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.
1
The Boston Cinematic Universe
43 min
2
The Laff Box (Encore)
What happened to the laugh track?
31 min
3
The Glaring Problem with Headlights
Why car headlights have gotten so bright—and why they’re likely to stay that way.
39 min
4
Off-the-Wall Stories of Off-Label Use
47 min
5
How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul
The self-help book series’s strange journey from best-seller to meme stock.
44 min
6
Spring Break Forever
How spring break became the party that never ends.
43 min
7
How Books About Things That Changed the World… ...
Whether it’s cod, kudzu, or nutmeg, authors love to claim their subjects shaped history. Did they really?
51 min
8
Truck Nutz (Encore)
Why would someone dangle plastic testicles from their bumper?
34 min
9
Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie
How "The Day The Clown Cried" became notorious—and notoriously impossible to see.
52 min
10
The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win
Ian Coss shares how scratch-off tickets became a part of American life.
33 min
11
Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze
Why the swing revival sizzled and then fizzled almost as quickly as it started.
59 min
12
I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes
The storage container, a stealthy star of the modern home, started with Tupperware.
39 min
13
Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness?
Does more money mean fewer problems?
30 min
14
Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster T...
How fruity candy got a “healthful” rebrand, the rise and fall of the softest (and sexiest) bed, and more listener questions.
45 min
15
Mystery of the Mullet (Encore)
The history of the mullet is weirder than you think.
46 min
16
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
17
A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World
NASA’s bold mission to save Earth from a killer asteroid.
36 min
18
The Wrongest Bird in Movie History
The “Pygmy Nuthatch” in Charlie’s Angels has bedeviled birders for the last 25 years.
44 min
19
Selling Out (Encore)
How we all became sellouts.
47 min
20
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
21
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
22
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
In the 1980s, two restaurant chains duked it out to become the preeminent robot pizza arcade.
45 min
23
The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
It’s all in your head. Or is it?
33 min
24
Standing Up for Sitting Down
Sitting has, once again, stepped into the spotlight as a kind of villain.
35 min
25
The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Gnomes, flamingos, and lawn jockeys—every garden decoration has a message for us.
44 min