Decoder Ring

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.

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Latest Episode

How to Hunt a Mammoth, and Other Experiments in Archaeology (13.08.2025)

Previous Episodes

  • The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth 30.07.2025
  • Mailbag: Drug Names, Cow Abductions, and the “Ass-Intensifier” 16.07.2025
  • Introducing The Sporkful | Is Your Recipe Lying To You? 09.07.2025
  • The White Noise Boom 02.07.2025
  • The Boston Cinematic Universe 18.06.2025
  • The Laff Box (Encore) 04.06.2025
  • The Glaring Problem with Headlights 21.05.2025
  • Off-the-Wall Stories of Off-Label Use 07.05.2025
  • How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul 23.04.2025
  • Spring Break Forever 09.04.2025
  • How Books About Things That Changed the World… Changed the World 26.03.2025
  • Truck Nutz (Encore) 12.03.2025
  • Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie 26.02.2025
  • The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win 12.02.2025
  • Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze 29.01.2025
  • I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes 15.01.2025
  • Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness? 01.01.2025
  • Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks 18.12.2024
  • Mystery of the Mullet (Encore) 04.12.2024
  • Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of All Time 20.11.2024

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