Hoax!
Why do so many people believe things that aren’t true? In an era when claims of “fake news” come as natural as breathing, and social media allows lies to spread and multiply like viruses, the question feels more relevant than ever. From the teenage girls who convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that fairies were real in the 19th century to “Balloon boy” in 2009, Hoax! will explore the most audacious and ambitious tricks in history. And along the way, we’ll uncover the reasons people let themselves be fooled, and how we can live our lives and engage with the media with a more critical eye. Co-hosted by Noble Blood’s Dana Schwartz and pop culture writer Lizzie Logan, we’ll bring you stories of pranks and grifts throughout history so big and bold they make us question why we believe what we believe in the first place. **New episodes every other week**
Episodes
People traveling through the west by train in the 1800s expected shootouts and danger and cowboys. The citizens of Palisade gave it to them.
Sources:
"Westward Hoax: The Secret History of Palisade, Nevada," Very Special Episodes.
Fakes, Frauds & Other Malarkey by Kathryn Lindskoog.
"Mark Twain's Nevada Newspaper Hoaxes" Andrew R. Giarrelli.
Mark Twain's writing for the Territorial Enterprise (1851-1865)
See omn...
Two bored poets decide to prank their least favorite snobby magazine editor by submitting intentionally bad poetry to his literary journal and watching with mirth as he and his fellows delight in publishing it.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m3bytB5ULw
https://theconversation.com/the-greatest-poet-who-never-lived-ern-malley-at-80-234905
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4533011085
https://www.abc.net.au/news...
Samuel Ireland was an avid collector, the type of man who boasted and tried to make himself look important. His son, William Henry, just wanted to make his dad proud of him.
Sources:
The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare, by Doug Stewart
Shakespeare and Others by S. Schoenbaum
'The Poet's Hand,' Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Henry-Ireland
https://www.npr.org/2010/06/...
For a few tense hours in October 2009, the entire world watched as a homemade aircraft purportedly carrying a 6-year-old boy drifted in mid-air on live television. When the balloon landed, there was no boy inside.
Sources: Wife Swap Season 5, Episode 1: “Heene/Martell”
Wife Swap Season 5, Episode 18: “Heene/Silver”
The video that I showed Dana of the YourShakeDown invention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
In 1917, two young cousins returned from the creek behind their house with thrilling news: they had photographed fairies! Their parents were skeptical, but soon the photos of the "Cottingley Fairies" were circulated, eventually finding a champion in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sources:
‘Fairies Photographed: An Epoch-Making Event.’ Strand Magazine, 1920
'The Coming of the Fairies' by Arthur Conan Do...
Hoax! is a new show from Dana Schwartz (Noble Blood) and Lizzie Logan (Vulture, Reductress). Listen to the first episode on August 4th.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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