What Is...? A Jeopardy! Podcast

It's been a real run of long-term champions recently and that continues anew this week as we say goodbye to Liam Starnes and hello to Ben Ganger, who puts together an impressive 4-game win streak. We also get a trifecta of hilarious Final Jeopardy! answers, a contestant tries valiantly to pronounce "Nate Bargatze", and friend of the show Alison Betts' innocuous comment on a Reddit post gets the J! fans fuming. Plus, we dive deep on Lee Child's creation, "Jack Reacher".

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It's Liam Starnes week on Jeopardy! as the 20 year-old goes on a run for the ages, and we love every second of it, from his Jeopardy!-themed birthday party to his endearing lack of knowledge about anything pop culture. John and Emily are reunited as Emily is on the mend from surgery and John is back home, and we revel in each other's company with the usual cavalcade of dumb jokes and observations. Plus, we get a contender for Response of the Year from Liam, Jeopardy! fans are very upset with a particular category, and we dive deep on...

With Emily continuing to recover from ass surgery, it's the famous "Wife of the Pod" Becca who joins the show to break down the week that was, from Andrew Hayes locking up a ToC berth to Steven Hoying wearing perhaps the brightest sweater in Jeopardy! history. Becca tells us her history with the show and how it's been woven into the fabric of her relationship with John, and John gets so distracted having to do the episode write-ups for the show, he forgets to do the Deep Dive. Oops! Meanwhile, Becca takes the reins of JFAF to review a...

On a very special John-less episode, Emily is joined by a friend of the pod & true hunk connoisseur: Handsome Kevin Seccia™️! We recap an exciting week of games as we bid goodbye to Mike Dawson and say hello to Andrew Hayes. We also succumb to Anise’s charms, finally find out how tall Mike is, dive deep on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and set the record for most wrestling analogies ever made on this show. Do you smell what the pod is cooking?

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Look, past guest host of this show and our great friend Guy Branum was on Jeopardy! this week. In theory, some other stuff happened too, but we are mostly focused on Guy's Friday appearance, as he does battle with 4-day champion Bryce Wargin and Mike Dawson in a fantastic game. Elsewhere, Mike and Conner give us some great "bad date" anecdotes, JFAF sees the online J! community curious about Guy's bonafides, and we dive deep on Louis Braille. But mostly, Guy was on the show this week, and we just think that's neat.

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It's Josh Weikert week on the show, as he goes through a series of Final Jeopardy! misses but it doesn't matter, as a combination of lock games, weird wagers, and good ol' fashioned luck conspire to make him the latest entrant into the 2026 Tournament of Champions. And what a week it is, as Jeopardy! continues to get even hornier with some wild anagrams, we get two insanely nerdy anecdotes, J! fans are fuming about the Masters lineup, and we dive deep on the nicknames of North and South Korea.

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Yes, this is a Jeopardy! podcast, and yes, John reminisces about the old softcore pornography show "The Red Shoe Diaries", which yes, does have an episode with Matt Leblanc in it. But enough about that, it's Alex DeFrank week on the show as the former Sports Jeopardy! champ goes on an excellent run and Ken really lets loose this week with multiple interjections including allowing Alex the joy of doing a Butt-Head impression on the Alex Trebek stage. Plus, a Joanna Newsom anecdote leads to follow-up from Mr. Joanna Newsom himself, Andy Samberg, J! fans are upset with clues...

We are back, baby! After Emily needed a week off to deal with a butt issue, we have returned and not a moment too soon, as we have an absolutely stellar week of games to recap that had a tournament feel and some very memorable contestants. The H-Bomb looks like he's going to blow up the Jeopardy! stage before running into James Corson, who starts a little run of his own, before the third podium changes hands a few times before the end of the week. We also include some JIT coverage too, so don't fear, as we include...

The JIT continues as we wrap up the quarters and find our way into the first semifinal with some awesome games featuring some of our favorite sweeties! Some of John's favorite Canadians are here too (ooo OOOO) and we have a blast recapping an epic battle between Ben Chan and Shane Whitlock, a buzzer masterclass from Luigi de Guzman, and Ken really having a lot of fun with a category about fascism. Plus, J! fans aren't really fuming but we do get the first instance of a J! player blaming their tiny hands on a loss and we dive...

Your two favorite JIT-heads are BACK as the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament rides once again. We have a couple of stunning upsets, the return of many of our sweeties from years' past, and we get very distracted talking about the television show Reacher on this podcast about the television show Jeopardy!. Plus, Roger Craig returns in a big way with an ode to his legendary ToC moment and some news about his love life (which Jeopardy! fans also find a way to fume about, as is their wont), we get some very nice updates about our contestants' lives (Hannah Wilson...

It's the Tournament of Champions FINAL week and we crown a brand-new champion! We also watch a weird exhibition game for some reason. The games feature some really great play, some real nervous energy, and without spoiling anything here in the synopsis, one of Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch, and Neilesh Vinjamuri hoists the ToC crown, winning $250,000 and the right to compete in the J! Masters. It's also a masterful week for our show as Isaac tells an anecdote that was a story he FIRST TOLD on this here podcast, and we get a potential Bat Signal from Ken Jennings...

It's a whiplash week of Jeopardy! as we go all the way from the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals to the finals, ending up with a three-way clash for the belt between Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch, and Neilesh Vinjamuri. But we have to get their first as Drew gets a few more good bits in, Jeopardy! once again FAILS to beat the horny allegations in their most serious tournament of the year, and we dive deep on the French monarchy. Plus, we discuss the just-announced lineup for this year's JIT and Jeopardy! fans once again point out an Isaac wagering...

After weeks of Second Chance and Champions Wild Card play, the long-awaited Tournament of Champions is finally HERE! And it immediately breaks our hearts, as some of our faves go home early and we are treated to one of the harshest Final Jeopardy! judges' rulings in recent memory as CWC champion Mehal Shah bows out. We also see one of the strongest games of the season so far from Neilesh, and Amy escapes a wild game with a W, thanks in part to one of the toughest FJs we've ever seen. Plus, Jeopardy! fans fume about the games being...

John was away for work this week and got sick so this is his "Flu Game", as we recap the final week of the Champions Wild Card, and what a week it was. The week featured one of the games of the year, a wonderful two-game final between three of our favorite competitors in the tournament, and another beautifully connected anecdote and response from Drew. Plus, a successfully pulled-off Arrested Development gag, Jay Fisher cementing his place as one of the best anecdotalists in the show's recent history, and we dive deep on the USS Nautilus–how appropriate.

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The Second Chance Tournament is over and now it's time to revisit some of our favorite champs from the past with the Champions Wildcard Tournament, and much like the Second Chance, it does not disappoint. Both Second Chance winners Will and Drew make a good impression, John and Emily imagine what their dream Jeopardy! response would be if they were ever on the show, and Adam Hersh has the most "What is You Doing, Baby?" moment of the season so far. Plus, Emily is fuming at Drew's Instagram (though we still love Drew), Final Jeopardy! clues get tough, and...

It was a tough week for the world and California especially, but it was a great week for Jeopardy! fans as we were treated to a fantastic second week of Second Chance play. A bunch of our faves are back and we have a host of good anecdotes including a rare triple crown day where all 3 were actually good, we dive deep on rhesus monkeys in space, and Drew makes up with the Swifties in a Response of the Year candidate.

SOURCE: Space.com: "Monkeys in Space: A Brief Spaceflight History" by Mike Wall<...

The Second Chance Tournament is BACK and with it comes a whole host of our favorites from Season 40, including our man Will Yancey, who we were pulling for back in his first appearance on the show and we pull for him this week as he makes it to the finals. Can he hold off Kaitlin Tarr and Colleen Matthews? We find out here as Kaitlin has a potential harbinger of doom for an anecdote, Colleen becomes a master of wrong answer adlibs, and we learn that David Madden isn't the only Jeopardy! contestant to own several parrots. Plus, J...

We got to celebrate Christmas with our listeners, and now it's time to celebrate New Year's, with this NYE episode that has us feeling great about 2025! And it must have Laura Faddah feeling great too, as she retires for a few months a 7-day champ with a little bit of luck and some very timely responses carrying her to a ToC berth as we head into the J! post-season. It was a fun week all around as John vibes with a Québécois contestant, Emily vibes with a particular Daily Double response, and we dive deep on Smokey Be...

An episode of your favorite Jeopardy! podcast on Christmas Eve?! What a gift! Emily and John share some memories of Christmas past as we also share some memories of this week of games which see Ashley Chan fall just short of the ToC threshold, but as Ken says: we'll see her again. We also get another couple of NASTY Final Jeopardy! clues that leave J! fans FUMING about the writers maybe being on VACATION (but still writing the clues while doing so apparently), we get some strange wagers from the contestants, and John helps Emily avoid jail time by...

Look, sometimes we get things wrong. Ok, we get things wrong all the time. But we were very surprised Dave Bond didn't go deeper, as we say goodbye to him on Monday and hello to Bill McKinley and Ashley Chan, who both have a nice week. And we have a nice week too, as John coordinates a Jeopardy! surprise for his Blocked Party cohost Stefan Heck, J! continues their run of Final Jeopardy clues that swing wildly from quite difficult to dead easy, and Emily is really, really committed to getting out of PE. Plus, we dive deep on "...

John is back and we have an absolutely fantastic of week of games, as we fall in love with Evan Jones and then fall in love all over again once Stevie Ruiz is introduced. And by the end of the week, it's Bond, Dave Bond, who runs roughshod over the competition and looks like a potential ToC contender while giving us another contender for Response of the Year. Plus, we get an anecdote that makes us feel stupider than some of the clues do, Jeopardy! fans can't believe a clue uses the word boob, and we dive deep on...

With John away this week, Emily is joined by comedian, writer, and current Jeopardy contestant-pool member Guy Branum! They break down: the rise and fall of Episcopal priest Kevin Laskowski, the best movies to watch with your family during the holidays, and how to communicate through your Jeopardy! anecdote that you have lived a LIFE. Also discussed: Chuck E. Cheese, and the fortunes made and lost in bringing him to life.

SOURCE: New York Times: "Farewell, Chuck E. Cheese Animatronic Band" by Jesus Jiménez; IEEE.org: "Chuck E. Cheese's Animatronic Band Bows Out" b...

It's a Daily Double double this week as Mehal Shah pushes all-in twice in a row to give us one of the season's marquee moments. He also gives one of the responses of the year in FJ, prompting Ken to ask a very pertinent question. We say goodbye to Paul Clauson, who seemed poised to go deeper than he did, and we end the week with a new champion in Adam Hersh, who thankfully didn't throw up. Plus, Jeopardy! fans have finally had enough of video categories (and so have we!), we go deep on Carrie Nation, and we...

It's an up-and-down week on the show as Joey DeSena goes on a brief run before succumbing to the powers of women's tennis, Evan Dorey can't quite mount a run, and we end the week with "lovable nerd" Paul Clauson looking like a future contender. We also start a brand-new feud with Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, Jeopardy! Fans Are Fuming about the topography of Scotland, we dive deep on the quietly sinister Sarah Polk, and Steven Czekala pulls off a rare feat...actually landing a joke on Jeopardy!.

SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine: "How...

Keep on Jolin, baby! Greg Jolin cements his place in the Tournament of Champions as we cement our place as a Jeopardy! podcast of note, hearing from both a past contestant about last week's episode, and a contestant who was on this week's episode, and both have some great intel for us you won't wanna miss. It's also a great week of games, as some really tight games get our blood pumping, Sammy Sanchez perhaps ushers in a new era of anecdotes, and Jeopardy! fans (and us!) are talking about this year's Second Chance Tournament contestants. Plus, we strap...

As Emily so aptly puts it, we have a game this week that justifies this podcast's entire existence. A wild cast of characters, a raft of missed clues, and a Daily Double mishap create the type of drama that can only be found on the J! stage. It's a great week overall with some fun new champions, a category so nasty our "Nasty Clue of the Week" becomes our Nasty Category of the Week, and Jeopardy! fans fume about one clue so vehemently it makes it all the way to the pages of People magazine. Plus, we dive deep...

It's a delirious episode of the show as we record this late on a Monday and just squeeze it in for your Tuesday morning commute, and what a week it was! We have a new 4-day champion in Will Wallace who is like the William Wallace from Braveheart, only 1000 times more chill. We are chill too as a contestant has an interesting call sign, we both reveal some decently poor singing impressions, and Jeopardy! fans are very upset that Dave Matthews was referred to as a pop star. Plus, we dive deep on one of the worst songs of...

For perhaps the first time in the podcast's history, Emily and John side with the Jeopardy! fans who are fuming this week, as Ontario-born John is completely baffled that Jeopardy! clue writers used Marineland as a scientific reference for anything. We go off on that and a lot of other fun stuff this week, as we have a couple very close games, a friend of John's from the J! Discord has a great run on the show (and wears a great shirt), and it's a second consecutive week with a curling anecdote. God bless. We also dive deep on...

We have another Tournament of Champions entrant and perhaps the final ToC entrant of Season 40 (despite this being Season 41), as games taped from last season wrap with Mark Fitzpatrick picking up his 5th win and then subsequently having a great time through his "tired game" that has plagued so many past champions. It was a great week full of curling, nasty clues including a couple tough FJs, and a category that doesn't help Jeopardy! duck the horny allegations. Plus, Jeopardy Fans are Fuming over Ryan Seacrest's performance as the host of Wheel of Fortune and we go deep on...

Jeopardy! continues its slow descent into horny madness and we can't help but follow them there with the absolutely ridiculous category, "An Ocean of Lotion". There's an ocean of great content on this episode too as John records at 1 am in Charlottetown, PEI and we get delirious. It's a slow week for anecdotes and JFAF, but the horniness comes to save us all. Plus, John visits a legendary literary locale, Emily celebrates her birthday, and we dive deep on the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk.

SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine: "The Real Robinson Crusoe" by...

It's a delightful week on Jeopardy! as we meet one of the most likeable contestants in recent memory and surefire Second Chancer Drew Goins. And this is not to mention a very sharp 3-game run from surefire Champions Wildcarder (or maybe direct-berth TOCer) David Erb, who also reveals he's led a very interesting life from being an astrophysicist and making key discoveries to his wife being the author of the revered "Lessons in Chemistry". Plus, Jeopardy! fans point out a "rare occurrence" that actually isn't rare at all in JFAF, John turns even more Canadian, and we dive deep...

It is a cool and awesome week on the show as we rue the fact that we got two candidates for Anecdote of the Year last week and then a whole lotta duds this week. But that's ok! We have a ton of fun with Aiden's three appearances on the show, we beg for a Second Chance for Will, and Jeopardy! gets its own "Hot Priest". Plus, we continue our investigation into Jeopardy's increasing horniness, we go deep on Fantasia, and Emily claims the ultimate triumph: a successful Blind Final Jeopardy guess at home.

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We're back, baby! It's Season 41 of Jeopardy! and Season 2 of our little show about the smartest show on television. Of course, all your favorite segments are here and as good as ever. It's a wild week that accurately mimics the start of a new season, with some nervous energy from a lot of contestants, some weird buzzer form, and two anecdotes that will almost surely be in contention for Anecdote of the Year in the 2025 Jeoppys. Plus, J! fans (and us) are rightfully upset about a particular figure showing up as a J! clue, we go deep on Ringo...

It's time to celebrate! Season 40 of Jeopardy! and Season 1 of our podcast is in the books, and while it was a strange season full of tournaments and this podcast didn't start until halfway through it, we are still giving out awards! It's a look back at the wildest anecdotes, responses, and headlines of the year as we crown our first-ever Jeoppy award winners. And yes, we are going to make physical trophies and give them out to the winners.

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Jeopardy! is off for the summer, but we aren't! At least not yet, as we crown our first-ever Player of the Year, Isaac Hirsch, and sit down for a lengthy chat with the 9-game champion. We ask about everything you've been dying to know, including his Tournament of Champions preparation, his bad math that cost him his 10th win, and how it felt when Ken said he had sex appeal. Plus, we commiserate about our comedy careers and IBS, discuss some of Isaac's more memorable anecdotes, and finally get the answer to the question everyone has been dying to...

It's the final week of Season 40 and everyone has Senioritis, including your hosts! It's a strange week of games that sees a couple runs end just when they looked like they were heating up, some weird clues have us a bit confounded, and Ken gets just a little bit horny. It is brat summer, after all. Plus, we discuss WikiFeet, Jeopardy! fans are upset about a Carol Burnett Show Triple Stumper, and we go deep (no pun intended) on the life and times of the Unsinkable One, Molly Brown.

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We don't have too many good ideas on this show, but we may have stumbled upon one this time around, as we demand the J! producers bring back all the contestants we think are the nicest and gentlest to play their own, quiet version of the game without being pestered by all the brash trivia mavens that grace the Alex Trebek Stage. Make it happen, Davies! Plus, Micah Had F, we say goodbye to Isaac Hirsch, J! fans are upset about math, and we dive deep–like way deep, man–on the life and times of Timothy Leary.

Pl...

Which kind of Josh are you? It's the question on everyone's mind this week as John records in a foreign land (his parents' basement) and we see another man added to the Tournament of Champions invite list as Isaac Hirsch punches his ticket with another delightful week of play. Isaac also continues his great run of anecdotes and we get a surprise contender for "Anecdote of the Season" when Stephanie describes her unfortunate run-in with glow sticks. Plus, Emily has a unique week ahead at work due to being close to an adult toy trade show, we dive deep...

Isaac Hirsch tempted fate with a Wednesday anecdote about his Jeopardy!-losing father, but it mattered not, as he rattled off three straight wins and has the look of a potential ToC entrant, leisure suit and all. It was a fun week on the show as Emily wonders if Canada Day is real and John is furious when the contestants treat a Canadian category like it isn't. We also get one of the responses of the year in a French slang category, Parade Magazine enters the fray in the J! Fans Are Fuming segment, and we dive deep on...

It's a full week of Drew Basile on the podcast, as he wins his way into the Tournament of Champions, finds himself exhausted on Friday and his streak ends at 7 days. But what a week it was, and we run it all down here, from Jeopardy! clue writers picking a hilarious category name to John learning that Duncan Hines was a guy who did some other stuff also. Plus, J! fans are upset and just a little bit pedantic about a clue, we hear a perfect Jeopardy! anecdote, and we dive deep on the legend of Colonel Harland Sanders.<...