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/.
Thu, August 12, 2021
Episode 48 – The Right to Be Forgotten
Should people have the right to have their personal data deleted from databases and websites?
Wed, August 11, 2021
Episode 47 – PRISM
After Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA's surveillance programs, how can Americans trust their government again?
Tue, August 10, 2021
Episode 46 – USA PATRIOT Act
Did the US government create a surveillance state in its response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
Mon, August 09, 2021
Episode 45 – The Fourth Amendment
Can the US Constitution keep up with changing surveillance technology?
Sun, August 08, 2021
Episode 44 – P vs. NP
What might happen if all modern encryption techniques are rendered useless?
Sat, August 07, 2021
Episode 43 – Cicada 3301
Who is behind one of the internet's most intricate and mysterious scavenger hunts?
Fri, August 06, 2021
Episode 42 – The Border Exception
Why are privacy rules for people entering the US so different from the rules that apply within the US?
Thu, August 05, 2021
Episode 41 – Facial Recognition
What happens if facial recognition technology is used to exert government power?
Wed, August 04, 2021
Episode 40 – Gait Recognition
How might our lives change when we can be identified just by the way that we walk?
Tue, August 03, 2021
Episode 39 – The Crypto Wars
How much privacy does the American public deserve?
Mon, August 02, 2021
Episode 38 – Carpenter v. United States
Is it legal for police to track suspected criminals using location data from their cellphone providers?
Sun, August 01, 2021
Episode 37 – TikTok
Should users of apps like TikTok fear that their data may fall into the wrong hands?
Trailer · Thu, July 29, 2021
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.
Thu, December 19, 2019
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.
Wed, December 18, 2019
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.
Tue, December 17, 2019
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.
Mon, December 16, 2019
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.
Fri, December 13, 2019
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.
Thu, December 12, 2019
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.
Wed, December 11, 2019
Episode 30 – Hieroglyphics
In today’s One-Time Pod, Daniel explores the parallels between breaking codes and uncovering a lost language.
Tue, December 10, 2019
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.
Mon, December 09, 2019
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.
Fri, December 06, 2019
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.
Thu, December 05, 2019
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.
Wed, December 04, 2019
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.
Trailer · Tue, December 03, 2019
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.
Wed, December 12, 2018
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.
Tue, December 11, 2018
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.
Mon, December 10, 2018
Episode 22 – The Culper Ring
Jerry shares the history and codes of America's first intelligence agency, the Culper Ring.
Fri, December 07, 2018
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.
Thu, December 06, 2018
Episode 20 – The Copiale Cipher
Arnie unveils the mystery of the Copiale cipher and the secret society rituals it hid for hundreds of years.
Wed, December 05, 2018
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.
Tue, December 04, 2018
Episode 18 – The Dancing Men
Leah matches wits with Sherlock Holmes over the mysterious cipher in the "The Adventures of the Dancing Men."
Mon, December 03, 2018
Episode 17 – The Fanqie Code
Elton Song describes the Fanquie code, a Chinese cipher that works with sounds instead of letters.
Fri, November 30, 2018
Episode 16 – Invisible Ink
Kolapo Dairo dives into the history of invisible ink, used for centuries to hide messages.
Thu, November 29, 2018
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.
Wed, November 28, 2018
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.
Tue, November 27, 2018
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.
Trailer · Mon, November 26, 2018
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.
Mon, December 04, 2017
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.
Fri, December 01, 2017
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.
Wed, November 29, 2017
Episode 10 – The Playfair Cipher
Alex Young explains the Playfair cipher, invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone.
Mon, November 27, 2017
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.
Fri, November 24, 2017
Episode 8 – Purple
Rachael Osman shares the story of Purple, a Japanese cipher machine used during World War Two.
Wed, November 22, 2017
Episode 7 – The Zodiac Ciphers
Jackson Kelley provides another take on the unsolved ciphers left by the Zodiac serial killer.
Mon, November 20, 2017
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.
Fri, November 17, 2017
Episode 5 – The Pigpen Cipher
Ejhazz Milford explains the pigpen cipher and its use across generations in keeping secrets.
Wed, November 15, 2017
Episode 4 – The Copiale Cipher
Sharjeel Khan pulls back the curtain on the Copiale cipher and the secret society that created it.
Mon, November 13, 2017
Episode 3 – Sir George Scovell
Safwaan Khan relates the story of British codebreaker George Scovell and his role in breaking the Great Paris Cipher.
Fri, November 10, 2017
Episode 2 – The Dorabella Cipher
Junhao Cai shares the story of the Dorabella cipher, an unsolved mystery left by English compose Edward Elgar.
Wed, November 08, 2017
Episode 1 – The Zodiac Ciphers
Kelsey Brown explores the mystery of the Zodiac ciphers, unsolved mysteries left by the infamous serial killer.
Trailer · Mon, November 06, 2017
Episode 0 – Introduction
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. For more on Dr. Bruff's first-year seminar on cryptography, visit the course homepage: derekbruff.org/blogs/fywscrypto/. Intro music: "To Be Decided," Mystery Mammal, CC-BY
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