Search Engine

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Search Engine x Better in Person

#5 trending · Technology

Search Engine has some exciting news about the moving image to announce, and we’re sharing an interview we loved with an unusual architect. Check out the video version o

Sep 29
43 min

Bollywood Dreams

An email hits our inbox with the subject line: “My Dad is making a Bollywood Movie… is he being scammed?” We investigate. Become a premium subscriber.

Sep 18
1 h 05 min

Why’s everybody going to Japan?

A Japanese listener gets so many houseguests she starts a spreadsheet to try to figure out what's going on. Why has American tourism to Japan gotten so out of control? Th

Sep 11
50 min

The Killing of the Gaza Chef

Mahmud Almadhoun ran a soup kitchen in the north of the Gaza Strip. In November 2024, he was killed. A reporter tries to answer a big question. Was Mahmud intentionally t

Aug 28
49 min

The Chosen One

A listener asks: whose penis gets the top spot on the Wikipedia page for penis? Our quest for an answer takes us on a surprisingly philosophical journey — where we learn

Aug 21
47 min

A road trip through the data center debate

The midterms are approaching, and as the discourse heats up, one of the big new villains is: a kind of building. Data centers. Reporter Jasmine Sun took a road trip throu

Aug 11
39 min

The machines are learning… to do crimes?

For the first time, an AI model has autonomously hacked a company. This week, an evolving story, a postcard from a strange, frightening moment in the story of our technol

Aug 6
37 min

What’s in your cocaine and the questions Search Engine CAN’T answer

An interview with a cocaine salesman about cocaine adulterants, plus – questions Search Engine can’t answer, with special guest Kelefa Sanneh. Become a premium subscrib

Jul 24
1 h 01 min

How to pursue excellence … in noodles (unlocked bonus)

The world right now, seems tilted towards the good enough. The AI-written wedding toast, the half-assed attempt. Despite this, a handmade noodle shop is trying to make pe

Jul 17
47 min

Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? Pt. 2 (classic)

We travel to Germany to trace techno’s history from Detroit to Berlin. The story of how, after the Wall fell, Berlin exorcised its brutal past with a very strange, decade

Jul 10
1 h 10 min

Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? Pt. 1 (classic)

Two Americans embark on a quest: fly across an ocean to try to get into the most exclusive nightclub in the world – Berghain. A German techno palace where the line outsid

Jul 3
52 min

A Strange Voyage

This month, SpaceX had the largest IPO in all of human history. In a mission to understand a bewildering moment, we trace the story of the stock market itself. From its

Jun 25
1 h 00 min

Why doesn’t anybody come to my parties?

Claire Haber-Harris has a question. When she sends out an invitation, why does she get a tidal wave of excuses and no's? How could someone claim to have had the same stom

Jun 15
47 min

Why is the pool at Buckingham Palace a secret? (classic)

An investigation into a mysterious room. A room that the most famous family in England apparently does not want you to see. Support the show!

Jun 5
1 h 08 min

Why do we have to pay into the new Anti-Weaponization Fund?

The President has created a 1.776 billion dollar fund of taxpayer money he can direct to whoever he wants. Huh? How did this happen, and what might happen next? We talk t

May 29
40 min

Presenting: Family Lore

Presenting an episode of Family Lore, a new show on the Audacy network. The granddaughter of a prolific Jewish art collector who fled Europe during World War II embarks o

May 27
34 min

The many lives of Taiwan

We go deep into the story of Taiwan. How a tiny island escaped demise, chartered a course from colonial subjugation through mass Barbie production and into the technologi

May 22
1 h 06 min

Why are people excited about nuclear power again?

Nuclear energy was a taboo for decades, but it’s coming back, it’ll power AI data centers for Google and Microsoft. What does new nuclear technology look like, and why do

May 8
49 min

What if the cemetery goes out of business? (classic)

We're supposed to be buried there forever, right? Right?? Answers this week from writer David Sloane, who grew up in a cemetery and spent his adult life studying them. Th

May 1
49 min

Where’s the best free restaurant bread in America?

An enterprising reporter goes on a quest to find the restaurant serving the absolute best free bread in this country, and finds it. She returns to Search Engine with her

Apr 24
38 min

Chart trend

Position in the Technology chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#13#25JulAugSepOct

all-time peak

days in the top 3 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Search Engine ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 1, 2026).

#10 ▲ 3 Technology US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

this podcast gives me faith in humanity in a way i can’t fully explain. there is so much thought, kindness, consideration, effort put towards the big and little things that make life really quirky and interesting and meaningful; and that is in such short supply nowadays. thank you PJ for having put this/your work out into the world; it’s my digital happy place and i came to apple podcasts just to write this (i normally use a different platform, that’s how much i love this show).

justineish · Jul 2026

Since the way back I’ve followed and listened to PJ. Topics pulled from the ether of collective consciousness, always infusing humor, appreciating irony, consistently offering new/different/alternative ways to consider this crazy life. I love it!!

DebPalKeis · Jun 2026

I would give this podcast five stars for its content. I ha enjoyed just about every episode. It is very well researched and presented. However, the number and length of commercials is getting ridiculous.

Helmut IIII · Jun 2025

Search Engine answers questions I didn't even realize I had. Some themes seem to be: our relationship with technology, the music industry, drug safety, crumbling American society, animals in urban areas. But don't worry! It's fun and interesting. Give it a try.

modern applications · May 2025

It’s funny that PJ came to us from a tech reporting background. The episodes about almost everything else are fun, curious, interesting, playful. The AI episodes are so credulous and unserious I can’t believe it’s the same person. The tone of inevitability and shrugging helplessness that PJ and his guests bring to the topic is exactly why every corporate leader in America is being completely fleeced by these companies! Please, you must have a LITTLE cynicism left over, PJ!

hwpw · Aug 2026

When PJ navigates pop culture topics like food or music, he’s often thoughtful and charming, and those episodes are usually pretty good. Unfortunately, he seems to want to be taken seriously as an intellectual in the technology space, which he’s not competent to do. In these episodes, he reveals himself to be extremely vulnerable to corporate marketing and liberal elite groupthink. He cherry-picks guests and ideas which confirm his worldview, speaks with condescension towards anyone to the left of him, and has almost no interest in the ways that the technological arms race is bound up with systemic oppression in America. He says as much, himself, every chance he gets. Tough to be a serious tech-sector thinker when you’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid this hard, man.

sweet marge · Aug 2026

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.