🎧 Podcast of the Day
One handpicked episode, every day — stimulating, engaging, and worth your time.
100 Objects #6: "Sharpened Screwdriver"
99% Invisible US
This episode excavates the 1984 Bernhard Goetz subway shooting—where a white man shot four Black teenagers he claimed were threatening him—to examine how fear, misinformation, and racial bias shape public narratives around crime and self-defense. Through expert historians, it reveals how the 'sharpened screwdriver' that was supposedly a weapon never existed, yet the false narrative defined public opinion and legal outcomes. The story resonates powerfully today as similar cases continue to emerge, making this both a gripping historical investigation and a lens for understanding current debates about vigilantism and racial justice.
Previous picks
How we pick
Each morning our pipeline scans recent episodes from 22 curated shows spanning technology, science, history, culture, politics, and long-form journalism. An AI model scores each episode for intellectual depth, timeliness, and broad appeal — with a deliberate bias toward episodes that engage with something happening right now.
Unlike the news feed (which favours calm and constructive stories), the podcast pick is chosen to be compelling and current — strong opinions, lively debate, and challenging ideas are all welcome here, provided the content is substantive and evidence-based.
We avoid repeating the same show within a two-week window so you get genuine variety. Episodes must have been published in the last seven days, and run between 10 and 180 minutes.
Have a podcast you'd like us to consider? Let us know.