling us on...
07 The Drug Trader
May 26, 2022
- 31:04
This week we follow a dollar underground. For notes, further reading, or to support this project visit pjvogt.com.
06 The Lunatic Who Crashed Crypto
May 13, 2022
- 30:41
This week, a story of about how crypto just imploded due to one risky, financial product. And the fight-loving, Twitter-addicted founder...
05 Genesis
May 7, 2022
- 1:05:07
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...
04 The Skeptic
April 5, 2022
- 41:40
The strange journeys of Cas Piancey, a baker turned crypto skeptic. (For notes & further reading on this episode, check out my...
03 Miguel
March 25, 2022
- 15:17
A conversation with Miguel Piedrafita. Why would a 19-year-old from Spain want to buy the US Constitution?
02 ConstitutionDAO
March 23, 2022
- 48:39
A story about a strange auction for perhaps the most valuable piece of paper in America. (Listen to introduction episode before this...
01 Welcome to Crypto Island
March 14, 2022
- 16:39
An introduction to this limited series. A video of a mysterious tropical island populated entirely by Bitcoin dynasts and Dogecoin...