Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski has heard a disgusting rumor — that the coffee on airplanes is unsafe to drink because the onboard water tanks are only cleaned once a year. We investigate and learn some disgusting lessons along the way. Go to our newsletter to comment on the episode and to see the images referenced in the story.

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A woman gets a disquieting piece of information about her pregnancy, and turns to technology to try to control her future.

Second Life - Amanda Hess (Amazon / Bookshop)

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A playlist of Recommended Search Engine episodes

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A high school teacher has a question, but he wants his skeptical teenage students to answer it. Reporter Garrott Graham rides along as they investigate the motives of an international yogurt brand.

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Best of Search Engine

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This week, we're presenting an episode of a new show we like called What We Spend, one of Vulture's best podcasts of 2025.

Also, news for our Incognito Mode listeners. Today, we're having an online, live event with Heavyweight's Jonathan Goldstein at noon Eastern time.

Sign up for Incognito Mode at searchengine.show. Details about the event in the beginning of the episode!

⁠Listeners' favorite Search Engine episodes

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This week we ask a slightly absurd question – is there technology to stop you from using addictive technology – and get some surprising answers from The Verge's David Pierce. New developments in the anti-technology field, and a partial history of how our phones got so oppressive.

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A small group of Americans becomes convinced they’ve discovered something strange about their iPhones: a forbidden phrase the phone will refuse to transmit. A crack podcasting team searches for answers, wherever they may lead.

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In a moment of deep economic uncertainty created by our tariff-loving president, suddenly, our national debt has become much more important. Important enough that, this week, we have decided to teach ourselves everything about it – how America first created its national debt, and how it got out of control.

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Explore a colonial merchant ledger

Brendan Greeley

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A re-air from August 2023:

Our quest for the answer to this one sends us over a hundred years into the past. We learn about the invisible rules and fights that determine what our neighborhoods look like. We also learn about houses with backyard roller coasters, tiny apartments inside of shopping malls, and then we think a little bit about death. Happy Friday!

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A group of teenagers agrees to allow a filmmaker to record the things they do on their phones for a year-long experiment. To see the world they see through their phones, to encounter their algorithms. The results are honest, at times pretty upsetting, and tell us a lot about the internet that Gen-Z finds itself on. In the middle of our big, confusing, national argument about teenagers and their phones, a few answers.

Lauren Greenfield's documentary series, Social Studies

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A beloved American rock band’s Spotify page appears to have been taken over by Russian rappers. Is this a scam? A mistake? A strange third act from some beloved alt-rockers? Kelefa Sanneh investigates.

Bye-Bye - Cake, PulyaNaVetru

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