World's Greatest Con

World's Greatest Con

Brian Brushwood (Scam School, Modern Rogue, Scam Nation) brings you the hidden stories behind the most audacious con jobs, swindles and heists in history. Email the show at Worlds Greatest Con at Gmail dot comSupport us directly at Patreon dot com slash Greatest Con Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

June 7, 2021 7 mins
Feature Trailer - Brian Brushwood is on a quest to find the World's Greatest Con.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

0101: How To Fool Hitler - The Allies have an audacious plan to win WW2. Drop a body with misinformation to hoax Hitler into believing they'll attack the wrong place. The only problem? They have to approve it first.

Support the show directly by buying actual spy gear at con.scamstuff.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

0102: When is the perfect story too perfect? - The Twenty Committee have the go ahead to fool Hitler with the most audacious Trojan Horse in history. Can they help themselves from over writing it into a bad soap opera?

"Still Alive" piano cover played by Claire Waluch. Find her at Readyclaireone on YouTube.

Video game checkpoint theme is "Cascade" by Kubbi.


Hosted on Ac...

Mark as Played
0103: In The Flesh - The Twenty Committee wrote a story that could fool Hitler. Now they just need to make it real. Brian explores the disgusting gulf between the fantasy of a fake solider and the reality of a discarded corpse.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played
0104: The Moment Of Surrender - Every con has a moment of surrender, when you've done all the work and now the mark needs to fool themselves. Our heroes haves surrendered, will Hitler do his part and fall for the what is quite possibly the world's greatest con?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

0105: Operation Mincemeat Questions - Brian answers questions about the debut season of World's Greatest Con.

Patreon.com/GreatestCon


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

A producer decides to juice his quiz show by feeding answers to contestants. The attention makes them rich and famous but the revelation of the scheme extracts a terrible societal cost from everyone who took the bargain.

"...Baby One More Time" Piano Cover: Björn Gottschall http://www.bjoerngottschall.com

Ad Free Episodes: Patreon.com/GreatestCon

Support The Show:

http://betterhelp.com/WGC
http://ExpressVPN.com/WGC
htt...

Mark as Played

The largest single-day haul in game show history. An Ohio conman exploits Press Your Luck so cleanly they're forced to admit it and hand him the cash. That's only the beginning of his strange, sad story.

Ad Free Episodes: Patreon.com/GreatestCon

Support The Show:

http://betterhelp.com/WGC
http://geologie.com/greatestcon


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

A ranking member of the military finds himself in the center of pop culture, the hot seat on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2001. After an embarrassing first day, he goes on an unlikely run to riches. A turnaround so unlikely he is accused of cheating with quite possibly the dumbest plan in deception history.

Ad Free Episodes: Patreon.com/GreatestCon

Support The Show:

http://geologie.com/greatestcon
http://AdamandEve.com Code: C...

Mark as Played

A wanted con decides to fund his escape from the law on the television game show Super Password. He plays fairly. He wins. All hell breaks loose.

Hi, Matthew.

Ad Free Episodes: Patreon.com/GreatestCon

Support The Show:

Manscaped // Code: ModerenRogue20
HulloPillow.com/wgc


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

Only one man has guessed the exact amount on the Price Is Right's Final Showcase Showdown in the modern history of the show.

He says he came up with the number by himself. Not so, says another super fan in the audience who says he fed him the answer. But wait, people backstage believe a bitter ex-producer has something to do with it.

Who is lying? We find out using all of their own stories in their own words.

Support The Show:

ht...

Mark as Played

Brian is joined by WGC co-creator Justin Robert Young to answer your questions from this season.

Ad Free Episodes: Patreon.com/GreatestCon

Support The Show:

http://Blinkist.com/WGC
http://geologie.com/greatestcon


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played
Here’s a special preview of the Cautionary Tales podcast from Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragic catastrophes from history that contain valuable lessons for today. In this preview, you’ll hear about two young girls who faked an image of fairies so compelling that expert photographers could not explain it and esteemed figures like Sir A...

Mark as Played
Brian chats with John Madden about his new film Operation Mincemeat available on Netflix in America now. The film is adapted from the same book we used for the bulk of our research in Season One.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played
September 15, 2022 41 mins

Brian Brushwood brings you an update on the work of World's Greatest Con season three.


Meanwhile...


We’re sharing a bonus episode from our friends at Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about things misunderstood and overlooked. This season, Malcolm’s obsessed with experiments – natural experiments, scientific experiments, thought experiments. In this preview, you’ll learn about a mysterious and disfiguring disea...

Mark as Played
September 26, 2022 50 mins

Brian is in the booth recording Season Three of World's Greatest Con but in the meantime, Dog and Pony Show Audio has a new series for you: Don't Explain.


Every time you go to the theater, you're experience an onslaught of movie tropes. Every romantic comedy has the down-on-her-luck best friend. Every action movie has the badass one-liners. Every Oscar-bait drama has that tear-jerker ending.


But where do those tropes come fro...

Mark as Played

Two boys demonstrate genuine psychic powers in a rigorous academic study in the late 1970s. When the results are revealed, the academics will be at the center of a new field of science coveted by governments, military and Hollywood. The only problem? The boys are frauds, out to debunk the very concept of parapsychology.


For the first time ever, World's Greatest Con interviews the two boys, now men, at the center of the public e...

Mark as Played
April 9, 2023 42 mins
The Cold War is on, the threat of nuclear annihilation is constant. In a world of fear, a social contagion breaks out: the belief in psychic powers. Military, government and academia take it so seriously they spend millions to find people who can demonstrate these feats. Amidst this backdrop, the scion to one of America’s largest military contractors funds a study at Washington University in St. Louis to find child psychics. Two bo...

Mark as Played
April 9, 2023 53 mins
Steve Shaw is an orphan who bounced around the globe. Mike Edwards is an Iowa choirboy who fulfilled every hope of his loving parents. They both see a world being defrauded by hucksters. They both apply to the Mac Lab study in St. Louis and are accepted. They both believe the other to be a liability in a long con. Can they coexist?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

Mark as Played
April 16, 2023 51 mins
The boys are a team, they’ve been fooling the Mac Lab for over a year but what comes next? Fame and fortune for the Project Alpha team, hopefully. Yet, that means total humiliation for the professors and researchers Mike and Steve have come to know and appreciate. It all comes to a head at a conference in Madison, Wisconsin where the boys have to witness a truly disturbing consequence to their deception.

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.

    On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.