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Search Engine

PJ Vogt
Social Media
Berghain
Pornography
Cryptocurrency
Tiktok
Fediverse
New York
Cannibalism
Donald Trump
Buckingham Palace
Cannabis
New York City
Teenagers
Anxiety and Depression
Social Studies
Documentary
Instagram
Journalism
Presidential Election
Joe Biden

We try to make sense of the world, one question at a time. No question too big, no question too small.Hosted by PJ Vogt, edited by Sruthi Pinnamaneni. Named one of the best podcasts of all time by Time Magazine

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes164Founded5 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
TechnologyBusiness

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Latest Episodes

Elizabeth Holmes is the unlikely star of the year’s most talked-about movie, You Can See Everything. The Holmes we meet onscreen is enigmatic, enough so that some viewers have even begun to root for her.

To Tyler Shultz, though, she’s still his form... more

A new scam – aided by AI and remote work – is letting one of the most sanctioned regimes on Earth sneak tech workers into the American job market. How it works, what they’re like as co-workers, and the stories of the Americans swept up in the scheme.... more

Jensen Huang is CEO of the most valuable company in human history, NVIDIA. He is arguably the one person who could slow down the AI race. But he’s made a massive bet that AI is safe. 

Is that conviction, insulation, salesmanship, or something else? ... more

An interview with a writer, Meghan O’Gieblyn, who started lying to herself about her relationship to alcohol and God. And afterwards wondered: when did it start? Why did it happen? How do you make peace with the part of yourself that wants something ... more

Key Facts

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Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

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Recent Guests

Tyler Shultz
Former Theranos employee and whistleblower
Theranos
Episode: What it’s like when Elizabeth Holmes decides to destroy your life
Sam Kessler
Data reporter and investigative journalist at The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
Episode: Is your new co-worker secretly North Korean?
Stephen Witt
Writer on AI and technology, and author of The Thinking Machine
Episode: One man could slow down AI. He won’t. Why?
Meghan O'Gieblin
Writer and essayist
Author
Episode: Unreliable Narrator
Evan Pedromo
Research director at the Social Web Foundation; instigator of Vetoverse
Social Web Foundation
Episode: Vladimir Putin's Forkiverse
Bjarke Ingels
Architect, founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group)
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group)
Episode: Search Engine x Better in Person
Ranjith Kaleshkar
Retired pharmacist, amateur filmmaker, father who funds a Bollywood project
Independent investor/producer
Episode: Bollywood Dreams
Roland Nozomu-Kelts
Japanese-American author and editor, professor at Waseda University
Waseda University
Episode: Why’s everybody going to Japan?
W. David Marks
Author, commentator on Japan-America relations
Author of Amatora, How Japan Saved American Style
Episode: Why’s everybody going to Japan?

Host

PJ Vogt
Host of the show; central anchor, known for curious, explanatory interview style.

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 13.2k ratings
  • Terrific podcasts, but too many guffaws

    Love the topics, but the relentless giggles and guffaws is off putting.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    Saurolophus
    United Statesa month ago
  • A leap Forward

    Search engine has always been delightful but the latest season has been a leap ahead in storytelling, audio mixing, and production budget. Such a wonderful listen to be transported down a rabbit hole for good.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    jjrrll11
    United Statesa month ago
  • Like a good cake

    Surprise flavors layered on substantial, satisfying structure. Addictive.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Scrapyard
    United Statesa month ago
  • Fun and captivating

    This podcast has diverse subjects and presents it in a captivating way. Always makes you think.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    mhk1999
    United States2 months ago
  • Ira called. He wants his speech impediment back.

    I was onboard for a few episodes (e.g. Obituary) about quirky events or interesting anomalies in society. Then it became clear that, just like the show it emulates (This American Life), SE had to prove its L creds. The latest Gaza Chef episode epitomizes this. Sure, feel free to run someone else’s fully unvetted story that you could drive a truck through, if you did a little actual first hand research, but I’m out. (PS- perhaps my loss, but I don’t really care about whose penis is on Wikipedia e... more

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    JustASadRat
    United States2 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Shows strong investigative rigor and thoughtful analysis, with engaging storytelling.
Listeners appreciate balanced framing and curiosity-driven questions.
Some listeners feel political opinions intrude in episodes, detracting for a subset.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

What it’s like when Elizabeth Holmes decides to destroy your life
Q: What was the point? When do you go from, this looks funky to something's wrong and I'm going to do something about it?
Shultz says he became convinced the company was concealing its equipment from regulators and falsifying validation results. A syphilis test's poor accuracy made him fear that patients were being harmed, prompting him to speak up.
What it’s like when Elizabeth Holmes decides to destroy your life
Q: How do you feel about that?
Shultz says the new attention to the film worries him because some viewers seem to treat it as their only source of truth and give Holmes the benefit of the doubt.
Is your new co-worker secretly North Korean?
Q: How did the North Koreans find these Americans, and who are the Americans who choose to do this?
Recruiters approached people online with a story that developers abroad needed help communicating in English. Some Americans acted as laptop farmers or interview stand-ins for money, sometimes while overlooking signs that the operation was illicit.
Is your new co-worker secretly North Korean?
Q: What is phase two of secret North Koreans working at American companies?
After crypto-focused hiring, North Korean IT workers expanded their applications across many industries, exploiting remote-work norms and adapting to stricter hiring processes.
One man could slow down AI. He won’t. Why?
Q: Why do you think he won't engage with that?
Witt says engaging with evidence of AI risk could hurt NVIDIA financially, and a pause could also trigger damaging defaults tied to debt-funded data centers.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About Search Engine

What is Search Engine about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A thoughtful, question-driven show that blends deep reporting with curiosity across technology, science, policy, and culture. Episodes often unpack complex incidents or trends—such as AI safety governance, the economics of warfare, or niche cultural phenomena—through expert interviews, investigative reporting, and narrative storytelling. The strongest assets are rigorous sourcing, a calm, inquisitive host voice, and a willingness to tackle controversial or opaque topics with nuance. Listeners likely appreciate rigorous analysis, balanced framing, and thought-provoking conversations that connect esoteric subjects to broader societal implications.

Where can I find podcast stats for Search Engine?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Search Engine. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Search Engine and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does Search Engine get?

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What are the audience demographics for Search Engine?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Search Engine, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does Search Engine have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Search Engine has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Search Engine?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Search Engine:

1. Hyperfixed
2. Heavyweight
3. 99% Invisible
4. This American Life
5. Radiolab

How many episodes of Search Engine are there?

Search Engine launched 5 years ago and published 164 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Search Engine?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Search Engine?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Search Engine from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

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Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Search Engine. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on Search Engine?

Recent guests on Search Engine include:

1. Tyler Shultz
2. Sam Kessler
3. Stephen Witt
4. Meghan O'Gieblin
5. Evan Pedromo
6. Bjarke Ingels
7. Ranjith Kaleshkar
8. Roland Nozomu-Kelts

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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