Omnibus
Omnibus
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 26, 2021 • 1h 10min
Operation Ajax (Entry 869.PR2904)
In which a presidential grandchild with a reasonable CIA departmental budget is all it takes to overthrow Iran, and John reveals the only downside of firing a howitzer. Certificate #39131.
Jan 21, 2021 • 1h 9min
The River of Doubt (Entry 1076.PS7208)
In which Teddy Roosevelt and his son celebrate the end of his manly presidency by almost dying in South America, and Ken is tricked into discussing Mato Grosso. Certificate #27531.
Jan 19, 2021 • 59min
Allegheny Time (Entry 032.MT2436)
In which a series of traumatic train accidents and a broke astronomer conspire to re-invent time as a flat circle, and John accidentally attends a clock unveiling. Certificate #13818.
Dec 31, 2020 • 1h 5min
Otokichi (Entry 879.2C1125)
In which a freak Pacific storm in 1832 makes one young castaway an unusual ambassador for the Empire of Japan, and Ken is unable to justify the Gospel of John. Certificate #37850.
Dec 29, 2020 • 1h 19min
Woodstock '99 (Entry 1441.IS2808)
In which a fiery apocalypse outside Rome, New York marks the cultural endpoint of the 1990s, and John spends his whole childhood reading about armaments in Janes publications. Certificate #27287.
Dec 24, 2020 • 1h 18min
Kon-Tiki (Entry 692.MT1424)
In which a Norwegian amateur anthropologist sails a raft from Peru to Polynesia to push a pet theory, and Ken covets ink and gold. Certificate #18688.
Dec 22, 2020 • 1h 18min
The War Before This One (Entry 1409.NH0109)
In which we follow the long, strange journey that finally got World War I and World War II their names, and John goes for drinks with his high school principal. Certificate #24737.
Dec 17, 2020 • 1h 10min
Slab City (Entry 1170.IS3501)
In which itinerant snowbirds turn an abandoned desert naval base into a trash-mountain utopia, and Ken hopes a nuke lands on his head. Certificate #33204.
Dec 15, 2020 • 1h 17min
Carlo Gesualdo (Entry 526.HE1304)
In which modernity discovers a late Renaissance composer with a history of ahead-of-his-time harmonies and lurid murder, and John scats like Cab Calloway after midnight. Certificate #39859.
Dec 10, 2020 • 1h 10min
The Guardian Angels (Entry 554.EX2320)
In which a Brooklyn-born fast food manager slaps some paramilitary berets on local kids and starts a new community policing movement, and Ken wonders how to allocate the stripes on the American flag. Certificate #25639.
