Welcome to Decoder Ring, the roundup of topical puzzles and puns the world serves up for our amusement, if only we take the time to notice. If you come across some, send them to decodewired@gmail.com.

Over the holidays I watched “A Christmas Story” for the gazillionth time. One of the scenes in the movie is Ralphie getting his secret decoder ring to unlock the mysteries of the universe. His ring ...

Why did the mullet become a thing? Why did everybody go crazy over Cabbage Patch dolls? And why would anybody ever go on a reality TV show? These are the typical questions you'd find asked in Slate's ...

This week we're airing one of our favourite episodes from November 2023. There's so many cultural mysteries out there. Decoder Ring: "When Jane Fonda granted us an interview to talk about her famous ...

Willa Paskin hosts the popular Slate podcast “Decoder Ring” about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, Willa takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to ...

Decoder Ring is a column about the clever stuff the world serves up for our entertainment. As always, if you come across some topical puzzles or wordplay, send them to decodewired@gmail.com. Here are ...

What happened to the laugh track? We're sorry, but something went wrong while fetching your podcast feeds. Please contact us at plus@slate.com for help. This episode ...

See a mistake? Contact us. Over the last few years, approach procedure charts have more and more data crammed onto them by the FAA. More data means better decision making, right? Ideally, yes. However ...

MicroRNA can serve as a "decoder ring" for understanding complex biological processes, a team of chemists has found. Their study points to a new method for decrypting the biological functions of ...

Decoder Ring: "When Jane Fonda granted us an interview to talk about her famous workout tape, things didn't go as planned. On part one of a special two-part Decoder Ring, we explore the decades-long ...