World's Greatest Con

By Dog And Pony Show Audio

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 Gmai... more

4.9

11881,188 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about World's Greatest Con:

How many episodes does World's Greatest Con have?

The podcast currently has 34 episodes available.

World's Greatest Con episodes:

May 08, 2023 An Update On Project Alpha and Your Emails
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.
...more
49min
May 01, 2023 Back In The Lab - Project Alpha Part V
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.
...more
1h 12min
April 23, 2023 Side Characters - Project Alpha Part IV
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.
...more
42min
April 17, 2023 Demonic - Project Alpha Part III
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.
...more
52min
April 10, 2023 Alpha - Project Alpha Part II
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.
...more
53min
April 10, 2023 Project - Project Alpha Part I
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.
...more
43min
April 03, 2023 Project Alpha Trailer - Season 3 of World's Greatest Con Begins April 10, 2023
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.
...more
3min
September 27, 2022 Presenting Don't Explain
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.
...more
51min
September 15, 2022 From Revisionist History: Way to Go, Ohio
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.
...more
42min
May 11, 2022 Interview with John Madden, Director of "Operation Mincemeat"
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.
...more
36min

FAQs about World's Greatest Con:

How many episodes does World's Greatest Con have?

The podcast currently has 34 episodes available.

More shows like World's Greatest Con

Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,789 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,987 Listeners

Criminal by Vox Media Podcast Network

Criminal

37,622 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,256 Listeners

Revisionist History by Pushkin Industries

Revisionist History

58,893 Listeners

Swindled by A Concerned Citizen

Swindled

9,822 Listeners

Behind the Bastards by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Behind the Bastards

15,670 Listeners

Decoder Ring by Slate Podcasts

Decoder Ring

2,116 Listeners

American Scandal by Audible

American Scandal

19,156 Listeners

The Political Orphanage by Andrew Heaton

The Political Orphanage

980 Listeners

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

5,129 Listeners

Search Engine by PJ Vogt

Search Engine

4,553 Listeners

Scamfluencers by Audible

Scamfluencers

7,411 Listeners

Hyperfixed by Hyperfixed & Radiotopia

Hyperfixed

703 Listeners

Business History by Pushkin Industries

Business History

102 Listeners