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Decoder Ring

88 EpisodesProduced by Slate PodcastsWebsite

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.

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The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery

November 15th, 2023

47:23

In 1992, a Minnesota-based software company known for its educational hit The Oregon Trail released another simulation-style game to school districts …

The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other

November 8th, 2023

37:35

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual’s throwback advice helped …

Mailbag: The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs

November 1st, 2023

40:50

We receive a lot of fantastic show ideas from our listeners—and we’re grateful for each and every one. For our latest mailbag episode, we’re tackling …

When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place

October 25th, 2023

41:34

In the mid-1990s, the prime time drama Melrose Place became a home to hundreds of pieces of contemporary art—and no one noticed. In this episode, …

The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance

October 18th, 2023

45:43

Judging from teen dramas on Netflix, the slow dance seems to be alive and well. But when you talk to actual teens, it’s clear this time-honored tradition is on life support. In this episode, we trace the history of slow …

Fall 2023 Teaser

October 11th, 2023

1:00

We’re back with a new batch of cultural mysteries! This season, Decoder Ring explores the decline of an awkward yet unforgettable rite of passage: …

Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.

August 9th, 2023

40:23

Once you start listening for catchphrases in everyday life—you can’t stop hearing them. From the radio era’s “Holy mackerel!” to Fonzie’s “Ayyy!” to …

The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft

August 2nd, 2023

42:20

When Slate’s Evan Chung was a kid, he was obsessed with a mysterious advertisement that ran for decades in the scouting magazine Boys’ Life. Under the enticing headline “You Can Float on Air,” the ad assured Evan—and …

A Brief History of Making Out

July 26th, 2023

36:59

Kissing—the romantic, sexual, steamy kind—is so ingrained in us that it just seems like a fact of life. Like breathing or eating, we just do it. But what if it’s not like that at all? 


In this episode, we’re going to …

What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?

July 19th, 2023

33:50

The mosh pit has a reputation as a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression. There’s some truth to that, but it’s also a place …

The Great Parmesan Cheese Debate

July 12th, 2023

44:18

Parmesan is a food—but it’s not just a food. Italy’s beloved cheese is often paired with a deep craving for tradition and identity. But its history …

Summer 2023 Teaser

July 5th, 2023

1:01

Join Decoder Ring as we unlock a whole new season of cultural mysteries. First, we’ll sniff around Italy’s best-loved cheese to test an incredible …

Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?

May 10th, 2023

38:07

We pride ourselves on being grounded, rational beings, but flitting amongst us is a mystery: the Tooth Fairy. This flying piece of folklore is alive …

Why You Can’t Find a Damn Parking Spot

May 3rd, 2023

37:31

Parking is one of the great paradoxes of American life. On the one hand, we have paved an ungodly amount of land to park our cars. On the other, it seems like it’s never enough. 


Slate’s Henry Grabar has spent the last …

The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained

April 26th, 2023

37:12

We bring you a special episode from Sidedoor, a podcast about the treasures that fill the vaults of the Smithsonian. This story is inspired by “Big …

The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 2

April 19th, 2023

40:33

Last week, we put on the proverbial raincoat and made like Columbo to investigate Peter Falk’s claim that he recorded a special Cold War message …

The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania Part 1

April 12th, 2023

43:52

Not too long ago an old clip surfaced of Peter Falk on David Letterman, in which he told an intriguing tale about recording a special Cold War …

Spring 2023 Teaser

April 5th, 2023

1:05

Decoder Ring is back with a new season of cultural mysteries to crack. We'll kick things off with a proper Cold War caper....did Peter Falk, star of …

Slate Plus Exclusive: The Making of This Season

January 9th, 2023

1:04

Host Willa Paskin and producer Katie Shepherd discuss how this season of Decoder Ring came together.


Slate Plus members have access to this whole …

The Mailbag Episode

December 27th, 2022

39:16

We’re really lucky to get a lot of listener emails, suggesting topics for the show. In this episode, we’re going to dig into a handful of the most …

Encore: ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Got It Wrong

December 20th, 2022

41:00

(This episode originally aired in March 2020.)

The 1998 romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, is about the brutal fight between a beloved indie bookstore, the Shop Around the Corner, and Fox …

Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 800-888-8888

December 13th, 2022

40:55

Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes were two Buffalo-based lawyers who became the literal poster-men for personal injury advertising. They poured millions …

How Preppy Became Streetwear

December 6th, 2022

37:08

We bring you a special episode from the Articles of Interest podcast hosted by Avery Trufelman about the incredible reach and adaptability of preppy clothes. It’s a story about the great modernizer of Ivy style, Ralph …

The New Age Hit Machine

November 29th, 2022

29:55

For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of other surprising acts made it big in the 1990s. It’s a throwback to a simpler time—when musicians struggled to …

The Butt and the Bustle

November 22nd, 2022

46:38

For about two decades towards the end of the Victorian era, in the 1870s and 1880s, a large bustle-enhanced bottom was the height of fashion. In this episode we explore how it’s connected to today’s big booty craze. We …

The Truth About #TheDress

November 15th, 2022

38:18

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a party dress kicked off a global debate when people realized they were seeing it completely differently. Is it black and …

Fall 2022 Teaser

November 10th, 2022

1:08

Decoder Ring is back with a new season of juicy topics, like.... Remember the viral phenomenon and optical mind-blower known as “The Dress”? What …

McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 2

October 12th, 2022

47:24


McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way …

McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime Pt. 1

October 4th, 2022

37:48


McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way …

Slate Plus Exclusive: The Making of This Season

August 23rd, 2022

1:27

Host Willa Paskin talks about topics versus narratives, translating fabulists, and creating a sound landscape for the world of Mae West.


Slate Plus …

The “Sex” Scandal That Made Mae West

August 16th, 2022

46:13

In the early 1930s, Mae West’s dirty talk and hip swiveling walk made her one of the biggest movie stars in America. But before West hit the big-screen, she was prosecuted for staging not one, but two scandalous plays. …

The First Alien Abductees

August 9th, 2022

41:06

When you think of an alien abduction, what do you picture? Humanoid creatures, medical experiments, lost memories retrieved through hypnosis? That narrative was largely unknown until Betty and Barney Hill went public …

The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers

August 2nd, 2022

48:12

Rod McKuen sold multiple millions of poetry books in the 60s and 70s. He released dozens of albums, was a regular on late night, and was even …

The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)

July 26th, 2022

45:25

What do we lose if we lose the mall? 70 years into their existence, these hulking temples to commerce are surprisingly resilient and filled with …

Summer 2022 Teaser

July 19th, 2022

1:00

Decoder Ring is coming back with a new season featuring a whole new set of questions.... Like, is the shopping mall really dying? How did a poet who …

The Storytelling Craze

May 17th, 2022

41:08

When did everyone become a storyteller? Decades after George Lucas and Steve Jobs made storytelling a big business, every company now wants to tell “Our Story.” Instagram and TikTok let everyone else tell their …

“We Got Ourselves a Convoy”

May 10th, 2022

35:04

In the 1970s, a song about protesting truckers topped the music charts in multiple countries, and kicked off a pop culture craze for CB radios. In …

The Sideways Effect

May 3rd, 2022

39:22

In 2004, the indie flick Sideways was released in just four theaters, but it had a big impact, earning five Oscar nominations and $110 million worldwide. “I thought it was just going to be a nice little comedy,” …

The Madness Behind ‘The Method’

April 26th, 2022

47:02

When we think of method acting, we tend to think of actors going a little over the top for a role – like Jared Leto, who allegedly sent his …

“F--k Everything, We're Doing Five Blades”

April 19th, 2022

42:12

In the early 2000s, an arms race broke out in the world of men’s shaving. After decades with razors that had only one blade and then decades with razors that had only two, the number of blades rapidly spiraled up and up …

Spring 2022 Teaser

April 12th, 2022

1:00

Decoder Ring is coming back with a new season featuring a whole new set of questions…and some good surprising answers. Like, how did razors come to …

Custer's Revenge

December 23rd, 2021

47:40

Custer's Revenge is widely considered one of the worst video games ever made. Originally released as part of a series of Swedish Erotica-branded …

The Fame That Got Away

December 14th, 2021

44:13

Today on Decoder Ring: Three stories about fame, and one about monkeys. Are primates susceptible to celebrity endorsements? What does fame do to the mind of a famous person? Who were the famous tattooed ladies of the …

Truly Tasteless Jokes

December 7th, 2021

50:28

Note: This episode is about offensive material, and so contains explicit and offensive language.

Truly Tasteless Jokes were a series of joke books …

The Philosophy of Vampires

November 30th, 2021

37:05

In literature, the choice to become a vampire is a metaphor for transformative experiences. On this episode, we bring you a story from Slate's Hi-Phi Nation podcast, which explores problems in contemporary philosophy …

You Just Lost The Game

November 23rd, 2021

26:40

When you think about the game, you lose the game. When you lose the game you must declare that you have lost the game, causing all others in your vicinity to also lose the game. That’s it, that’s the game. 

The game is …

The Alberta Rat War

November 16th, 2021

42:04

Rats live wherever people live, with one exception: the Canadian province of Alberta. A rat sighting in Alberta is a major local event that mobilizes the local government to identify and eliminate any hint of …

The Great Helga Hype

November 9th, 2021

56:02

In the summer of 1986, both Time Magazine and Newsweek ran blockbuster cover stories on the same subject: a secret cache of provocative, intimate paintings by Andrew Wyeth, one of America's most famous artists. These …

Selling Out

August 6th, 2021

50:06

In 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up …

Tattoo Flash

July 27th, 2021

50:32

Time does funny thing to everything, but especially to tattoos. Today, four stories about tattoos whose meanings have shifted with the passage of years, decades, or centuries: first, a look into an archive of 300 …

The Tootsie Shot

July 20th, 2021

39:17

You know the Tootsie Shot. It’s that shot from the movies: a really busy midtown street, protagonist smack in the middle of it all, everyone going somewhere. It’s one of the most recognizable shots in film. It can be …

Who Killed The Segway?

July 13th, 2021

45:40

In the year 2000, Dan Kois was a junior book agent working on selling a secretive book proposal called IT, a codename for what would eventually be …

The Sign Painter

July 6th, 2021

58:45

Ilona Granet was a New York art-scene fixture who won the praise of the art world when she put up anti-harassment street signs in lower Manhattan in the mid- 1980s. Her career seemed like a sure thing, but three decades …

That Seattle Muzak Sound

June 29th, 2021

44:11

If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you can binge the whole season of Decoder Ring right now, …

The Invention of Hydration

June 22nd, 2021

37:17

To say that hydration is an invention is only a slight exaggeration. Back in the 1970’s and ‘80s, no one carried bottled water with them, but by the ‘90s it was a genuine status object. How did bottled water transform …

The Soap Opera Machine

June 15th, 2021

52:37

Welcome to a brand new season of Decoder Ring! On this episode, we investigate the wild world of soap operas through the lens of one legendary, decades-long, ripped-from-the-headlines storyline. The rape of Marty …

Decoder Ring Presents The Sporkful’s Mission: ImPASTAble

March 15th, 2021

31:01

Right now Decoder Ring is working on a full season of new episodes coming this June, but in the meantime we wanted to share this episode from our …

The Blue Steak Experiment

December 21st, 2020

41:32

What took blue food so long to catch on? Today it’s all over the freezer aisle, in candies for kids, in tortilla chips, and novelty foods, but it wasn’t very long ago that food experts agreed: blue food was an …

The Cabbage Patch Kids Riots

November 23rd, 2020

36:26

In 1983, the Cabbage Patch Kids were released, causing widespread pandemonium in toy stores and in the media. How did a children'a toy inspire such …

Jane Fonda's Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane's VHS Revolution

October 26th, 2020

50:48

How did Hanoi Jane become Exercise Jane?

This is the second part of our two-parter on Jane Fonda's Workout. If you haven't yet, listen to the previous …

Jane Fonda's Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni

October 12th, 2020

54:36

When Jane Fonda granted us an interview to talk about her famous workout tape, things didn't go as planned.

On part one of a special two-part Decoder Ring, we explore the decades-long friendship of Jane Fonda and Leni …

Mystery of the Mullet

August 14th, 2020

50:34

The mullet, the love-to-hate-it hairstyle is as associated with the 1980's as Ronald Reagan, junk bonds, and break dancing. But in at least one major …

The Karen

July 13th, 2020

41:09

The Karen, a white woman who surveys, inconveniences, and terrorizes, service workers and people of color is a relatively new term in the culture, …

The Metrosexual

June 10th, 2020

38:39

In 2003, the word "metrosexual", meaning a well-groomed heterosexual man, exploded all over the English lexicon. It invaded the news, TV, and even …

Gotta Get Down on Friday

May 11th, 2020

45:23

Rebecca Black's music video for Friday was Youtube's most watched video of 2011, thrusting the thirteen-year-old Rebecca into a very harsh spotlight. …

Unicorn Poop

April 8th, 2020

37:40

How did poop get cute? On this episode of Decoder Ring we trace the rise of cute poop from the original Japanese poop emoji to more modern poop toys …

Rubber Duckie

March 19th, 2020

27:23

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How did the humble rubber duck become an icon of bath time? On this …

The Shop Around the Corner

March 2nd, 2020

39:07

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The 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan …

Friend of Dorothy

February 10th, 2020

34:29

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When …

The Stowe-Byron Controversy

February 3rd, 2020

41:49

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When Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote an exposé of Lord Byron's incestuous …

Murphy's Law

December 9th, 2019

39:27

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Nick …

Gender Reveal Party

November 6th, 2019

40:39

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Jenna Karvunidis invented the gender reveal party, but now she has …

Bart Simpson Mania

October 7th, 2019

48:28

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In the early 1990's Bart Simpson became a breakout star while also …

Ice Cream Truck

August 12th, 2019

42:00

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Why is the ice cream truck business so bananas? On this episode of Decoder …

Pillow Talk

July 15th, 2019

30:51

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Over the last half century the decorative pillow has been crowding out our …

Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War

June 11th, 2019

49:08

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The King was an animatronic lounge singer who performed in Chuck E. Cheese …

Videomate: Men

April 29th, 2019

36:08

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Videomate: Men is a VHS tape released in 1987 featuring 60 single men …

Truck Nutz

March 25th, 2019

36:17

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Truck Nutz are a brand name for the dangling plastic testicles some people …

Baby Shark

February 25th, 2019

38:47

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Baby Shark is an megaviral YouTube video, an unstoppable earworm, a top 40 …

The Grifter

January 31st, 2019

54:16

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Brett Johnson was a career criminal: a fraudster, a con man, a cyber …

Sad Jennifer Aniston

December 3rd, 2018

44:20

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Jennifer Aniston’s story had it all: Heartbreak, secrecy, sex, betrayal. …

The Incunabula Papers

October 29th, 2018

53:49

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Hotel Art

October 1st, 2018

32:57

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The Paper Doll Club

August 27th, 2018

39:04

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The Basement Affair

July 30th, 2018

43:47

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What …

Clown Panic

June 25th, 2018

38:16

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The Johnlock Conspiracy

June 4th, 2018

52:32

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Who …

The Laff Box

April 30th, 2018

32:57

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