World's Greatest Con

Do Rainmakers Believe They Make The Rain?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:32:25 GMT

In 1915, San Diego is on the brink of becoming a major American city, if it doesn’t die of thirst first.

Enter Charles Hatfield. He claims a secret chemical process can summon rain, end the drought, and sustain the city as it prepares to welcome the world for a critical international exhibition.

And he’s right.

It rains.

The problem is, it doesn’t stop.

Floods tear through the region. Dozens are dead. Millions of dollars in damage follow. Entire neighborhoods are washed away.

In the aftermath, everything hinges on one impossible question: did he truly believe he was making the rain or was it all a con?

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Why Do We Call It A Ponzi Scheme?

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 16:19:02 GMT

Charles Ponzi conducted a financial fraud so audacious he became the biggest brand name in crime. Yet most people don’t know what he actually did and those who do are often hard-pressed to explain why it was special.

So why, more than 100 years later, do we call so many financial scams a Ponzi scheme?

Brian tells the story of a poor boy from Italy whose name is still on the lips of everyone worried they’re about to be made a sucker.

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Crazy Eddie - Part II

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 14:01:37 GMT

Eddie has a plan to make millions. It leaves him an international fugitive.

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Crazy Eddie - Part I

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 14:00:28 GMT

A New York City upstart becomes a legend in the city that never sleeps. But his greed leaves him teetering on the edge of fame, wealth and death.

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Q Ships

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 05:00:43 GMT

The Germans have invented an aquatic killing machine the likes of which the world has never known. If you are one of its victims, how do you trick sure death? By pulling an all-in audacious scheme that only works if you have the element of surprise. How long can the Royal Navy keep the Q Ship con going before time runs out?

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The Greatest Magic Show of all Time was a Lie

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 21:31:18 GMT

The true story of how Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin is called out of retirement to help quell an uprising in French Colonial Algeria. What happens next is the most famous, high stakes magic performance in history.

What the unbelievable story of Houdin tells us about or desire to believe and the distractions that lead con artists to take advantage.

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EPCOT - Part II

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 06:02:12 GMT

Walt is dead. His dream of EPCOT isn't.

Roy Disney puts off his own retirement to attempt to finish his brother's final plan. In his way is a new hostile governor and the bewildered residents of Orlando who have no idea what to expect from incoming Disney empire.

The drive to make EPCOT a reality... just might be the World's Greatest Con.

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EPCOT - Part I

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 06:00:15 GMT

Walt Disney doesn't want to expand, he wants to build his masterpiece.

He doesn't want to sell more popcorn, he wants to defeat communism.

He doesn't want Disneyland East, he is driven to build EPCOT.

Far from the adult binge drinking paradise we know in Orlando today, the original idea of EPCOT is a planned community that requires massive land acquisition and never-before-seen government permissions. And by the way, you need to do it in secret.

Walt Disney's quest for total control just might be... the World's Greatest Con.

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Uri Geller hijacks the New York Times, An Interview with Michael Shermer

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 16:53:50 GMT

Brian and Justin discuss an article in the New York Times alleging that magic has forgiven it's 50-year grudge with Uri Geller. Considering the subject matter of our Project Alpha investigation... World's Greatest Con disagrees.

Also, an interview with Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine discussing the science and shame of being taken in by incorrect information and the legacy of Project Alpha.

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In James Randi's Own Words

Tue, 16 May 2023 21:03:08 GMT

A funny thing happened as we finished our season. We asked for listeners to unearth an old podcast WGC co-creator Justin Robert Young did with James Randi and it was indeed found. But one episode surprised us... James Randi in his own words describing Project Alpha in 2008.

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An Update On Project Alpha and Your Emails

Mon, 08 May 2023 02:00:00 GMT

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.

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Back In The Lab - Project Alpha Part V

Mon, 01 May 2023 02:00:05 GMT

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.

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Side Characters - Project Alpha Part IV

Sun, 23 Apr 2023 14:30:00 GMT

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.

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Demonic - Project Alpha Part III

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 02:30:00 GMT

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.

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Alpha - Project Alpha Part II

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 03:37:18 GMT

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?

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Project - Project Alpha Part I

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 03:23:47 GMT

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…

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Project Alpha Trailer - Season 3 of World's Greatest Con Begins April 10, 2023

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 17:43:24 GMT

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.

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Presenting Don't Explain

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 00:52:22 GMT

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.

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From Revisionist History: Way to Go, Ohio

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 12:19:48 GMT

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.

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Interview with John Madden, Director of "Operation Mincemeat"

Wed, 11 May 2022 07:00:00 GMT

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.

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From Cautionary Tales: Fairies or Fakes?

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Here’s a special preview of the Cautionary Tales podcast from Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragic catastrophes from history that contain valuable lessons for today. In this preview, you’ll hear about two young girls who faked an image of fairies so compelling that expert photographers could not explain it and esteemed figures like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were left believing in the existence of tiny nymphs. Hear the full story, and more from Cautionary Tales, at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/ctcon.

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Television Game Show Questions - Game Shows Part VI

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Brian is joined by WGC co-creator Justin Robert Young to answer your questions from this season.

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The Price Is Right's Perfect Bid - Game Shows Part V

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 03:00:00 GMT

Only one man has guessed the exact amount on the Price Is Right's Final Showcase Showdown in the modern history of the show.

He says he came up with the number by himself. Not so, says another super fan in the audience who says he fed him the answer. But wait, people backstage believe a bitter ex-producer has something to do with it.

Who is lying? We find out using all of their own stories in their own words.

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Super Password Put This Liar In Jail - Game Shows Part IV

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 04:00:00 GMT

A wanted con decides to fund his escape from the law on the television game show Super Password. He plays fairly. He wins. All hell breaks loose.

Hi, Matthew.

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Charles Ingram and the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire scandal - Game Shows Part III

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 05:00:00 GMT

A ranking member of the military finds himself in the center of pop culture, the hot seat on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2001. After an embarrassing first day, he goes on an unlikely run to riches. A turnaround so unlikely he is accused of cheating with quite possibly the dumbest plan in deception history.

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Michael Larson broke Press Your Luck - Game Shows Part II

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 05:00:00 GMT

The largest single-day haul in game show history. An Ohio conman exploits Press Your Luck so cleanly they're forced to admit it and hand him the cash. That's only the beginning of his strange, sad story.

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Twenty One and the 1950s Quiz Show Scandals - Game Shows Part I

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT

A producer decides to juice his quiz show by feeding answers to contestants. The attention makes them rich and famous but the revelation of the scheme extracts a terrible societal cost from everyone who took the bargain.

"...Baby One More Time" Piano Cover: Björn Gottschall http://www.bjoerngottschall.com

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Operation Mincemeat Questions - Operation Mincemeat Part IV

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 16:00:00 GMT

0105: Operation Mincemeat Questions - Brian answers questions about the debut season of World's Greatest Con.

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The Moment Of Surrender - Operation Mincemeat Part IV

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 16:00:00 GMT

0104: The Moment Of Surrender - Every con has a moment of surrender, when you've done all the work and now the mark needs to fool themselves. Our heroes haves surrendered, will Hitler do his part and fall for the what is quite possibly the world's greatest con?

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In The Flesh - Operation Mincemeat Part III

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 10:00:00 GMT

0103: In The Flesh - The Twenty Committee wrote a story that could fool Hitler. Now they just need to make it real. Brian explores the disgusting gulf between the fantasy of a fake solider and the reality of a discarded corpse.

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When Is The Perfect Story Too Perfect? - Operation Mincemeat Part II

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT

0102: When is the perfect story too perfect? - The Twenty Committee have the go ahead to fool Hitler with the most audacious Trojan Horse in history. Can they help themselves from over writing it into a bad soap opera?

"Still Alive" piano cover played by Claire Waluch. Find her at Readyclaireone on YouTube.

Video game checkpoint theme is "Cascade" by Kubbi.

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How To Fool Hitler - Operation Mincemeat Part I

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 23:00:00 GMT

0101: How To Fool Hitler - The Allies have an audacious plan to win WW2. Drop a body with misinformation to hoax Hitler into believing they'll attack the wrong place. The only problem? They have to approve it first.

Support the show directly by buying actual spy gear at con.scamstuff.com

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World's Greatest Con Feature Trailer

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 23:00:00 GMT

Feature Trailer - Brian Brushwood is on a quest to find the World's Greatest Con.

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