Decoder Ring

Cracking cultural mysteries.

Illustration depicting a female with a microphone

Listen longer

Slate Plus members get ad-free versions of all Slate podcasts, plus extra segments, bonus episodes, and more. Try it today for just $1.

Join Slate Plus
Advertisement

About the Show

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.

Host

Tattoo Flash

Four stories about tattoos.

That Seattle Muzak Sound

Muzak was good, actually.

Who Killed the Segway?

Was it me?

The Tootsie Shot

Making it in the city, against all odds.

The Sign Painter

Why isn’t this artist famous?

The Soap Opera Machine

Soap dish.

The Invention of Hydration

Water, water everywhere.

The Blue Steak Experiment

Blue chicken, blue trout, blue vomit.

The Cabbage Patch Kids Riots

Of cabbages and copyright.

Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane’s VHS Revolution

How Jane Fonda created an industry.

Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni

The relationship that changed exercise forever.

Mystery of the Mullet

The history of the mullet is weirder than you think.

The Karen

Rise of The Karen.

The Metrosexual

What was the metrosexual?

Gotta Get Down on Friday

Was Rebecca Black’s “Friday” Really So Bad?

Unicorn Poop

How did excrement get cute?

Rubber Duckie

How hot baths, cheap plastic, and Sesame Street helped make the rubber duck.

The Shop Around the Corner

The true story behind You’ve Got Mail.

Friend of Dorothy

Why do gay people love Judy Garland so much?

The Stowe-Byron Controversy

What cancel culture looked like in the 1860s.