In this special 25-minute episode, Ken distills the highlights of recent North American college and university pranks and hoaxes for April Fool’s Day (and his producer, John, plays pranks on in post-production.)

There are 10 popular targets for higher ed April Fools hoaxes:

• Name Changes
• Mascots
• Improbable Infrastructure
• Celebrity Students
• Cats!
• Absurd New Programs
• Campus Security
• Millennial Students
• The Language Itself
• Deep Anxieties

Ken also offers 5 tips for would-be pranksters:

• Credibility: Suspend disbelief with credible spokespeople and professional production values.
• Credible Details: Weave in facts that sound almost believable.
• Absurdity: Gradually the facts and sound bites should get more and more absurd. This is the payoff for your joke, so make it good!
• Puns: It would seem most people can’t issue an April 1 media release without tons of wordplay.
• Reveal: Don’t hit us over the head; let us have the fun of gradually realizing that this is a hoax.

Here are some of the videos featured in this episode:

Calvin College security - https://youtu.be/XGOWClLLrXw

Biola University math prof - https://youtu.be/blOrY-nEGaE

BBC spaghetti harvest - https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU

Pittsburg State name - https://youtu.be/medsLfL7rec

Luther College “fighting gnomes” - https://youtu.be/O7p8uIfsGl8

Missouri State’s “Scrapper Squirrel” - https://youtu.be/epMg7r9KAnY

University of Findlay monorail - https://youtu.be/Mrk9zm4lJDQ

University of Nebraska–Lincoln Feline Recruitment Studies - https://youtu.be/EUJewvx6Szw

Colgate University School of Dentistry - https://youtu.be/psO-hLMJUGc

University of Michigan School of Public Health - Hipstera - https://youtu.be/O8T2-FVYPMA

Brigham Young University Hotel Harold - https://youtu.be/57dSOhALb-c

And our absolute favourites:

Berklee College of Music adds the membranophone - https://youtu.be/Rx17-Axqtt4

Simon Fraser University “Healthy Campus Initiative” - https://youtu.be/sMWCw9G8Txg

Simon Fraser University “Satellite Campus” - https://youtu.be/ZjF7pmcAm-c

Simon Fraser University “Campus Traffic Management” - https://youtu.be/U0UqHM6qOFg

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