This week we’re talking great escapes. Men backed into a corner and forced to break the rules to get out. Anneliese tells us about the 1962 escape from Alcatraz, and Ellie reminisces on the golden age of Bachelor Nation, when Colton jumped the fence.

Who are we rooting for? Where are these men now? How did they pull it off? We’ll get into all of it.

Plus: Ellie gets some unexpected mail, the stress of choosing a marker when coloring, and the curse of being named Sincere.

As any good self help book will tell you, “no” is a complete sentence. Today we tell the stories of two icons who said drew a boundary, said no, and walked away from the opportunity of a lifetime.

Philip Benizi was offered the chance to be literal Pope and he fled to a cave until the election was over to avoid the title. America’s Next Top Model contestant Natalie (maybe) made it to the semifinals of auditions only to determine that this path wasn’t right for her. Today, we celebrate their strength and knowledge of self and ponder how their actions shaped religious institutions and generations to come.

Plus: our reactions to the first half of the Knicks game that would become the greatest comeback in NBA finals history (we didn’t know, sorry for being negative), doing too much at Corporate Drag Bingo, and getting uninvited from Shrimp Fest 2024.

Every once in a while, a woman gives birth in a way that really makes people stop and stare. In 1978, that woman was Lesley Brown, who gave birth to the first baby conceived via IVF. In 2009, that woman was Nadya Suleman, also known as the Octomom, who gave birth to octuplets and became a media sensation.

Why did these births draw such intense public reaction? How did the media attention affect their children? And most importantly, was Octomom in it for the fame??

Plus: Jumping on the Knicks bandwagon, the importance of morally flawed Islanders, and how Beaker has stolen Erlenmeyer Flask’s clout for generations.

My boyfriend? You don’t know him, he goes to a different database.

We’re talking scary, imaginary, soul sucking intimate relationships this week: the mythology of incubi and succubi and the troubling trend of AI partners. How did these phenomena come to be and what are we to make of them?

Whether it’s a demon that comes creeping in the night or a chain of code designed to praise you endlessly, there are some romantic entanglements that just feel… unnatural.

Plus: what do do when a 10 year old demands you entertain her, how soon is too soon to pass out when the train AC shuts off, and how Alex Cooper played the pregnancy trump card before Alix Earle could clap back.

This week, we explore two methods of communicating the things that matter most: the Voyager Golden Records and the Instagram Photo Dump. These carefully curated collections help convey our way of life, our values, and what we know.

We can’t for the life of us figure out how the Golden Record works, but we’re hoping if aliens find it they can figure it out. And also there’s love triangle tea. On the Instagram front, we explore how the platform has evolved from perfectly manicured posting to a more casual place to share moments and memories.

Plus: a recap of Ellie’s trip to Costa Rica, including how the opportunity fell into her lap, which energy practices she experimented with there, and the bed bugs she may or may not have brought home.

Could this meeting have been an emoji? A picture is worth a thousand words, so we’re analyzing two languages made up entirely of images: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Emojis.

How do these tiny images convey so much meaning? How do we as users define and evolve this meaning over time? And what is the difference between :), :-), and (: ?

All this, plus a psychological look at Bravo’s “Love Overboard” on today’s Poppish.

Childless cat ladies, rejoice! This episode celebrates two important roles cats have held in culture across millennia: the stone lion statues of Imperial China and the bodega cats of New York City.

These cats serve important functions for the buildings they protect and are beloved symbols of the community. We unpack the history both and what they mean to us today.

Plus: Ellie narrowly escapes imminent danger in Central Park and being straight up gobsmacked by flower talent fees.

Let’s examine two letters that exposed hidden truths, shifted alliances, and ultimately, started wars: the Zimmermann Telegram and the Jersey Shore Note. Secrets came to light in the harsh black and white of ink on paper, and it changed everything. We tried REALLY hard to understand what a telegram is for this one, but we just couldn’t get there.

How did these letters make their way into the hands of the affected parties? What ensued after? Will the US finally stop twiddling its thumbs and enter World War I? And will Sammi Sweatheart dump Ron’s cheating ass? Let’s find out together.

Plus: Updates from the Hulu “Get Real” event, a way to bring America together through shared reality programming, and ultimately, we accidentally invent religion.