Half as Interesting — Season 2022

1Why Don't Artificial Flavors Taste Accurate?
04 Jan 2022 · 6 min
2The Bug That Created "Free Public Wifi" Networks That Didn’t Work
06 Jan 2022 · 6 min
3The Fake Buildings That Hide LA's Massive Oil Industry
13 Jan 2022 · 5 min
4Why The Letter Q Has Only Been Legal In Turkey For 8 Years
20 Jan 2022 · 6 min
5Why Flights Through China Take Such Weird Routes
22 Jan 2022 · 6 min
6The Software Bug That Blacked Out the Entire US Northeast
31 Jan 2022 · 6 min
7Why There is a Giant Floating Prison In New York City
02 Feb 2022 · 6 min
8Why So Many Jails Are Painted This Exact Color
09 Feb 2022 · 6 min
9How Disney Legally Issued its Own Currency for 29 Years
11 Feb 2022 · 6 min
10Why There’s An Empty Skyscraper In The Middle Of Times Square
16 Feb 2022 · 7 min
11How to Start Your Own Town
19 Feb 2022 · 6 min
12The Glitch That Kept Sending The FBI To A Tiny Kansas Farm
28 Feb 2022 · 6 min
13Why Hundreds of Mazdas Tuned to 94.9 Broke Simultaneously
02 Mar 2022 · 6 min
14Why Chicago Secretly Bulldozed Its Own Airport Overnight
04 Mar 2022 · 6 min
15Why April 11, 1954 Is The Statistically Most Boring Day Ever
10 Mar 2022 · 6 min
16Why Do Americans In Old Movies Sound British?
16 Mar 2022 · 7 min
17Why This Sound is Illegal to Play
18 Mar 2022 · 7 min
18You've Sent 124,882 Topic Ideas. Here are the Worst Ones.
25 Mar 2022 · 6 min
19Why You Never Take a 90-Degree Turn in Casinos
29 Mar 2022 · 6 min
20Why Farmers Can’t Legally Replant Their Own Seeds
31 Mar 2022 · 6 min
21Why So Many Airport Runways Cross the US-Canada Border
08 Apr 2022 · 6 min
22The Man Who Broke The Internet By Deleting 11 Lines of Code
12 Apr 2022 · 6 min
23Why You Can’t Be Fired in China If You Have This Stamp
14 Apr 2022 · 6 min
24How Stenographers Type at 300 Words Per Minute
21 Apr 2022 · 6 min
25The 360-Page Proof That 1+1=2
27 Apr 2022 · 6 min
26Why Steel from Before 1945 is Weirdly Expensive
29 Apr 2022 · 6 min
27⍼ - Why Nobody Knows What This One Unicode Character Means
06 May 2022 · 6 min
28How New Cars Trick You With Pre-Recorded Engine Noise
10 May 2022 · 6 min
29Why Cancun is the Mathematically Perfect Vacation Destination
20 May 2022 · 6 min
30How Sommeliers Can Taste Which Year Wine is From
24 May 2022 · 6 min
31Why Thousands of Chinese Tourists Started Coming to a Random British Village
26 May 2022 · 5 min
32Why Almost Every Microwave is Made by the Same Company
31 May 2022 · 6 min
33How Coca Cola (Actually) Keeps Its Secret Recipe Secret
02 Jun 2022 · 6 min
34Why All U-Hauls are Registered in Arizona
07 Jun 2022 · 5 min
35Minitel: France’s Alternate Internet That Survived Until 2012
09 Jun 2022 · 6 min
36Why The NYPD Has An Office in Singapore
16 Jun 2022 · 6 min
37Why GPS Automatically Shuts Itself Down Above 1,200 mph
21 Jun 2022 · 6 min
38How an Australian Senator Won With 0.51% Of The Vote
28 Jun 2022 · 6 min
39Why the United Nations Runs Its Own Airline
30 Jun 2022 · 5 min
40The High Five Was Invented in 1977 (Yes, Really)
05 Jul 2022 · 5 min
41The CIA’s Manual on How to be Annoying
08 Jul 2022 · 6 min
42The ATM Glitch That Gave Out Infinite Money
14 Jul 2022 · 5 min
43Why the US Keeps Trying To Buy Greenland
19 Jul 2022 · 6 min
44The Single Australian Farm That’s Bigger Than 49 Countries
22 Jul 2022 · 6 min
45Russia’s Terrible New Offbrand McDonald’s
01 Aug 2022 · 6 min
46Why There’s a Massive Runway in the Middle of Florida’s Swamplands
04 Aug 2022 · 6 min
47Why The London Underground Makes Itself Hotter Every Year
09 Aug 2022 · 6 min
48Why The Vatican Has A Giant Research Telescope in Arizona
12 Aug 2022 · 5 min
49Why Chess Strategy Changes Every Year
16 Aug 2022 · 6 min
50The Shoe So Good the Olympics Declared It Cheating
22 Aug 2022 · 6 min
51We Ranked Every Mistake We Made This Year
25 Aug 2022 · 6 min
52The Science Behind Why Friends Smell Like Each Other
31 Aug 2022 · 6 min
53Why You Don’t Want To Live On the US-Canada Border
06 Sep 2022 · 7 min
54The Man Who Owns All The Bread In Israel For Eight Days A Year
12 Sep 2022 · 5 min
55How To Design A Completely Unbreakable Encryption System
14 Sep 2022 · 6 min
56Why National Parks Can’t Figure Out What To Do With Your Poop
20 Sep 2022 · 6 min
57Why The Ringling Bros. Operated A Secret Spy Agency
28 Sep 2022 · 6 min
58Why It Takes Pixar 3 Years To Render A Movie
30 Sep 2022 · 7 min
59Why No One’s Sure If This Is Part Of The US Constitution
07 Oct 2022 · 7 min
60Why It Was Illegal For 47 Days to Slice Bread in the US
13 Oct 2022 · 6 min
61The US Army’s Universal Camouflage: A Terrible Mistake
15 Oct 2022 · 6 min
62Why US Signs Look Different Than The Rest Of The World’s
22 Oct 2022
63Why There Are No Ambulances In Jerusalem
27 Oct 2022
64Somaliland Is Independent. So Why Does No One Recognize It?
01 Nov 2022
65Why DC's Shaped Like That
08 Nov 2022
66Why This is The World’s Most Dangerous Dam
10 Nov 2022
67All The Very Real Passports Not Issued By Countries
15 Nov 2022
68The NFL’s Secret Plan For If All The Players Die
18 Nov 2022
69Why One Company Technically Owns Every Stock in the US
22 Nov 2022
70The McDonald’s McPizza: A Huge Failure
02 Dec 2022
71Roosevelt Island’s Pneumatic Trash System
06 Dec 2022 · 6 min
72Spotify’s Mathematical System For Determining Your Music Taste
09 Dec 2022
73Toki Pona: The Language You Can Learn in a Day
15 Dec 2022 · 6 min
74The Weirdly Massive Problem of Blocked Public Land
22 Dec 2022 · 6 min
75Why Cardboard Cops Work (Even If You Know They’re Fake)
27 Dec 2022 · 6 min
76How the US Sends Top Secret Information Around The World
30 Dec 2022 · 6 min

1Why Don't Artificial Flavors Taste Accurate?

2The Bug That Created "Free Public Wifi" Networks That Didn’t Work

3The Fake Buildings That Hide LA's Massive Oil Industry

4Why The Letter Q Has Only Been Legal In Turkey For 8 Years

5Why Flights Through China Take Such Weird Routes

6The Software Bug That Blacked Out the Entire US Northeast

7Why There is a Giant Floating Prison In New York City

8Why So Many Jails Are Painted This Exact Color

9How Disney Legally Issued its Own Currency for 29 Years

10Why There’s An Empty Skyscraper In The Middle Of Times Square

11How to Start Your Own Town

12The Glitch That Kept Sending The FBI To A Tiny Kansas Farm

13Why Hundreds of Mazdas Tuned to 94.9 Broke Simultaneously

14Why Chicago Secretly Bulldozed Its Own Airport Overnight

15Why April 11, 1954 Is The Statistically Most Boring Day Ever

16Why Do Americans In Old Movies Sound British?

17Why This Sound is Illegal to Play

18You've Sent 124,882 Topic Ideas. Here are the Worst Ones.

19Why You Never Take a 90-Degree Turn in Casinos

20Why Farmers Can’t Legally Replant Their Own Seeds

21Why So Many Airport Runways Cross the US-Canada Border

22The Man Who Broke The Internet By Deleting 11 Lines of Code

23Why You Can’t Be Fired in China If You Have This Stamp

24How Stenographers Type at 300 Words Per Minute

25The 360-Page Proof That 1+1=2

26Why Steel from Before 1945 is Weirdly Expensive

27⍼ - Why Nobody Knows What This One Unicode Character Means

28How New Cars Trick You With Pre-Recorded Engine Noise

29Why Cancun is the Mathematically Perfect Vacation Destination

30How Sommeliers Can Taste Which Year Wine is From

31Why Thousands of Chinese Tourists Started Coming to a Random British Village

32Why Almost Every Microwave is Made by the Same Company

33How Coca Cola (Actually) Keeps Its Secret Recipe Secret

34Why All U-Hauls are Registered in Arizona

35Minitel: France’s Alternate Internet That Survived Until 2012

36Why The NYPD Has An Office in Singapore

37Why GPS Automatically Shuts Itself Down Above 1,200 mph

38How an Australian Senator Won With 0.51% Of The Vote

39Why the United Nations Runs Its Own Airline

40The High Five Was Invented in 1977 (Yes, Really)

41The CIA’s Manual on How to be Annoying

42The ATM Glitch That Gave Out Infinite Money

43Why the US Keeps Trying To Buy Greenland

44The Single Australian Farm That’s Bigger Than 49 Countries

45Russia’s Terrible New Offbrand McDonald’s

46Why There’s a Massive Runway in the Middle of Florida’s Swamplands

47Why The London Underground Makes Itself Hotter Every Year

48Why The Vatican Has A Giant Research Telescope in Arizona

49Why Chess Strategy Changes Every Year

50The Shoe So Good the Olympics Declared It Cheating

51We Ranked Every Mistake We Made This Year

52The Science Behind Why Friends Smell Like Each Other

53Why You Don’t Want To Live On the US-Canada Border

54The Man Who Owns All The Bread In Israel For Eight Days A Year

55How To Design A Completely Unbreakable Encryption System

56Why National Parks Can’t Figure Out What To Do With Your Poop

57Why The Ringling Bros. Operated A Secret Spy Agency

58Why It Takes Pixar 3 Years To Render A Movie

59Why No One’s Sure If This Is Part Of The US Constitution

60Why It Was Illegal For 47 Days to Slice Bread in the US

61The US Army’s Universal Camouflage: A Terrible Mistake

62Why US Signs Look Different Than The Rest Of The World’s

63Why There Are No Ambulances In Jerusalem

64Somaliland Is Independent. So Why Does No One Recognize It?

65Why DC's Shaped Like That

66Why This is The World’s Most Dangerous Dam

67All The Very Real Passports Not Issued By Countries

68The NFL’s Secret Plan For If All The Players Die

69Why One Company Technically Owns Every Stock in the US

70The McDonald’s McPizza: A Huge Failure

71Roosevelt Island’s Pneumatic Trash System

72Spotify’s Mathematical System For Determining Your Music Taste

73Toki Pona: The Language You Can Learn in a Day

74The Weirdly Massive Problem of Blocked Public Land

75Why Cardboard Cops Work (Even If You Know They’re Fake)

76How the US Sends Top Secret Information Around The World