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Ken Jennings
History & Commentary
Ken Jennings is an American game show host and nonfiction author whose books explore trivia history, culture, and geography.
Biography
Ken Jennings is an American game show host and author born in 1974. Before appearing on Jeopardy!, he worked as a software engineer. In 2004, he won 74 consecutive games on the program, establishing the longest winning streak in its history. He later won the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament.
Following his success as a contestant, Jennings wrote about his experiences and explored American trivia history and culture in nonfiction books. His book Maphead draws on his lifelong interest in geography to examine maps and the communities that form around them. He also appeared on other game shows and hosted the Omnibus podcast from 2017 to 2025. Jennings returned to Jeopardy! as a producer in 2020, began sharing full-time hosting duties in 2021, and became its sole host in 2023.
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Books by Ken Jennings
Maphead
Maphead traces the history of mapmaking and examines cartography’s role in human civilization through Jennings’s lifelong interest in geography. It explores map enthusiasts and activities ranging from the London Map Fair and Google Earth to highpointing, geocaching, road atlas rallying, and fictional maps.