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
Spam (Entry 1195.JB0607)
10/16/2025
In which a Minnesota meat concern changes the face of world cuisine by passing their surplus pork shoulder off on hungry soldiers, and Ken imagines a pre-war Sir Mix-a-Lot. Certificate #53117.
Duration:01:20:50
The False Dmitrys (Entry 451.2K0428)
10/9/2025
In which three or four pretenders decide to pass themselves off as a very convincingly killed Russian prince, and John realizes some jobs have dripping access. Certificate #51533.
Duration:01:43:26
Laugh Tracks (Entry 704.EC0202)
10/2/2025
In which a mystery of Nazi propaganda, once solved, powers television sitcoms for decades to come, and Ken wonders about the least talented part of a guitarist. Certificate #37919.
Duration:01:34:31
The NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Entry 826.RV2213)
9/25/2025
In which post-war science finally develops the perfect system for spelling things over radio and telephones, and John learns he has been misspelling a pretty famous play. Certificate #50168.
Duration:01:24:15
Muzak (Entry 820.1S1616)
9/18/2025
In which a series of engineers, entrepreneurs, and classic TV producers discover that America wants gentle music piped into its public spaces, and Ken likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Certificate #54082.
Duration:01:34:03
We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day (Entry 1422.PS0305)
9/11/2025
In which television stations spend decades signing off every night after the national anthem, and John likes to keep a stiff upper lip during Mormon TV ads. Certificate #31942.
Duration:01:31:05
The MGM Auction (Entry 783.JB2813)
9/4/2025
In which wheeler-dealers and Debbie Reynolds pillage a priceless trove of movie treasure for pennies on the dollar, and Ken has never been in his own conference room. Certificate #38661.
Duration:01:34:02
Allan Bakke, M.D. (Entry 093.SS0510)
8/28/2025
In which a Marine vet and NASA engineer changes the course of American public policy when he fails to get into medical school, and John has no pith. Certificate #29277.
Duration:01:31:53
Radioactive Boy (Entry 1026.JB4132)
8/21/2025
In which a Detroit-area teen overachieves in Boy Scouts by trying to build a nuclear reactor in a potting shed, and Ken only wants capitalized toys. Certificate #50176.
Duration:01:55:55
Dollar Princesses (Entry 370.NU3603)
8/14/2025
In which a generation of English peers and their sons look to fix their leaky castle roofs by marrying wealthy American "buccaneers," and John has never kidnapped anyone in Bulgaria. Certificate #33143.
Duration:01:42:34
Teddy Girls (Entry 1283.PR3122)
8/7/2025
In which the dandyish vintage finds of postwar British teens set a blueprint for the rest of 20th-century youth fashion, and Ken keeps getting hit in the head by nose flutes on the bus. Certificate #13953.
Duration:01:22:21
The Integratron (Entry 650.SS0117)
7/31/2025
In which a 700-year-old Venusian designs a mysterious whitewashed dome in the Mojave Desert, and John would like to change history at the mutiny on the Bounty. Certificate #13181.
Duration:01:21:43
Chemtrails (Entry 212.AM0407)
7/24/2025
In which internet-era conspiracy theoriests become confvinced that jet contrails are weather control masterminded from Fairbanks, Alaska, and Ken thinks John sounds like a Muppet for exactly one syllable. Certificate #52946.
Duration:01:41:10
Ex-Millionaires (Entry 438.EC0514)
7/17/2025
In which some of the bankers who lost their shirts in the Great Depression find a cushy retirement in the Bronx instead of jumping out windows, and John will never say anyone isn't gay. Certificate #35727.
Duration:01:27:08
Margarine (Entry 759.JU0525)
7/10/2025
In which butter substitutes have to overcome scientific hurdles, dairy-friendly laws, and bad news about trans fats, and Ken thinks Germany is trying to control olive oil. Certificate #34384.
Duration:01:27:21
Chopin's Heart (Entry 218.JB4124)
7/3/2025
In which Poland's most famous exile partially returns to Warsaw to posthumously annoy both tsars and Nazis, and John's restaurant idea has some light cannibalism. Certificate #31277.
Duration:01:28:08
Hostile Architecture (Entry 601.PR2907)
6/26/2025
In which today's cities face tough choices on how to guide urban behavior with incredibly uncomfortable-looking design features, and Ken would pee on a fly but not a bee. Certificate #19421.
Duration:01:23:05
The War Between the States (Entry 1409.IS1902)
6/19/2025
In which it takes decades for America to decide whether its civil war was an insurrection or an invasion, nomenclature-wise, and John walks very erratically on his orange shag carpet. Certificate #26478.
Duration:01:26:48
The Dreadnought Hoax (Entry 380.PS6831)
6/12/2025
In which six bored, Cambridge-connected bohemians con their way onto the British Empire's naval flagship by dressing as African royalty, and Ken thinks John is either Batman or a Karen. Certificate #19722.
Duration:01:39:34
The Comics Code Authority (Entry 248.2CH2115)
6/5/2025
In which a crusading social psychiatrist drums up the moral panic that gets two mega-popular comic book genres banned from America's newsstands, and John agrees that punching Hitler is unmissable. Certificate #44894.
Duration:01:32:29