World's Greatest Con

In 1915, San Diego is on the brink of becoming a major American city, if it doesn’t die of thirst first.Enter Charles Hatfield. He claims a secret chemical process can summon rain, end the drought, and sustain the city as it prepares to welcome the world for a critical international exhibition.And he’s right.It rains.The problem is, it doesn’t stop.Floods tear through the region. Dozens are dead. Millions of dollars in damage follow. Entire neighborhoods are washed away.In the aftermath, everything hinges on one impossible question: did he truly believe he was making the rain or was it all a con? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Ponzi conducted a financial fraud so audacious he became the biggest brand name in crime. Yet most people don’t know what he actually did and those who do are often hard-pressed to explain why it was special.So why, more than 100 years later, do we call so many financial scams a Ponzi scheme?Brian tells the story of a poor boy from Italy whose name is still on the lips of everyone worried they’re about to be made a sucker.BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 110.ScamStuff.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eddie has a plan to make millions. It leaves him an international fugitive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A New York City upstart becomes a legend in the city that never sleeps. But his greed leaves him teetering on the edge of fame, wealth and death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Germans have invented an aquatic killing machine the likes of which the world has never known. If you are one of its victims, how do you trick sure death? By pulling an all-in audacious scheme that only works if you have the element of surprise. How long can the Royal Navy keep the Q Ship con going before time runs out? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The true story of how Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin is called out of retirement to help quell an uprising in French Colonial Algeria. What happens next is the most famous, high stakes magic performance in history. What the unbelievable story of Houdin tells us about or desire to believe and the distractions that lead con artists to take advantage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walt is dead. His dream of EPCOT isn't.Roy Disney puts off his own retirement to attempt to finish his brother's final plan. In his way is a new hostile governor and the bewildered residents of Orlando who have no idea what to expect from incoming Disney empire. The drive to make EPCOT a reality... just might be the World's Greatest Con. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walt Disney doesn't want to expand, he wants to build his masterpiece. He doesn't want to sell more popcorn, he wants to defeat communism.He doesn't want Disneyland East, he is driven to build EPCOT.Far from the adult binge drinking paradise we know in Orlando today, the original idea of EPCOT is a planned community that requires massive land acquisition and never-before-seen government permissions. And by the way, you need to do it in secret. Walt Disney's quest for total control just might be... the World's Greatest Con. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian and Justin discuss an article in the New York Times alleging that magic has forgiven it's 50-year grudge with Uri Geller. Considering the subject matter of our Project Alpha investigation... World's Greatest Con disagrees. Also, an interview with Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine discussing the science and shame of being taken in by incorrect information and the legacy of Project Alpha.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A funny thing happened as we finished our season. We asked for listeners to unearth an old podcast WGC co-creator Justin Robert Young did with James Randi and it was indeed found. But one episode surprised us... James Randi in his own words describing Project Alpha in 2008. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes when you tell a story, you change it. We have an update on one of the central figures in Project Alpha. Brian Brushwood reads your emails and feedback including questions about James Randi and a moment when William Shatner blessed the podcast with an epic rendition of our title. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a rare, candid, conversation Brian Brushwood sits down with Mike Edwards and Banachek to get even more stories from the Mac Lab and answer lingering questions.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At a 1983 press conference in New York City, the entire charade is revealed. It’s recorded for a prime time NBC special set to air two weeks later. We unpack 40 years of consequences from the triumph and betrayal of Project Alpha.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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 information.

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 boys apply and are accepted, but they have something up their sleeve… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 embarrassment of a study funded for $4 million in today's money.You may have heard of it, you might even think you know the story but this season everyone will know the truth of Project Alpha. It all begins, April 10th. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 from? How do audiences become so aware of Hollywood's bag of tricks, parody movies can become a massive genre on their own?This series explores the birth, death, and rebirth of one of the most successful cinematic genres ever: the rockstar biopic. In this episode, we start from the beginning, focusing on the earliest established tropes of the genre.Lady Sings the Blues, The Buddy Holly Story, and 8 Mile.The first episode is available now in this feed and the reminder of the season is ready to binge on the Don't Explain feed on all podcast platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 disease plagued parts of the world. No one could find a remedy, until a doctor in Ohio conducted a controversial experiment and finally found a cure …with an everyday condiment. You can hear more of Revisionist History at:https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/rhs7?sid=con. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.