Janet Varney and John Hodgman have arrived in the keystone state! First order of business: What on Earth is a keystone anyway?

If nothing else, it’s one of the many things that Pennsylvania uses to identify itself as. Its other symbols include (but are not limited to) Benjamin Franklin, hoagies, the liberty bell, Rocky and so much more. 

And we’ve gotten tons of Pennsylvanians from far and wide to tell us why they love to call this commonwealth home. 

Episode cover art provided by:

Dana Jones

Elizabeth Yu

Payton Hotz

Greg Price

Clair O’Hanlon

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman are on to the Hawkeye State! And while there are some very respectable hawkeyes to take sight of, our hosts will also talk about some vaguely disturbing Hawkeyes as well (sorry Herky!).

And we’ve got to stay on brand and talk about that motto as well– it’s quite a mouthful. But Iowa proudly showcases it on its seal and its official state flag.

We even got John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats to give the motto a good read– and tell us which of his songs most represents Iowa. 

Episode cover art provided by:

Aaron Cox

Joey Smith

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman visit their first state in the Pacific Northwest: Oregon! There’s a Latin motto and so much flora and fauna to discuss; including some wonderful Douglas-fir and those amazing beavers.

Speaking of beavers, they are the namesake of Oregon’s unofficial nickname, “The Beaver State.” And those animals happen to be on the second-side of the state flag– yes, this is that rare state flag that is TWO sided.

But, lest we forget that beautiful motto, it translates to “She flies with her own wings.” So where does it land on our ranking scale?

Plus, we could use your help deciding which cryptid should designate Oregon as its official home. 

Episode cover art provided by:

Christina Harkness

Nathan White

Rebecca Beaver

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman are ready to talk all about “The land of enchantment”: New Mexico! Or as the locals call it, “The land of entrapment.”

Even if you know nothing about New Mexico, the one thing you’ll immediately recognize is its absolutely gorgeous state flag. But did you know that prior to its current flag, it also had one of the worst flags we’ve seen yet?

That’s just one other story we’ll hear today, including some stunning hot air balloon commentary, some scary insect stories, and so much more.

And hey, have you purchased some of the books that Philip Varney has written about ghost towns yet?

Episode cover art provided by:

Thien An-Vu

Laura Swisher

Marissa Flaxbart

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

NOTE: A previous version of this episode erroneously stated that Kentucky was a Confederate State in the US Civil War. It was in fact, a Union State. This has been corrected Thank you to those who pointed out the error.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman are here and ready to talk all about some blue grass… sort of. It’s all about Kentucky and it’s slightly complicated branded with its iconography.

If you’re looking for excitement, steer clear of the seal and flag; pretty standard fare there. But Kentucky has an absolutely wonderful horse, gem, and soft drink that they’ve made official. Unfortunately the official beverage is milk. Such a shame!

Episode cover art provided by:

Alex Morris

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman  are ready to yell, “On Wisconsin!” And no, that’s not the official state motto. The actual one is MUCH more boring.

But there’s still so much to love about Wisconsin; that includes a lot of really lovely history, landmarks and accents. Plus, what’s a conversation about Wisconsin without a lot of cheese chatter?

Episode cover art provided by:

Shaleigh Sugden

Laura Swisher

Megan Hauser

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman  are ready to dive into some lakes! And what better place to do that than the state with more than 10,000 of them?

That’s right, the next stop is Minnesota. It’s got a shiny new state flag and seal that’s ready for a proper review. Plus, we are so, so excited to showcase our very first FRENCH state motto!

Episode cover art provided by:

John Moe

Megan Sorenson

Allison Kelly

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto.

Janet Varney and John Hodgman are back with Season 2 of E Pluribus Motto. 

They’ve chosen none other than Maryland to kick off this brand new tour of state mottos and iconography. Everything from the very busy state flag, the state song, the state spirit and more will be discussed.

Plus… what better way to get Season 2 started than with the return of a LATIN motto?

Episode cover art provided by:

Meaghan Harper

Jeff McLain (Unsplash)

Lenny Rogers (Pixabay)

Bruce Emmerling (Pixabay)

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto

Janet Varney and John Hodgman are back! This is a brief reprieve from the wait for Season 2 of E Pluribus Motto. 

The pair respond to a number of emails and voice notes from listeners. There’s plenty of corrections on previous episodes and information about all the states, commonwealths, and districts(!) that will be covered next season.

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message for us at speakpipe.com/epluribusmotto

Happy MaxFun Drive!

This show is supported by our beloved MaxFun Members! To become one yourself as part of the #MaxFunDrive, go to maximumfun.org/join and set up a recurring monthly contribution (or an annual prepay) for as little as $5 a month. 

Janet Varney celebrates MORE state cryptids from our wonderful E Pluribus Motto listeners. Some of them are spiritual, some are disturbing but we love hearing about them all.  

Not only that, but we’ll get to hear even more about the effect that these cryptids have on you as listeners who share a state with them. 

Produced by Julian Burrell.

Senior Producer at MaxFun is Laura Swisher.

Find E Pluribus Motto on Instagram and TikTok.

And send us a voice memo, message or photo about an upcoming state to [email protected].