Decoder Ring
Slate PodcastsDecoder Ring is the show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.
The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth
Jul 30 • 53m
The White Noise Boom
Jul 2 • 54m
Decoder Ring | The Boston Cinematic Universe
Jun 18 • 49m
The Laff Box (Encore)
Jun 4 • 38m
The Glaring Problem with Headlights
May 21 • 46m
Off-the-Wall Stories of Off-Label Use
May 7 • 54m
How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul
Apr 23 • 50m
Spring Break Forever
Apr 9 • 50m
Truck Nutz (Encore)
Mar 12 • 41m
Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie
Feb 26 • 58m
The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win
Feb 12 • 40m
Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze
Jan 29 • 1h 6m
I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes
Jan 15 • 46m
Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks
Dec 18, 2024 • 52m
Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)
Dec 4, 2024 • 54m
Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of All Time
Nov 20, 2024 • 1h 4m
A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World
Nov 6, 2024 • 43m
The Wrongest Bird in Movie History
Oct 23, 2024 • 51m
Selling Out (Encore)
Oct 9, 2024 • 53m
Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren Beatty Again
Sep 25, 2024 • 48m
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?
Sep 11, 2024 • 39m
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
Aug 28, 2024 • 51m
The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
Aug 14, 2024 • 39m
Standing Up for Sitting Down
Jul 31, 2024 • 41m
The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Jul 17, 2024 • 51m
Stuffed Animals Gone Wild
Jul 3, 2024 • 40m
Sex, Lies, and Hockey Pucks
Jun 19, 2024 • 37m
Captain Planet to the Rescue
Jun 5, 2024 • 43m
Why Are We Still Using Fat Suits?
May 22, 2024 • 36m
How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat
May 8, 2024 • 32m
From ‘The Last Archive’: Building an Automatic Songwriting Machine
May 1, 2024 • 53m
Making Real Music for a Fake Band
Apr 24, 2024 • 41m
Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?
Apr 10, 2024 • 37m
Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)
Mar 27, 2024 • 54m
Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Mar 13, 2024 • 42m
The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Feb 28, 2024 • 43m
Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?
Feb 14, 2024 • 33m
2024 Teaser
Feb 7, 2024 • 1m
The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery
Nov 15, 2023 • 47m
The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other
Nov 8, 2023 • 37m
Mailbag: The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs
Nov 1, 2023 • 40m
When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place
Oct 25, 2023 • 41m
The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance
Oct 18, 2023 • 45m
Fall 2023 Teaser
Oct 11, 2023 • 1m
Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.
Aug 9, 2023 • 40m
The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft
Aug 2, 2023 • 42m
A Brief History of Making Out
Jul 26, 2023 • 36m
What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?
Jul 19, 2023 • 33m
The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate
Jul 12, 2023 • 44m
Summer 2023 Teaser
Jul 5, 2023 • 1m
Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?
May 10, 2023 • 38m
Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking Spot
May 3, 2023 • 37m
The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained
Apr 26, 2023 • 37m
The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 2
Apr 19, 2023 • 40m
The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 1
Apr 12, 2023 • 43m
Spring 2023 Teaser
Apr 5, 2023 • 1m
Slate Plus Exclusive: The Making of This Season
Jan 9, 2023 • 1m
The Mailbag Episode
Dec 27, 2022 • 39m
Encore: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong
Dec 20, 2022 • 41m
Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 800-888-8888
Dec 13, 2022 • 40m
How Preppy Became Streetwear
Dec 6, 2022 • 37m
The New Age Hit Machine
Nov 29, 2022 • 29m
The Butt and the Bustle
Nov 22, 2022 • 46m
The Truth About #TheDress
Nov 15, 2022 • 38m
Fall 2022 Teaser
Nov 10, 2022 • 1m
McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 2
Oct 12, 2022 • 47m
McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 1
Oct 4, 2022 • 37m
Slate Plus Exclusive: The Making of This Season
Aug 23, 2022 • 1m
The “Sex” Scandal That Made Mae West
Aug 16, 2022 • 46m
The First Alien Abductees
Aug 9, 2022 • 41m
The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers
Aug 2, 2022 • 48m
The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)
Jul 26, 2022 • 45m
Summer 2022 Teaser
Jul 19, 2022 • 1m
The Storytelling Craze
May 17, 2022 • 41m
“We Got Ourselves a Convoy”
May 10, 2022 • 35m
The Sideways Effect
May 3, 2022 • 39m
The Madness Behind ‘The Method’
Apr 26, 2022 • 47m
“F--k Everything, We're Doing Five Blades”
Apr 19, 2022 • 42m
Spring 2022 Teaser
Apr 12, 2022 • 1m
Decoder Ring Presents Endless Thread: The Rickroll
Feb 10, 2022 • 43m
Custer's Revenge
Dec 23, 2021 • 47m
The Fame That Got Away
Dec 14, 2021 • 44m
Truly Tasteless Jokes
Dec 7, 2021 • 50m
The Philosophy of Vampires
Nov 30, 2021 • 37m
You Just Lost The Game
Nov 23, 2021 • 26m
The Alberta Rat War
Nov 16, 2021 • 42m
The Great Helga Hype
Nov 9, 2021 • 56m
Selling Out
Aug 6, 2021 • 50m
Tattoo Flash
Jul 27, 2021 • 50m
The Tootsie Shot
Jul 20, 2021 • 39m
Who Killed The Segway?
Jul 13, 2021 • 45m
The Sign Painter
Jul 6, 2021 • 58m
That Seattle Muzak Sound
Jun 29, 2021 • 44m
The Invention of Hydration
Jun 22, 2021 • 37m
The Soap Opera Machine
Jun 15, 2021 • 52m
Join Slate Plus to Hear a New Episode of Decoder Ring!
Apr 22, 2021 • 1m
Decoder Ring Presents The Sporkful’s Mission: ImPASTAble
Mar 15, 2021 • 31m
The Blue Steak Experiment
Dec 21, 2020 • 41m
The Cabbage Patch Kids Riots
Nov 23, 2020 • 36m
Jane Fonda's Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane's VHS Revolution
Oct 26, 2020 • 50m
Jane Fonda's Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni
Oct 12, 2020 • 54m
Mystery of the Mullet
Aug 14, 2020 • 50m
The Karen
Jul 13, 2020 • 41m
The Metrosexual
Jun 10, 2020 • 38m
Gotta Get Down on Friday
May 11, 2020 • 45m
Unicorn Poop
Apr 8, 2020 • 37m
Rubber Duckie
Mar 19, 2020 • 27m
The Shop Around the Corner
Mar 2, 2020 • 39m
Friend of Dorothy
Feb 10, 2020 • 34m
The Stowe-Byron Controversy
Feb 3, 2020 • 41m
Murphy's Law
Dec 9, 2019 • 39m
Gender Reveal Party
Nov 6, 2019 • 40m
Bart Simpson Mania
Oct 7, 2019 • 48m
Ice Cream Truck
Aug 12, 2019 • 42m
Pillow Talk
Jul 15, 2019 • 30m
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War
Jun 11, 2019 • 49m
Videomate: Men
Apr 29, 2019 • 36m
Truck Nutz
Mar 25, 2019 • 36m
Baby Shark
Feb 25, 2019 • 38m
The Grifter
Jan 31, 2019 • 54m
Sad Jennifer Aniston
Dec 3, 2018 • 44m
The Incunabula Papers
Oct 29, 2018 • 53m
Hotel Art
Oct 1, 2018 • 32m
The Paper Doll Club
Aug 27, 2018 • 39m
The Basement Affair
Jul 30, 2018 • 43m
Clown Panic
Jun 25, 2018 • 38m
The Johnlock Conspiracy
Jun 4, 2018 • 52m
The Laff Box
Apr 30, 2018 • 32m
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