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Discussion thread: Cryptology (SECRET CODES) is published! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-06-05 18:53:12
Edited:
2025-06-05 19:04:02
Imported:
2026-06

Content

*This episode is recorded and published, ready to hear wherever you get podcasts! Let's discuss the episode in the comments below.*

Cryptology expert Simon Singh wrote "The Code Book" and answers all sorts of questions about ancient ciphers, mysterious manuscripts, the Enigma machine, hidden treasure, and more!

Have you listened yet? What did you think? And I'm curious to hear if anyone has a favorite secret code or secret code story. Let me know in the comments.

(This one went up a day late but I hope it was worth the wait, y'all!)

Yours,

Adday Ardway

Files

Cryptology (SECRET CODES) with Dr, Simon Singh - alie ward

Secret ciphers. Hidden treasure. Enigma breakers. Mysterious manuscripts. And ... hog Latin. Cryptology expert and author of "The Code Book," Simon Singh finally lets me ask him about the small mistakes that lost huge battles, the prison plots of Mary Queen of Scots, a cryptology reality show that I w

Comments

Rob Harbers

Crytpology?!? A little more coding there?😆

Alie Ward

You're one step closer to the gold I hid in Virginia

Bredlab

looking forward to this one! Simon brought his Engima machine to my workplace a few years back

Raja

Oof! I've been run off my heels this week and lost track of the days! Didn't even realize this was out, but now that I know it's about secret codes, it's going on the high priority list! Can't wait to learn all the things! •••/--•-/••-/•/•/•/-•-•--

Alie Ward

Ooooh, gunna have to de-Morse-code that!

Alie Ward

I've watched videos of his demos on it! And went down a rabbit hole about the lectrical engineering and the spaghetti plate of wires...

roni 💥

honestly might be a top 5 episode for me. it was so so cool and interesting!! also, unrelated but funny story, i had volunteer orientation at NHMLA this past weekend (finally got over myself and signed up) and on the first slide of the interpretation section of the powerpoint there was a picture of you showing some kids the coyote pelt, which was so funny to me because you’re the reason i signed up in the first place. kinda like when prince was in an episode of new girl that one time.

Ara Victor

ooohh so excited for this! When I was younger I would always buy the secret spy code kits at scholastic book fairs and write everywhere with invisible ink. I feel like secret codes are an inherently playful thing because of that so its kinda funny to me that the top authorities of the world are always dealing in them

beccaand

What a dream ologies topic! And Simon was such a good guest (especially for someone who spent a lot of time watching Numberphile videos in high school). Alie, speaking of the Bletchley Park reality show, check out the book The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (focusing on 3 female codebreakers at Bletchley and the impact that has on their lives), and the TV show The Bletchley Circle (about 4 codebreakers who worked at Bletchley and use their skills to solve crimes post-war)!

Alie Ward

Ooooh, I will!!! Thank you for the heads up!

Alie Ward

I used to LOVE those invisible ink books! And I think I remember trying to write with lemon juice and then holding the paper over a flame, which seems very dangerous but oh well, I survived.

Alie Ward

AAAAHHHHH!! Tell everyone at the NHM I say hi! I loved orientation and learned so much about sci-comm boing a volunteer there! Fun fact: that coyote pelt pic was taken on the museum's 100th anniversary, which also happened to be my birthday. I took a cross-country red-eye home from a work shoot to make it there that morning because it was such a special day. So if my eyes look rosy and glassy, they were.

roni 💥

first shift is next thursday morning, ill say hey for ya 🫡🫡🫡

Bredlab

i don't recognise that last symbol

Raja

I have to admit that I had to look that one up. Apparently it's an exclamation point! Who knew!

Patrick Duffy

Loved the secret code at the end of the episode!

Alie Ward

did I get it right? it was late, and I didn't proof it

Patrick Duffy

I was able to decipher it, so I think you're good!

Raja

Oop! Just got to the bit about morse code not being a secret code! My b. 🙃

Milan Ilnyckyj

What a great Ologist to have gotten hold of! Singh is a hero of mine as a science communicator, for showing that you can explain phenomena as abstract as number theory to an informed general audience in books that are light on jargon, don't rely on math knowledge, and are rich in good explanations. The Code Book was the first time I really understood the successive breaks into Enigma, despite having read about them in more detail in other sources. I look forward to making a pen-and-paper attempt on your concluding cryptogram over the weekend.

Milan Ilnyckyj

20 8 1 14 11 25 15 21 6 15 18 20 5 1 3 8 9 14 7 21 19 25 15 21 1 18 5 20 8 5 2 5 19 20

CurtisDawg

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CurtisDawg

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Jackie

The Getty will have an online program Friday June 13 on the Voynich. It’s free at Getty.edu

Ted Vician

Back in ye olden times, you could hold your invisible ink notes over an incandescent bulb to get them warm enough to see.

e-rennebee

looooved this episode, so much variety in the chat and simon was so personable. for those looking for code-related engagement ideas: i designed my fiancé’s engagement ring with my initials in morse diamonds. it’s a gold band with little circle diamonds for the dot and teeny rectangles for the dashes. he loves it — it reads •/•-•

Will

absolutely loved this episode. Truly fascinating and loved the code at the end. :) Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A,

beccalikesthebees

First time commenter and new Patron here! I loved this episode so so much. The idea of codes and clues and mysteries has always intrigued me and I felt so inspired to pick up a book and read one for the first time. I have an upcoming break in my semester (I am a teacher) so am due for some sit-down-and-read-a-book time, and I have decided to try The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets from my school's library. So happy to have found a new person to fall down a reading and Wikipedia rabbit hole for <3

Kimberly

I finally got around to listening to this episode and maybe I missed the mention but the movie The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch is all about the cracking the German Enigma code

Kathleen Sachs

Finished the podcast. I was crocheting while Allie read the numbers at the end of the message. It threw off my stitch count.

Kathleen Sachs

Also, an idea for an October episode. Maybe you could interview a horror author about their creative process. Maybe someone like Stephen King.

Steve

Singh was asked how worried people should be about quantum and he replied, "There are some other options; there's something called quantum cryptography, which would combat quantum computing, but it's much harder to implement, and so, it's not quite clear that quantum cryptography would provide us all with the same level of secure communication that cryptography today does. " However, he failed to mention that there's also something called post-quantum cryptography that is not hard to implement. The US government has recently released 3 post-quantum cryptography standards. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-quantum_cryptography.