2026-09-10 · Smart escape
There’s Still Tennis at the U.S. Open
by Owen Lewis
When a tennis player faces match point, does all the money in the stadium still matter?
0:00 / 11:56 · Narrator Algieba
2026-09-04 · Smart escape
Claire Stapleton Helped Write the Myth of Google, but Now She’s Trying to Tell the Truth
by Grace Byron
How do you lead a strike against a tech giant after spending years making it sound human?
0:00 / 9:08 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
2026-09-04 · Smart escape
Is It Possible to Teach My Kid How to Manage Risk?
by Drew Magary
If your job is to keep a child safe, when do you hand them a sharp knife?
0:00 / 6:52 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-08-30 · Smart escape
What Do I Do About My Fragile Kid?
by Albert Burneko
When a kid falls apart over a setback, are they fragile, or do they just feel safe?
0:00 / 13:07 · Narrator Charon
2026-08-30 · Smart escape
A Day in the Chaos of Cycling’s Most Legendary Arena
by Patrick Redford
Why do half a million people camp on a mountain for ten seconds of a bike race?
0:00 / 9:48 · Narrator Algieba
2026-08-27 · Smart escape
Finding Friends, Legacy, and Leather Sluts at New Jersey’s Finest Holiday Inn
by Sophie Abromowitz
How do you build a lasting history in a hotel that resets the moment you leave?
0:00 / 41:09 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-08-23 · Smart escape
Two Scrabble Superstars Explain Their Unbelievable Championship Match
by Stefan Fatsis
How does a championship match come down to a word that doesn't exist?
0:00 / 29:59 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-08-21 · Small delights
How Do You Get Over the Greatest Sports Story of All Time?
by Dave McKenna
What does a 75-year sports curse sound like the moment it finally breaks?
0:00 / 11:26 · Narrator Charon
2026-08-20 · Small delights
I Taught a Scorekeeping Class and Everybody Came
by Kelsey McKinney
How does keeping score on paper make a baseball game belong to you?
0:00 / 7:50 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-08-18 · For the curious
Melon’s Odyssey on the Black Market for Life-Saving Cat Medicine
by Sabrina Imbler
How do you save a dying cat when the only cure is sold on the black market?
0:00 / 23:44 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-08-18 · Smart escape
‘The Cruelest Game’ Examines Tennis as Torture
by Owen Lewis
If you give your childhood to a game, who are you when you put down the racket?
0:00 / 21:03 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-08-12 · Smart escape
The Sports Idiot is Dead, Long Live the Sports Idiot
by Annie Berke
Where does the sports-comedy man-child go when the world around him finally grows up?
0:00 / 12:30 · Narrator Algieba
2026-08-11 · Small delights
Would You Eat This Cretaceous Turducken?
by Sabrina Imbler
How does an entire prehistoric food chain end up swallowed whole and turned to stone?
0:00 / 6:23 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-08-10 · Small delights
We Wouldn’t Be Here Without Poop
by Sabrina Imbler
How did sinking animal waste bring life to the bottom of the ocean?
0:00 / 14:32 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-08-09 · Smart escape
How Do I Direct My Kid to the Stuff They’ll Enjoy and Be Good At?
by Chris Thompson
How do you help a child find a hobby without turning it into a test of talent?
0:00 / 9:41 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-08-06 · For the curious
What Are You Banning When You Ban Influencers?
by Alex Sujong Laughlin
If everyone with a phone is broadcasting their life, who exactly counts as an influencer?
0:00 / 10:52 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-08-03 · Smart escape
‘I Want Your Sex’ is a Raunchy Plea for Young People to Have More Fun
by Annie Geng
0:00 / 20:35 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
2026-08-01 · Smart escape
Can a Monkey Have a Pet?
by Sabrina Imbler
Where does the urge to care for an entirely different species actually come from?
0:00 / 10:32 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-07-29 · Smart escape
How Cycling Solved Sleep
by Patrick Redford
If you can fine-tune every calorie you eat, why can't you cheat a good night's sleep?
0:00 / 11:43 · Narrator Algieba
2026-07-26 · Smart escape
Danny McBride Leaves You Wandering
by Nick Martin
What happens when a master of Southern comedy leaves the South off the page?
0:00 / 11:49 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-07-24 · For the curious
The Other Elephant
by Sabrina Imbler
If an elephant has lived fifty years in a zoo, where does she belong now?
0:00 / 13:36 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-07-19 · Behind the news
Meet Torstein Træen, the Stoic Norwegian Survivor Who Briefly Lit up the Tour De France
by Patrick Redford
How does a shy rider who survived cancer and a broken elbow end up in the yellow jersey?
0:00 / 8:00 · Narrator Algieba
2026-07-15 · Smart escape
‘Famous Men’ and Ambitious Women
by Tajja Isen
Does a young writer find her own story by following a famous man home?
0:00 / 11:36 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-07-12 · Smart escape
Plato’s Allegory of the Crab
by Sabrina Imbler
How does a crab survive for months inside a wine bottle it can no longer squeeze through?
0:00 / 6:42 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-07-09 · Behind the news
Gifts, Gritos, and a Breakthrough Win: an Afternoon with the Tour De France’s New and Jubilant Mexican Fanbase
by Patrick Redford
When a young rider ends a thirty-six-year wait, who actually receives the gift of the win?
0:00 / 9:32 · Narrator Algieba
2026-07-06 · Smart escape
‘The Final Set’ Tells the Story of Tennis’ Greatest Rivalry Becoming a Friendship
by Owen Lewis
How do two people who spent decades trying to outlast each other learn to survive together?
0:00 / 9:05 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-07-02 · Behind the news
Why the Tour De France Route is Different Every Single Year
by Patrick Redford
How do you design a three-week race that refuses to let its champions get comfortable?
0:00 / 8:05 · Narrator Rasalgethi
2026-06-26 · Smart escape
What if Your Kid Tells Dirty Dirty Lies?
by Albert Burneko
0:00 / 26:57 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
2026-06-24 · Smart escape
What’s the Ideal Target for a Heist?
by Drew Magary
If perfection is mostly accidental, why is it still the standard for everything?
0:00 / 22:50 · Narrator Gacrux
2026-06-22 · Small delights
Eloy Room Saved a Place for Himself and Curacao in World Cup History
by Ray Ratto
0:00 / 13:04 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
2026-06-20 · Smart escape
Misery and Memory in Two Van Goghs
by Kelsey McKinney
Can you see the difference between sunflowers painted from life and those painted from memory?
0:00 / 10:03 · Narrator Sulafat
2026-06-19 · Future-gazing
AI Animal Videos Are Ruining One of the Internet’s Last Good Things
by Sabrina Imbler
0:00 / 22:00 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
2026-06-17 · Behind the news
It’s Hard to Find the Feel-Good Angle of Alexander Zverev
by Giri Nathan
What happens to the history of a sport when its biggest victory offers no sense of resolution?
0:00 / 8:39 · Narrator Gacrux