One-Time Pod

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/.

Episode 48 - The Right to Be Forgotten

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

08-12
09:18

Episode 47 - PRISM

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

08-11
11:26

Episode 46 - USA PATRIOT Act

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

08-10
10:15

Episode 45 - The Fourth Amendment

Can the US Constitution keep up with changing surveillance technology?

08-09
10:01

Episode 44 - P vs. NP

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

08-08
09:50

Episode 43 - Cicada 3301

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

08-07
19:33

Episode 42 - The Border Exception

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

08-06
10:36

Episode 41 - Facial Recognition

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

08-05
11:05

Episode 40 - Gait Recognition

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

08-04
08:29

Episode 39 - The Crypto Wars

How much privacy does the American public deserve?

08-03
11:55

Episode 38 - Carpenter v. United States

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

08-02
10:54

Episode 37 - TikTok

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

08-01
09:51

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.

07-29
03:24

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.

12-19
11:43

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.

12-18
09:28

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.

12-17
10:57

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.

12-16
11:26

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.

12-13
10:09

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.

12-12
09:37

Episode 30 - Hieroglyphics

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

12-11
09:33

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