In preparation for this first episode, I reread John Ronson's So You've been publicly shamed. The shame thing is the part that really stuck with me. It never would have occurred to me that that was an aspect of stage hypnotism. And you get to see how quickly people readjust their behaviors in order to get more of that dopamine hit.
In this episode, we sit down with famed stage magician and infamous instructor of the school of scams, Brian Brushwood, whose new podcast explores the world's greatest con artists and con jobs from World War II to modern game shows.
We cover everything in this episode from why you can't con an honest person to the power of shame and fame to folk psychology to how the British conned Hitler using one of the oldest tricks in the book to how one man broke the code for Press Your Luck earning him the most money ever awarded in a single day on any program in the history of game shows.