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One-Time Pod

by Derek Bruff

One-Time Pod explores the history of cryptography through episodes produced by students in Derek Bruff's first-year writing seminar at Vanderbilt University. Each episode considers a different code or cipher, how it works, and why it's interesting.The title is a play on the term "one-time pad," a cipher that's used just once and is thus perfectly secure. Thanks to Joe Hills for the title suggestion.For more on Dr. Bruff's first-year seminar on cryptography, visit the course homepage: derekbruff.org/blogs/fywscrypto/.

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Episodes

  1. Episode 48 - The Right to Be Forgotten

    Should people have the right to have their personal data deleted from databases and websites?

  2. Episode 47 - PRISM

    After Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA's surveillance programs, how can Americans trust their government again?

  3. Episode 46 - USA PATRIOT Act

    Did the US government create a surveillance state in its response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

  4. Episode 45 - The Fourth Amendment

    Can the US Constitution keep up with changing surveillance technology?

  5. Episode 44 - P vs. NP

    What might happen if all modern encryption techniques are rendered useless?

  6. Episode 43 - Cicada 3301

    Who is behind one of the internet's most intricate and mysterious scavenger hunts?

  7. Episode 42 - The Border Exception

    Why are privacy rules for people entering the US so different from the rules that apply within the US?

  8. Episode 41 - Facial Recognition

    What happens if facial recognition technology is used to exert government power?

  9. Episode 40 - Gait Recognition

    How might our lives change when we can be identified just by the way that we walk?

  10. Episode 39 - The Crypto Wars

    How much privacy does the American public deserve?

  11. Episode 38 - Carpenter v. United States

    Is it legal for police to track suspected criminals using location data from their cellphone providers?

  12. Episode 37 - TikTok

    Should users of apps like TikTok fear that their data may fall into the wrong hands?

  13. Season 4 Introduction

    Welcome to Season 4 of One-Time Pod. Each student-produced episode tells a story from the recent history of cryptography, one that explores the role of encryption in the world today.

  14. Episode 36 - Musical Cryptography

    How can you hide a message in a piece of music? Today on One-Time Pod, Audrey explores musical steganography, with examples from classical to trance.

  15. Episode 35 - The Lorenz Cipher

    Sure, breaking the Enigma was hard. But breaking the Lorenz cipher? Without having even seen a Lorenz machine? That’s impressive. Spencer takes us to Bletchley Park in today’s One-Time Pod.

  16. Episode 34 - The McCormick Cipher

    His death was mysterious enough. But when encrypted messages were found on his body, things got weird. Chandu explores the McCormick cipher on today’s One-Time Pod.

  17. Episode 33 - Jefferson's Wheel Cipher

    Thomas Jefferson… diplomat, politician, and cryptographer? On today’s One-Time Pod, Stella hops in her time machine to talk with a founding father about his little known cipher machine.

  18. Episode 32 - W. B. Tyler

    It took 150 years, but a cipher challenge posed by none other than Edgar Allen Poe was finally solved. Who was W. B. Tyler and why were his cryptograms so hard to crack? Wayne explores the mystery of Tyler’s cryptograms on today’s One-Time Pod.

  19. Episode 31 - The Unabomber Ciphers

    Twenty years after the Unabomber’s arrest, the FBI published his encrypted journals. Kellia steps into the mind of a killer on today’s One-Time Pod.

  20. Episode 30 - Hieroglyphics

    In today’s One-Time Pod, Daniel explores the parallels between breaking codes and uncovering a lost language.

  21. Episode 29 - Hash Functions

    In today’s One-Time Pod, Max dives into the history of hash functions, exploring how cybersecurity tries to stay ahead of hackers.

  22. Episode 28 - Lucifer

    How to keep US secrets safe? Maybe make a deal with the devil… or at least a little start-up called IBM. Shivam explores the history of Lucifer (and the Data Encryption Standard) on today’s One-Time Pod.

  23. Episode 27 - Numbers Stations

    “You can’t be afraid of spies, just like you can’t be afraid of flies. Because they’re everywhere.” Hannah tackles the mystery of numbers stations in the latest One-Time Pod.

  24. Episode 26 - Operation Vula

    Secret messages encoded using telephone touch-tones, passed between anti-apartheid activists in London and South Africa? Miles shares Operation Vula, a little-known 1980s crypto story, in today’s One-Time Pod.

  25. Episode 25 - The Ave Maria Cipher

    Any sufficiently advanced cryptography is indistinguishable from magic. At least, that’s what Johannes Trithemius, 16th century German monk, found out. The hard way.

  26. Season 3 Introduction

    Welcome to Season 3 of One-Time Pod, a podcast on the history of cryptography produced by students in Derek Bruff's first-year writing seminar at Vanderbilt University. Each episode considers a different code or cipher, how it works, and why it's interesting.

  27. Episode 24 - The Panizzardi Telegram

    Charlie tells the tale of the Dreyfus affair, a contentious moment in French history that illustrates the unintended effects of enciphering messages.

  28. Episode 23 - The Voynich Manuscript

    Jojo explores the mystery of the Voynich manuscript, a 15th century text filled with mystical images and written in an unknown alphabet.

  29. Episode 22 - The Culper Ring

    Jerry shares the history and codes of America's first intelligence agency, the Culper Ring.

  30. Episode 21 - The D-Day Carrier Pigeon Cipher

    Adrian offers a different take on the coded message attached to the leg of a carrier pigeon found in a chimney 70 years after World War Two.

  31. Episode 20 - The Copiale Cipher

    Arnie unveils the mystery of the Copiale cipher and the secret society rituals it hid for hundreds of years.

  32. Episode 19 - Typex

    Kyle shares the story of the UK's answer to the German Enigma machine: Typex. Spoiler: Unlike Enigma, Typex was never cracked.

  33. Episode 18 - The Dancing Men

    Leah matches wits with Sherlock Holmes over the mysterious cipher in the "The Adventures of the Dancing Men."

  34. Episode 17 - The Fanqie Code

    Elton Song describes the Fanquie code, a Chinese cipher that works with sounds instead of letters.

  35. Episode 16 - Invisible Ink

    Kolapo Dairo dives into the history of invisible ink, used for centuries to hide messages.

  36. Episode 15 - The Somerton Man

    Colin Snell tells a tale about a dead man found in 1948 on Somerton Beach in Australia whose pockets contained a mysterious encoded message.

  37. Episode 14 - The VIC Cipher

    Xinyi Zhang tells the story of a boy who found a hollow nickel and the encrypted message, sent by Russian spies, hidden inside.

  38. Episode 13 - The D-Day Carrier Pigeon Cipher

    Carson McRae shares the story of a World War Two carrier pigeon found 70 years later in the chimney of a home in England with an encrypted message still attached to its leg.

  39. Season 2 Introduction

    Welcome to Season 2 of One-Time Pod, a podcast on the history of cryptography produced by students in Derek Bruff's first-year writing seminar at Vanderbilt University. Each episode considers a different code or cipher, how it works, and why it's interesting.

  40. Episode 12 - The Baconian Cipher

    Maria Sellers examines the claim that Francis Bacon wrote the works of William Shakespeare, signing his name to them in code.

  41. Episode 11 - Knitting Codes

    Sandra Shaw shares the stories of female agents who knitted in code to share messages from behind enemy lines during World War Two.

  42. Episode 10 - The Playfair Cipher

    Alex Young explains the Playfair cipher, invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone.

  43. Episode 9 - Finnegan's Wake

    Romy Pein takes a philosophical approach to cryptography with a look at possible secret messages in James Joyce's novel Finnegan's Wake.

  44. Episode 8 - Purple

    Rachael Osman shares the story of Purple, a Japanese cipher machine used during World War Two.

  45. Episode 7 - The Zodiac Ciphers

    Jackson Kelley provides another take on the unsolved ciphers left by the Zodiac serial killer.

  46. Episode 6 - The Buzzard

    Shalin Naik tells the story of Olivier Levasseur, a French pirate known as the Buzzard, whose final message hides the location of millions in treasure.

  47. Episode 5 - The Pigpen Cipher

    Ejhazz Milford explains the pigpen cipher and its use across generations in keeping secrets.

  48. Episode 4 - The Copiale Cipher

    Sharjeel Khan pulls back the curtain on the Copiale cipher and the secret society that created it.

  49. Episode 3 - Sir George Scovell

    Safwaan Khan relates the story of British codebreaker George Scovell and his role in breaking the Great Paris Cipher.

  50. Episode 2 - The Dorabella Cipher

    Junhao Cai shares the story of the Dorabella cipher, an unsolved mystery left by English compose Edward Elgar.

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

One-Time Pod explores the history of cryptography through episodes produced by students in Derek Bruff's first-year writing seminar at Vanderbilt University. Each episode considers a different code or cipher, how it works, and why it's interesting.The title is a play on the term "one-time pad," a cipher that's used just once and is thus perfectly secure. Thanks to Joe Hills for the title suggestion.For more on Dr. Bruff's first-year seminar on cryptography, visit the course homepage: derekbruff.org/blogs/fywscrypto/.

HOSTED BY

Derek Bruff

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does One-Time Pod have?

One-Time Pod currently has 52 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is One-Time Pod about?

One-Time Pod explores the history of cryptography through episodes produced by students in Derek Bruff's first-year writing seminar at Vanderbilt University. Each episode considers a different code or cipher, how it works, and why it's interesting.The title is a play on the term "one-time pad," a...

How often does One-Time Pod release new episodes?

One-Time Pod has 52 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to One-Time Pod?

You can listen to One-Time Pod on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts One-Time Pod?

One-Time Pod is created and hosted by Derek Bruff.
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