Pranks and Hoaxes

Original Air Date:

March 30, 2014

Everyone loves a good joke, right? Well, at least when it's not at your expense. We explore hoaxes throughout history, get in the mind of a prolific prankster, and hear from writer Walter Kirn about getting duped by a dangerous con man.

Famous pranksters - Kembrew McLeod

Audio

Pranks aren’t just for April Fool’s Day. Sometimes they can be powerful vehicles for political and social change.

Art of the Hoax - Joey Skaggs

Audio

Joey Skaggs is a master of the hoax. His elaborate pranks have been fooling media outlets since the 1960s.

The Con - Walter Kirn

Audio

For more than a decade, writer Walkter Kirn was friends with a wealthy eccentric named Clark Rockefeller. One day, he discovered the awful truth - the man he knew as Clark Rockefeller was a dangerous imposter.

Sonic Sidebar: The Showman and the Slave

Audio

Legendary showman P.T. Barnum once owned a slave named Joice Heth. Barnum claimed she was 161 years old and a former nanny to George Washington. Benjamin Reiss tells the story in his book "The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America."

Cheryl Strayed on 'Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere'

Bookmarks

Cheryl Strayed’s "Wild" is one of the most famous wilderness memoirs of our time. She especially appreciates writers who combine honesty with emotional intensity — writers who reveal themselves unflinchingly on the page. She recommends a memoir by the writer Poe Ballantine.

Length:

3:15

On Our Minds: Noah's Flood

Audio

Darren Aronofsky's new film "Noah" is getting a lot of buzz, in part because the flood story is a crucial event in the creationist explanation for the origins of life. To find out why, Steve Paulson spoke to the leading historian of creationism, Ronald Numbers.

On Our Minds: Life With Harper Lee

Audio

In 2001, reporter Marja Mills met the celebrated and notoriously private author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee. The two struck up a friendship and, a few years after their first meeting, the two became neighbors. Mills writes about their friendship in her new memoir, “The Mockingbird Next Door.”

Show Details 📻

Airdates

March 30, 2014

Guests:

Culture

Last modified:

August 02, 2024

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Pranks and Hoaxes