Decoder Ring
Decoder 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.
26
Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)
The history of the mullet is weirder than you think.
46 min
27
Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of Al...
In 1980, “Pink Lady and Jeff” flopped spectacularly—but was it really that bad?
57 min
28
A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World
NASA’s bold mission to save Earth from a killer asteroid.
36 min
29
The Wrongest Bird in Movie History
The “Pygmy Nuthatch” in Charlie’s Angels has bedeviled birders for the last 25 years.
44 min
30
Selling Out (Encore)
How we all became sellouts.
47 min
31
Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren Beatty Again
Why is Oscar-winner Warren Beatty still playing comic book detective Dick Tracy, 30 years later?
42 min
32
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a We...
How a popular children’s book got caught up in the culture wars.
33 min
33
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
In the 1980s, two restaurant chains duked it out to become the preeminent robot pizza arcade.
45 min
34
The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
It’s all in your head. Or is it?
33 min
35
Standing Up for Sitting Down
Sitting has, once again, stepped into the spotlight as a kind of villain.
35 min
36
The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Gnomes, flamingos, and lawn jockeys—every garden decoration has a message for us.
44 min
37
Stuffed Animals Gone Wild
American kids and parents can’t get enough of creatures that make teddy bears seem impossibly quaint.
36 min
38
Sex, Lies, and Hockey Pucks
How a salacious rumor about the Vancouver Canucks has haunted one woman for 30 years.
33 min
39
Captain Planet to the Rescue
In 1990, the environmental superhero Captain Planet swooped onto TV screens.
39 min
40
Why Are We Still Using Fat Suits?
The fat suit is so much more than prosthetics. It’s an embodiment of all our cultural hang-ups about fatness.
32 min
41
How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat
For more than a century, Americans have been obsessed with Mexican food – and changed it.
29 min
42
From ‘The Last Archive’: Building an Automatic ...
53 min
43
Making Real Music for a Fake Band
The Broadway show ‘Stereophonic’ on how to construct the sound of the ’70s.
37 min
44
Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?
Why is there a magazine all about Robert Redford in the CVS checkout lane?
33 min
45
Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)
Why did America’s favorite artist hide 240 pieces of artwork from his wife?
50 min
46
Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Avery Trufelman and Melissa Rivers on what the fashion police hath wrought.
38 min
47
The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Thirty years ago, OK Soda arrived in select stores and offered up a fizzy irony.
39 min
48
Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?
Algorithms are shaping our world, even down to latte art.
29 min
49
2024 Teaser
1 min
50
The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery
In 1992, the company behind The Oregon Trail tried to simulate Black history. It did not go well.
43 min