Delightful, well put together, vulnerable, and honest. I hope this podcast continues to bring me delight for years to come!

PJ is a natural born host, but the show’s greatest asset is that it seeks out experts to generate truly unique and thoughtful content.

As someone who has contributed financially to this podcast, I would love to have written a 5-star review, but lately the ad-free "patron" feed is no longer maintained and the latest episodes have not been posted. I hope I'm just missing something in which case I will adjust my review.

PJ is still at it, always questioning, formulating the problem and exploring in a systematic yet thoroughly engaging and entertaining way. I’m a fan!

I love PJ’s podcasting, so glad to have another show from him!

Which way is the man going? And which way are the gears spinning?? Otherwise wonderful podcast!

It is always compelling even on topics. I don’t find interesting.

I love this show. PJ is an intriguing host and his guests are always interesting as well. He keeps you coming back for more. On that note…there better be a part 3 to the Berghain story, you totally left us on a cliff hanger??!!

Podcasting at its finest. I was a big fan of Reply All, and I’m finding this to have taken many of the elements I’ve loved about Reply All and evolved them into something even more interesting, powerful, and finely-tuned. The theme music, storytelling, and even ad breaks are thoughtfully designed and executed to feel continuously engaging. Every time I listen to an episode, I spend the rest of the day mulling it over, talking to people about the ideas presented, and looking up related stories and facts. I feel like my brain lights up in new ways whenever I listen, which is just the greatest feeling!

Another reviewer described it better than I can: “so interesting with passion and heart.” PJ and Sruthi, awesome work!

This podcast is a sincere attempt to answer questions about modern life that you would like to Google but know you don't have a week to dive into the rabbit hole. Well PJ has a week, and access to experts, and he is good at story telling.

tysm✌🏼

This podcast should be studied as the example of a perfect podcast. So interesting and filled w passion and heart

I heard about this through Freakonomics podcast. It’s so interesting, so entertaining. The production adds to what is great writing and delivery. Ultimately, PJ is just a spellbinding story teller. Really enjoyable, I wish this team all the success in the world - they deserve it.

I miss the days when the podcast scene wasn’t so oversaturated with famous people interviewing famous people. Search Engine is a gem of a show, filled with niche topics and fun stories, delivered via the trusted, relatable voice of PJ Vogt. You have to work really hard to produce a show like Search Engine, which is why I’m happy and even eager to support the small team behind it. Thank your for your continued commitment to independent journalism!

The pod is overall very well done, but some episodes take the cake. The one about Berghain is a clear example. So informative and kept it interesting and engaging all the way through. Gold star

Good rhythm of a podcast. PJ is interesting as always, thank you for coming back. Can’t wait to next episodes! Two things to add in end of season 1: 1. This podcast started strong and just became better and better. It feels like we’ve been in this rodeo before but this time it’s more experienced, mature, down to earth, smart, sophisticated. 2. At times it felt like we’re a fly on the wall in PJ’s and Sruthi’s therapy sessions. The search engine is actually into their own soul, open questions they have for themselves, about their past and how to navigate life today, as an adult that already felt some success and some failure. Every episode I get a moment of - oh, this is what they went after! Thank you!

I’ve recommended this show irl to so many people I felt I should give it a review here too. If you are a curious person, give this a try. It’s a nice change of pace from all the news doom and gloom and manages to balance silly stories with more serious topics.

Great show, I agree with most of the points in the most recent (how to survive…). I learned that I do not like Ezra Klein and will do my part to see less of him on the internet regardless of how smart or informed he is. His need to insert veganism as his example is incredibly glib and weakens his perspective and credibility, and I don’t think his perspective as a “capitalist” will age well. Cool. Update: I am interested in the Berghain episodes, but I stopped 4 minutes in. I have never had a strong determination to go to Berghain, but I worry that listening to these episodes will preclude me from getting in if I ever do. Having those expectations and trying to meet them sounds like the worst way to start a night.

The podcast I immediately play whenever it drops in my feed. It’s always unique with beautiful storytelling and incredible production quality. Don’t miss it.

I have no interest in manufactured exclusivity. Why would I care about a random club in Berlin? That was a horrible way to end the season, and an even worse way to conclude that episode. Enormous let down. I am a paid subscriber and I’m looking forward to season 2, but this finale enraged me. Excruciatingly boring topic with no payoff. The best part, of course, was the score, which was probably the best of any episode.

So happy that PJ has a podcast. Absolutely incredible interviews. Eagerly awaiting the next episode.

How f-ing great this show is. I literally refresh every week waiting for the new episode. It’s ALWAYS entertaining, informative, esoteric, and funny. Incredibly researched and always shareable with friends who delight in idiosyncratic stories. Follow and rate 5 stars!

Interesting topics, thoughtful reporting and great storytelling.

It’s so rare that a sequel outperforms it’s predecessor, especially when that predecessor exceeded all expectations. Search Engine is not a direct sequel of Reply All but it’s easy to trace the line. I love this this show. It’s creative, witty, interesting and phenomenally well produced. A+

I absolutely love what PJ and crew have shaped together here. A show that says yes to innate curiosity, passing whims, or big incongruities in the world. Every episode is a journey, most you may want to go on, others you may be just on the ride. But PJ’s personality shines through whether explaining policy, recording on city streets, or interviewing smart people. Impeccably produced and researched, but humbly made. I’m glad this exists and I cannot wait for the next set of adventures!

i’m always surprised by the topics they cover and always impressed

I would add two whole stars if they could edit out the host’s asthmatic breathing. It makes me feel like I can’t breathe when listening to someone struggle to inhale for an hour. The material is interesting and it’s well organized and edited, but I can’t get past his desperate gasps just for oxygen between each sentence. It sounds painful. I really hope he’s ok and can get that fixed for his own health too!

Airplane coffee is an iconic podcast episode. I had such high hopes. Now it’s just PJ talking to other overly online people who also have podcasts and we’re back to editors not editing out the most annoying laugh in podcasting. It's a wildly inconsistent show. The two part German dance party season finale is yet another exercise in narcissism. It was such a snooze.

The thing I love about this show is how the topic can seem like something you wouldn’t care about, but then you listen and get completely drawn in. The German dance club episodes is a great example. That world sounds like the opposite of fun to me, and still the episodes were fascinating.

An entertaining and excellent piece about the world’s most interesting city. Techno is the vehicle for describing how modern Berlin came to be. Thanks!

Can’t deny that PJ is a great storyteller…the magic that left reply all at the end, turns out that was him. I am really enjoying the show and look forward to each episode, one of my current favorite pods.

Search Engine is a delight. PJ is a thoughtful host who is excellent at explaining and guiding you through complicated answers to legitimately fascinating questions. He asks excellent questions of the people he brings on and helps get to a larger conclusion than the story’s parts. If you liked Reply All or enjoy Radio Lab, you will love this one.

..is truly psychotic and awful, and so is sounding exactly like Ira Glass. If you like vocal fry and voice affect and no substance this pod is for you

This episode was idiotic. Why do we need to hear about this pointless project? It’s not clever. I came here to learn about how ai is changing google, which is interesting. Instead I’m hearing a 10 minute detailed description of a person making pizza with the added ingredient of glue. Lazy.

Not trying to be cheeky but I missed PJ and the OG reply all after the whole cast unnecessarily cancelled themselves.

I’ve been listening to Search Engine for a while, but this last season has been pretty glowing. This turned into one of my favorites!

PJ described himself as ‘uncool’, I disagree. Love your perspective and voice throughout as you follow around your sincere curiosity, giggling often. Feels like catching up with a friend I don’t get to see often enough. The sensitivity, compassion and wisdom you demonstrate as you dig in to the fentanyl issue was very much appreciated—you held space for the loved humans trying to find their way through, instead of dismissing them as addicts with moral failings who deserve to sleep in the bed they made. And kudos for how you handled the criticism you faced at gimlet. And for how you moved forward after. Thanks for not disappearing.

I loved Reply All but also supported the ousting/cancelling of PJ and Sruthi because of their actions towards people of color down the stretch. So now to see them back and thriving, while the show is great, still feels weird supporting these two.

Informative, entertaining and delves into topics in intelligent, surprising and thoughtful ways. Absolutely brilliant.

I Stan PJ . It’s kind of weird how much I love this podcast , but I think it’s just a testament to how well made it is. I live the life of a hobbit, I mean I’m a clinical herbalist by trade, I love on a farm and I made my bread from scratch I’m THAT kind of nerd. But this podcast gives me so much joy and insight in the broader world. Or sometimes a more narrow part of the world that I didn’t even know about. I obsessively wait for each new episode and am eternally grateful that PJ and the tiny team is still cranking out some of the best listening content there is.

Its. A good show, buthetalksoweirdexactlylike this, and. Ilistentoitanyway (AUDIBLE BREATH) but. Its. reallyannoyingI (BREATH) swear. edit: I am unfollowing this guy. Does he really want to know what it’s like to believe in G-d or just make fun of people who do? I think the latter. This is stupid, and a disappointment.

This is a great podcast. I stumbled across it and have been listening for a couple of months now. This is a podcast to check out if you are someone who has a lot of questions about random things. This podcast has helped me feel more comfortable with a lot of topics I wasn’t sure were possible!! Great podcast and very thankful for PJ who is willing to put this content out!!

I like the host but each week I hope he finally interviews a woman about the topic but it is usually just another man. With the host being a man, another perspective more frequently would be better. No one needs more men talking at them.

PJ Vogt is such an important voice and excellent interviewer.

I am so glad you’re back PJ! I have missed you so much since Reply All. Best podcast of all time … thank you and Shruthi for keeping its spirit alive! Also updating this to say that maybe I felt God driving in horrific traffic listening to Zvika Krieger…. What a wonderful approachable interview.

I just listened to your interview with Zvika Krieger. It was excellent. Thank you for sharing him with us. Take his advice, surrender and pray.

This (my comment below) might not be your experience, but this is the kind of experience you can have with the amazing variety of topics and approach to those topics that PJ and his team create. While I enjoy many of the episodes, the “what does it feel like to believe in God?” episode had an uncanny timing for where I’m at today as I struggle with the aftermath of a very painful situation. The approach to this topic has left me in tears with a growing feeling of hope. THANK YOU for this podcast!

I gave it a solid try, but I think I’m done with this show. While the topics sound interesting, the episodes feel pretty under-researched. Often they’ll find one person who is not an expert to kinda talk around an issue, but not share any real insight?? Thinking primarily here of the glue pizza stunt reporting (that ep had very little to do with the topic and I learned basically nothing) and the doctor with a brain injury in one of the ADHD episodes. That ADHD episode was particularly problematic IMO. I find it pretty irresponsible to have the “pro-meds” side of the debate represented primarily by someone who doesn’t even have the disorder, when it’d be so easy to talk to folks with ADHD and, ideally, experts in the field — especially when ADHD meds are already so stigmatized.

High quality research, and PJ is such a great host!