This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown’s particularities, crimes, crops ... Show More
Jul 2
Decoder Ring | The White Noise Boom
White noise has a very precise technical definition, but people use the term loosely, to describe all sorts of washes of sound—synthetic hums, or natural sounds like a rainstorm or crashing waves—that can be used to mask other sounds. Twenty years ago, if you’d told someone white ... Show More
54m 58s
Jun 4
Decoder Ring | The Laff Box (Encore)
Decoder Ring is marking its 100th episode this year. To celebrate, we’re revisiting our very first episode from 2018, which asks: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fas ... Show More
38m 17s
Jul 2024
Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs | 2. Defend Our Children
In 1977, John Briggs was a small-time state senator with big dreams. But Briggs’ plan to ban gay and lesbian teachers from California schools changed the arc of his life and career. Suddenly, he was a right-wing hero, and a villain of the gay rights movement. And his message seem ... Show More
53m 16s
Jan 2025
LA Wildfires WIPE OUT Entire Towns, Trump WARNED Us On Rogan MONTHS AGO w/Nick Shirley
Tim, Phil, & Ian are joined by Nick Shirley to discuss the LA wildfires completely destroying the Pacific Palisades, Trump blaming Gavin Newsom for the LA wildfire disaster, California democrats refusing to do basic fire & forest management, and New Yorkers losing it over new con ... Show More
2h 2m
Nov 2024
Trump’s Historic Chief of Staff Pick, and What Elon Musk Wants Now
Plus, for $200, he was the voice of the internet. Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what ... Show More
9m 29s
Nov 2024
Former W.W.E. Boss Tapped to Run Education, and Trans Rights on Capitol Hill
Plus, this musical wants France to love it back. Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what ... Show More
9m 42s
Oct 2024
What’s The History Of Gay Cruising?
“Everybody's doing it, but nobody's talking about it because it's so secretive.”
Alrighty, curious people, we’re getting spicy & kicking off Queer History Month with a smash (not a pass) - it’s all about gay cruising this week with professor & author, Alex Espinoza. We’re asking ... Show More
57m 44s
Sep 2024
Harris and Trump’s Next Moves, and Francine Lashes Southern Louisiana
Plus, debunking claims about immigrants in Ohio. Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what ... Show More
8m 58s