At the height of the Cold War, a "leaked Top Secret Memo" from inside the government proposed a controversial and radical idea: the worst thing that could happen to humanity was worldwide ... peace. Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/30/us/l-c-lewin-writer-of-satire-of-government-plot-dies-at-82.htmlGhost of Iron Mountain by Phil TinlineJFK (1991, O. Stone)https://hvmag.com/life-style/a-history-of-iron-mountain-an-information-storage-facility-in-germantown-ny/https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-many-lives-of-iron-mountainhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/iron-mountain-hoax-anti-vietnam-war-satire-conspiracy-theoriesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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48:28
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48:28
The Impostress Rabbit
The court anatomist returned the King George I with astonishing news: a woman named Mary Toft has been giving birth.... to rabbits. Sources: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/07/05/an-extraordinary-delivery-of-rabbits/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mary-toft-gave-birth-to-rabbitshttps://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/aug2009.htmlhttps://academic.oup.com/hwj/article/80/1/33/665070?login=falsehttps://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/238/1/43/4822513?redirectedFrom=fulltexthttps://www.godalmingmuseum.co.uk/articles/mary-toftsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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39:03
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39:03
Salvator Mundi
A painting purportedly by Leonardo Da Vinci himself is discovered at a little-known auction house in New Orleans in 2005; a decade later, it fetches the highest price for a work of art ever sold at auction. Sources:The Lost LeonardoSavior For Salehttps://therenaissanceworkshop.com/leonardo-da-vinci/https://www.mos.org/leonardo/biography.htmlhttps://www.rct.uk/collection/912525/the-drapery-of-a-chest-and-sleevehttps://www.rct.uk/collection/912524/the-drapery-of-a-sleevehttps://web.archive.org/web/20200524085434/https://www.history.com/news/how-a-priceless-da-vinci-masterwork-disappeared-from-view-for-centurieshttps://salvatormundirevisited.com/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/sep/09/lost-leonardo-da-vinci-film-solved-mystery-worlds-most-expensive-painting-salvator-mundihttps://apnews.com/general-news-91be03753b7d4dbbacfc4bb0d1dcca3dhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/how-saudi-royal-crushed-his-rivals-shakedown-ritz-carlton-n930396https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/arts/design/salvator-mundi-louvre-abu-dhabi.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/world/middleeast/saudi-crown-prince-salvator-mundi.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGsUFvwgvCohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P64rDJkX4HYhttps://artwatch.org.uk/two-developments-in-the-no-show-louvre-abu-dhabi-leonardo-salvator-mundi-saga/https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/menteleonardo/emdl.aspSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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1:09:00
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1:09:00
The Wild West in Palisade, Nevada
People traveling through the west by train in the 1800s expected shootouts and danger and cowboys. The citizens of Palisade gave it to them. Sources:"Westward Hoax: The Secret History of Palisade, Nevada," Very Special Episodes.Fakes, Frauds & Other Malarkey by Kathryn Lindskoog."Mark Twain's Nevada Newspaper Hoaxes" Andrew R. Giarrelli.Mark Twain's writing for the Territorial Enterprise (1851-1865)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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34:48
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34:48
Ern Malley Poetry
Two bored poets decide to prank their least favorite snobby magazine editor by submitting intentionally bad poetry to his literary journal and watching with mirth as he and his fellows delight in publishing it. Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m3bytB5ULwhttps://theconversation.com/the-greatest-poet-who-never-lived-ern-malley-at-80-234905https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4533011085https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-29/ern-malley-literary-hoax-angry-penguins-1944/100412208https://www.ernmalley.net/https://www.literaturelust.com/post/the-great-poet-ern-malley-who-never-existedhttps://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harris-maxwell-henley-max-29615https://quirosonline.com/jindyworobaks-part-one/https://time.com/archive/6821805/books-angry-penguins/https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/33/wertheim.phphttps://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcauley-james-phillip-10896https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stewart-harold-frederick-29423http://jacketmagazine.com/17/fact2.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why do so many people believe things that aren’t true? In an era when claims of “fake news” come as natural as breathing, and social media allows lies to spread and multiply like viruses, the question feels more relevant than ever. From the teenage girls who convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that fairies were real in the 19th century to “Balloon boy” in 2009, Hoax! will explore the most audacious and ambitious tricks in history. And along the way, we’ll uncover the reasons people let themselves be fooled, and how we can live our lives and engage with the media with a more critical eye. Co-hosted by Noble Blood’s Dana Schwartz and pop culture writer Lizzie Logan, we’ll bring you stories of pranks and grifts throughout history so big and bold they make us question why we believe what we believe in the first place.
**New episodes every other week**
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