PG’s Playhouse: Puzzles, games, trivia, & general nerdery

Answer our 2026 Audience Census!

The wine apocalypse that almost happened.

Imagine no more wine bars, no more popping champagne to celebrate special occasions, and no more enjoying a glass of cabernet with your steak. In the 19th century, a tiny little aphid nearly wiped wine off the map, decimating centuries-old vineyards globally. Eventually, wine growers figured out how to combat the phylloxera menace. David shares the story of...

Answer our 2026 Audience Census!

 

Author A.J. Jacobs is no stranger to gonzo journalism. He often puts himself directly into the story he's writing, whether it's about taking the Bible literally, or living out the Constitution. Much like gonzo journalism, there's no attempt or pretense about remaining objective. In A.J.'s writing, he describes in hilarious detail how his lifestyle experiments have impacted his family and work lif...

Answer our 2026 Audience Census!

"This game is all about movies with titles that sound dirty but aren't."

David goes to Spanktown every day. You might ask Why, or wonder if he's ever going to Hell. It all does feel a bit Peculiar and Boring. No, we haven't suddenly gone off the deep end, but rather, we're exploring some quirky and unusual town names. Zach Sherwin is the creator of The Crossword Show, and a veteran of the iconic Yo...

Watching Rachel LaMont absolutely dominate the puzzles was one of the highlights of Survivor S47. She eventually won after spending most of her time as an underdog. One of her most iconic moments was when a starving Rachel decided to pocket some of the rice from a Survivor challenge, and Jeff Probst called her out on it. She tells us how it all went down, and she shares an interesting behind the scenes moment.

After winning Survivo...

Today's topic is a bit cheesy, but still divine. Throughout the ages, humans have always tried to foretell the future or discern the nature of being through different types of divination. These have included the more well-known types of fortune telling including tarot cards, palm reading, tea leaf reading and more. Today, we're talking tyromancy – divination by reading cheeses.

Warhammer historian and YouTuber Jordan Sorcery joi...

"A very twist ending. I don't think we were expecting it to go quite that way."

The scent of cedar and cloves drift through the air, and all around the lights are twinkling. Boughs of holly and mistletoe decorate the rafters, and you've gathered friends and loved ones to celebrate.

It's our first REPOD and PG's Playhouse crossover Holiday Special! To celebrate, we've invited our Podcast Producer, Theresa Piazza, and Room Escap...

Much like the dinosaurs, what we know about them is still evolving on a yearly, if not monthly basis. Did you know that we're discovering new dinosaurs practically every week? Garret and Sabrina of the popular I Know Dino podcast join us to talk about these fascinating creatures. Their podcast is knowledgeable, fun, and easy to follow.

We also talk about how birds evolved from dinosaurs, opalized fossils found in Australia, and ...

" Apparently Kiki and Bouba is one of the few things that can pull us all together."

If I showed you a sharp spikey object and a round blobby object and told you that one was named Kiki, and the other named was Bouba, which name would you assign to which object? In today's episode, we explore the linguistic phenomenon of "Kiki and Bouba." Almost universally, across many different cultures and languages, most people will associate ...

"In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war."

In a dark, grim world, forty thousand years in the future, goblins, ghouls, and elves are battling for supremacy. Their armor is polished, their muscles are bulging, and the paint is almost dry. This is the massive world of Warhammer.

In episode 30, Jordan Sorcery joins us to dive down the rabbit hole of Warhammer's rich history. Jordan is a Warhammer historian, and he ...

" Your memories can't be trusted."

Everyone remembers that 90s movie called Shazam starring Sinbad as a genie, right? Was it Berenstein Bears or Berenstain Bears? Did Mandela die in prison, or is that just a glitch in our collective brain? In today's episode, we explore the Mandela Effect, a phenomenon where a large group of people collectively misremember an event or detail, often about pop culture, logos, or historical events.

...

"I love it. It's so bad."

At a glance, it's glove at first sight. But gamers in the 80s and 90s soon threw up their hands in disgust while trying to get The Power Glove to power anything besides their rage.

Prolific podcaster Adal Rifai joins us to explore The Power Glove and play some games. Adal is certainly no stranger when it comes to puzzling podcasts. His podcast Hey Riddle Riddle features a trio of improvisers solving rid...

"It's the bee's knees!"

Today's topic is un-bee-lievable! Join us as we dive down the hive and explore the wonderful world of bees! David shares some fascinating facts about bees, their societal structures, and common myths, including their role in allergies. Jamie Gibbs of The Infinite Escape Room podcast joins us all the way from Wales to play along. We also have a great chat about their new podcast series focusing on controvers...

Movie theaters were already going for full immersion in the 1970's with Sensurround. David breaks down this little known movie technology, which delivered an earth-shaking intensity to movies (literally). Tony Piluso from the Hack the Movies YouTube channel joins us for a dive into obsolete film tech. He also shares film lore about work prints and the crazy scenes that would get cut from movies aired on television and airplanes.

...

The only thing better than an escape room is having infinite escape rooms! The Infinite Escape Room is a comedy podcast where a bunch of friends write escape rooms for each other to play while chatting over a cold one. Infinite Escape Room co-host Jamie Gibbs joins us as as we all collectively get our minds blown by the inconceivable concept of infinity. David guides us down this rabbit hole while we ponder questions like, what's ...

The reality show Survivor loves to open with a splash—literally. The most famous opening episodes start by having contestants jumping off a ship while trying to grab anything useful they'll need to survive the next month stranded in a deserted locale. Survivor calls this a "marooning," but in today's episode of PG's Playhouse, David tells us about real life maroonings and what the term originally meant. David delves into the histo...

You're starving, sweaty, exhausted, and your best friend on the island just stabbed you in the back. Ahead, a giant obstacle course awaits, with a complex puzzle afterwards. And you've got to juggle all this while outmaneuvering a bunch of other contestants all hungry for the win.

With over 49 seasons, Survivor is one of reality television's longest running shows. Steven Fishbach, runner-up on Survivor Tocantins and all-star ret...

Have you ever cooked with molasses? It's so gooey and sticky that it can literally pull the fillings out of your teeth if you're not careful. Now imagine a 15-foot wave of molasses coming towards you at a glacial but inevitable pace.

Today, we're diving into one of the stickiest disasters in American history, The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 in Boston, MA. Special guest Emily Jillette joins us again for more puzzles and trivia. ...

Long before uranium became synonymous with weapons of mass destruction, it was mostly serving as a decorative function. Glassblowers and glass factories would add a tiny bit of uranium to their glass, which gave it that distinctive yellowish green color. It also created a fluorescent effect under blacklight. David explores the history and back ground of this collector's item.

Emily Jillette, noted puzzler, escape room enthusiast...

" It might be an affront to the laws of physics."

In this episode of PG's Playhouse, we're going vertical! Today's topic is Frank Lloyd Wright's Nuclear Powered Elevator. Why would you need nuclear power for an elevator? Well, because it was designed to service a skyscraper stretching a mile upwards. David breaks down this totally bonkers skyscraper design that never ended up being built.

Guest Sandy Weisz joins us again to talk...