Beste Nicholas J Johnson podcaster (2024)

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69: Detecting Misinformation with Steve Rathje 56:53

1y ago56:53

56:53

PATREON MY STUFF STEVE'S WEBSITE STEVE'S TIKTOK I’ve been sick for the past few months. Which is why there has been an episode of a Scamapalooza in a little while. Instead, I’ve been spending a lot of time in bed feeling sorry for myself while trawling tiktok. Among the craft videos, slime reviews and video game analysis, I came across a video of a…

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68: Collecting Magic with Kent Blackmore 48:26

1+ y ago48:26

48:26

Support the podcast on Patreon! Magicians have secrets that you don’t see on stage. I’m not talking about HOW they do the tricks—the trapdoors and mirrors—but the mundane secrets that make the show happen. The tour schedules, the marketing plans, the box office reports and the horror stories of gigs that went off the rails. Kent Blackmore, digs up …

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67: Nobody's Fool with Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris 53:19

1+ y ago53:19

53:19

Support the podcast on Patreon! If I had an origin story as a magician/con artist/science communicator it would be me, in the early 2000s, hunching over my computer trying to count how many times a basketball is being thrown while completely missing the full-size gorilla walking right through the middle of the shot. The creation of psychologists Ch…

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66: Snake Oils with Dr Jo Clyne 40:18

1+ y ago40:18

40:18

Imagine it's 1850 and you live in a rural area, far away from doctors and the latest advances in medical technology. And then you get sick. What would you do? It's this fear that gave rise to The Snake Oil Salesmen, travelling hucksters who sold ointments, tinctures, tablets and the eponymous snake oil. In this episode, I talk to historian Dr Jo Cl…

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65: Deceptive Animals with Lixing Sun 44:08

1+ y ago44:08

44:08

Support Scamapalooza On Patreon I busted my cat scratching the couch yesterday. As soon as she caught my eye, she stopped scratching and started to stretch instead, acting as if she’d hadn't just been digging her claws into our brand new four seater. The question is, did she KNOW she was trying to deceive me? Or did it just look like that through m…

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64: The Sting 2 with Nick Mason 1:15:05

1+ y ago1:15:05

1:15:05

I’m often asked what my favourite con artist movie is and I always have a different answer. Usually, I’ll say Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men or David Mamet’s House of Games. If I’m feeling a little pretentious I might name drop Fellini’s Il Bidone or Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket. At the same time, I also have a soft spot for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, …

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63: The Little Golden Calf with Maya Vinokour 39:46

1+ y ago39:46

39:46

If I told you that “the cafeteria is permanently closed for the schnitzel inventory.” what would you think I was saying? If your Russian, the chances are you’d know exactly what I was getting at. The novel The Little Golden Calf is the story of Ostap Bender a con artist trying to become a millionaire in 1920s Soviet Russia, a time when millionaires…

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62: Corporate Bullshit with Ian McCarthy 36:40

1+ y ago36:40

36:40

Have you ever had to deal with corporate bullshit? Had your projects “put on the back burner”? Or had your job “right-sized”? Also, what the hell is “disruption?” Ian McCarthy is the Professor of Innovation and Operations Management at Simon Fraser University. His paper Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshit introduc…

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61: Card Counting with Steven Bridges 49:38

1+ y ago49:38

49:38

If I had to guess what the cardinal rule for card counters was, “Don’t draw attention to yourself” would be way up there. While card counting isn’t illegal, casinos aren’t too keen on having players use probability to actually win at blackjack. Flying under the radar seems like common sense. What I wouldn’t expect is for a successful card counting …

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60: The Shell Game with Nick Stein 1:02:47

1+ y ago1:02:47

1:02:47

Every other week, I am sent a video of someone playing The Shell Game. Maybe it's a cat finding a single treat under three cups, or maybe it's a magician impressing audiences with hand-carved replica walnuts and silicone peas. However, despite being one of the most famous scams in the world, The Shell Game is also one of the most misunderstood. Eve…

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59: The Music Man with Em Chandler 43:39

1+ y ago43:39

43:39

There is a popular image of a con artist that doesn’t exist in the real world. It’s an image of well-dressed, suave, fast-talking swindlers who—despite their dodgy dealings—always does the right thing in the end. After all, they have a code. Johnny Hooker and Henry Gondorf in The Sting. Danny Ocean and his gang in the Ocean’s film. The casts of sho…

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58: Deepak Chropa's Bullshit with Gordon Pennycook 35:19

2y ago35:19

35:19

I have long suspected that Deepak Chopra spouts garbage. Despite being a trained physician, the author and self-help guru’s trademark new-age ramblings have always struck me as little more than pseudo-scientific garbage. But, I’m also the kind of guy who doesn’t like to dismiss ideas out of hand, just because I don’t understand. It turns out that m…

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57: Cassie Chadwick with Tori Telfer 38:29

2y ago38:29

38:29

How does the daughter of a railroad hand become a millionaire in an age when women couldn’t even open a bank account? If you’re Cassie Chadwick, the answer is you pull off one of the most audacious scams in history, a fraud that took millions from US banks and saw the richest man in America turn up at her trial. On this episode of Scamapalooza, I t…

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56: Performing Deception with Brian Rappert 1:02:18

2y ago1:02:18

1:02:18

Have you ever thought about how magicians learn their tricks? Not the methods—the smoke and mirrors behind the illusion—but the actual process of learning a new effect. Even magicians don’t think too much about how they learn magic, treating our instructions like a recipe that—if followed—will create a moment of wonder. Brian Rappert, a Professor o…

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55: Science Magic with Dr Matt Pritchard 37:47

2y ago37:47

37:47

If you know me then you’ll know that my nemesis is Dr Matt Pritchard. For the last few years, this evil genius has been creating impenetrable optical illusions on social media. A toy elephant vanishes in a split second in impossible circumstances. A lego pirate ship appears in a clear glass bowl. A bike helmet is suddenly filled with coloured balls…

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54: Hocus Pocus Practice Focus with Amy Kimlat 29:04

2y ago29:04

29:04

My kid just performed their first solo magic show. In front of 300 of their peers, they correctly predicted a randomly selected TV show, vanished a bottle of coke and tricked the principal into opening a can of spring snakes. Classic comedy! But why do so many kids, particularly girls, give up on magic? Amy Kimlat is a children’s author and former …

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53: Card Shark with Nicolai Troshinsky 39:48

2y ago39:48

39:48

Why have there not been more video games about card cheating? I remember playing Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist as a kid and thinking that the stage of the game where you have to catch the Wheaton “Aces” Hall cheating was the best bit. Why couldn’t that be the whole game? Game designer and illustrator Nicolai Troshinsky has taken up the challe…

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52: The Life Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit with John Petrocelli 50:15

2y ago50:15

50:15

Did you know the world “bullshit” might just be an Australian invention? During World War I, Australian troops found themselves arriving at the front and suddenly under the command of British officers. These officers were obsessed with appearances and would have the Australian soldiers bull polish their shoes constantly, regardless of whether they …

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51: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child with Lee Cohen 47:33

2y ago47:33

47:33

Magicians have a complicated relationship with the Harry Potter franchise. On the one hand, the success of J K Rowling's creation has given them hours of work at movie premieres, book launches, and themed events. On the other hand, it's hard dealing with constant jokes about where our broomsticks are and whether we were raised under a staircase. Th…

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50: Bro Science and The Liver King with Dr Vyom Sharma 39:01

2y ago39:01

39:01

There's been a weird evolution in the wellness industry. What was once a market dominated by new age, holistic, self-care has seen a recent rise in hypermasculine, ideology-driven bro science. Forget Gwenyth Paltrow’s jade vagina eggs, these are health products that advocate eating raw liver, dangerous workouts and tanning your testicles. In this e…

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An announcement from Nicholas 5:03

2y ago5:03

5:03

Scamapalooza is back. New episodes are dropping in December 2022. Make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss out on the wild chats with magicians, authors, psychologists, con artists and other liars. www.conman.com.auAv Nicholas J. Johnson

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48: Counting Cards with Dale Sadler 1:02:31

7y ago1:02:31

1:02:31

Imagine you're a professional magician, performing a few card tricks at function when you're approached by a mysterious stranger who wants to make use of your unique set of skills. He wants to turn you into a card counter. That is exactly what happened to Dale Sadler, a magician turn card counter who spent years making his living winning at blackja…

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47: The Truth About Lies with Dr Celine Van Golde 46:11

7+ y ago46:11

46:11

What would you say is the best method of detecting lies? A truth serum? A polygraph machine? A body language expert? The truth about lie detectors is…they probably don’t work. So why do they show in popular culture on reality tv shows and, most disturbingly, in criminal investigations? And what are the ramifications of putting our faith in these do…

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46: Women In Magic with Carisa Hendrix 49:15

7+ y ago49:15

49:15

I have always assumed that it must be hard to be a woman in magic. It’s an industry dominated by men and populated by old guys with outdated ideas of gender, young boys who got into magic to pick up girls and antisocial men of all ages who struggle to talk to ANYONE, let alone members of the opposite sex. We have the organisations like the Internat…

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45: The Ethics Of Mentalism with Jon Archer 49:12

7+ y ago49:12

49:12

What’s the difference between a con artist and a magician? A great magician tells you they’re about to lie you. They admit it out right. And then fool you anyway. But a great con artist will suck you in and leave you refusing to believe you were ever deceived. So what then, about mentalism, that branch of magic that brings to life psychic phenomena…

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44: The Doctor Will See You Now with Dr Vyom Sharma 49:38

7+ y ago49:38

49:38

How do working GPs deal with alternative medicine? These frontline healthcare practitioners have to deal with constant red tape, constant education, strict laws and pesky professional ethics. Alternative medicine practitioners, on the other hand, are so unburdened by professional oversight, rules and regulations that they can sell remedies that do …

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43: OzLockCon and Lockpicking with Topaz. 32:51

7+ y ago32:51

32:51

OzLockCon is Australia’s first conference dedicated to locksport and physical security. From the amateur lockpicker to the professional security expert, the conference has something for everyone interesting locks. On this week's episode OzLockCon organiser Topaz talks about the event and explains how to pick a lock. https://ozlockcon.com…

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42: The Gullibility Test with Alessa Teunisse 39:25

7+ y ago39:25

39:25

Why, given the constant need for people to measure everything from their personalities to their intellect, is there no test for gullibility? Alessa Tenunisse, a pHd student at Macquarie University’s Department of Psychology, has spent several exploring gullibility and it's relationship to scams. On this week's episode, Alessa discusses her work whi…

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41: Fake News with Toby Halligan 54:31

8y ago54:31

54:31

We are living in a golden age of bullshit. Nowhere is this more evident than in the media where fake news is now almost indistinguishable from the real deal. So how do you spot fake news? How do you spot it spreading? And how do you deal with that weird relative wanting to spread pizzagate conspiracy theories on facebook? On this week's episode, sa…

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40: Paper Moon with Sarah Baggs 1:14:48

8y ago1:14:48

1:14:48

🎶It's only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea.🎶 And this week's episode is only pop culture queen Sarah Baggs exploring the whimsical and heartwarming world of Paper Moon. From the Peter Bogdanovich film to the Joe David Brown novel to the Jodie Foster starring TV series, Sarah and Nicholas explore what makes this rare con artist film a cla…

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39: The Annals of Gullibility with Stephen Greenspan 37:58

8y ago37:58

37:58

Stephen Greenspan has dedicated a large part of his career to explaining why people act gullibly. As a psychologist and author, he’s drawn from research, literature and his own personal experience as a victim of Bernie Madoff to help explain the psychological underpinnings of why otherwise smart people do stupid things. On this week’s episode, Nich…

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38: I Love Phillip Morris Vs FOCUS with Martin Dunlop 1:38:05

8y ago1:38:05

1:38:05

There are no two con artists films less alike than I Love You Phillip Morris and FOCUS. One is a true story, the other fiction. One is slick and cool, the other bright and slapstick filled. One features two men falling in love in prison while the other features a run of the mill Hollywood romance. On this week’s episode, Nicholas talks to Martin Du…

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37: Charles Dawson at The Labrastory (LIVE) 22:21

8y ago22:21

22:21

The Laborastory is a science storytelling event in Melbourne that comes to tell the stories of science – the heroes, the egos, the breakthroughs and the mistakes of genius. From forgotten history and lonely laboratories, science and scientists quite literally take centre stage. On this week’s episode, Nicholas talks at the monthly science event abo…

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36: Brain Magic with Tony Barnhart 1:01:27

8y ago1:01:27

1:01:27

Anthony “Magic Tony” Barnhart is a cognitive psychologist at Arizona State University. He studies the psychological processes underlying handwritten word perception and the psychological foundations of magic and illusion. On this week’s episode of the podcast Tony discusses his work while Nicholas tries to sell Tony on his crackpot theory connectin…

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35: Now You Seem Mean 2 with Nick Mason 1:21:44

8y ago1:21:44

1:21:44

Nick Mason, from the Weekly Planet Podcast, returns to help Nicholas deal with complex feelings about the 2016 film Now You See Me 2. The sequel to the surprise 2013 hit, Now You See Me 2 features more magic, more heists and more confusing plot twists than the original.Av Nicholas J. Johnson

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34: The Gentle Grafter with Tosh Greenslade 19:16

8y ago19:16

19:16

Do you remember that story about the man who sold his fob watch to buy his wife a comb while she sold her hair to buy him a watch chain? That classic twist comes from the mind of O Henry, a short story writer famous for penning tales filled with criminals and the down on their luck. Almost all of his stories have unpredictable, ironic endings. On t…

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33: Alien Autopsy Part 2 with Spyros Melaris 58:42

8+ y ago58:42

58:42

In the second part of Nicholas’ conversation with Spyros Melaris about the 1995 Alien Autopsy video, Spyros discuss the fallout from the hoax video, his falling out with his collaborator Ray Santilli and the many easter eggs hidden throughout the film. Is Spyros telling the truth? Or is he creating a conspiracy inside a conspiracy?…

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32: Alien Autopsy Part 1 with Spyros Melaris 1:06:28

8+ y ago1:06:28

1:06:28

In 1995, the world was captivated by the Alien Autopsy video, a grainy 17 minute film supposedly depicting the disection of an alien “Grey” in Roswell, New Mexico. A decade later, the film was exposed by British man Ray Santilli who claimed he had masterminded the hoax. However, in recent years, another man, Spyros Melaris, has claimed that he was …

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31: Small Time Criminals with Ben McKenzie and Kevin Turner 47:41

8+ y ago47:41

47:41

Ben and Kevin just want to play. As two members of Pop Up Playground they create fun, immersive game experiences that feel like real live computer games. So why has their latest project, Small Time Criminals, attract the ire of tabloid media and victims of crime groups. Is it an ultra-realistic bank heist simulation that mocks the victims of real r…

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30: The Bullshitters Book Club with Vinny DePonto 31:14

8+ y ago31:14

31:14

Everyone wants to be a good liar. Or at the very least, be able to spot a good liar. But what do you do when all of the books on the subject are written by authors who are experts on doing just that? On this week’s episode, Vinny DePonto talks about five of his favourite books on lying and Nicholas wonders with Mark Twain would be doing burlesque i…

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29: Dom and Dumber with Dom Chambers and Bayden Hammond 44:49

8+ y ago44:49

44:49

Dom and Dumber have taken on a mammoth task, combining magic and sketch comedy into an entirely new genre. In this week's Scamapalooza, Dom Chambers and Bayden Hammond sit down and talk about their favourite comedy, magic and how you manage to jam the two of them together. #comedy #magic #scams #sketch http://www.mammothaudio.com.au/scamapalooza…

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28: Mediums At Large with Paul Zenon 51:32

8+ y ago51:32

51:32

Paul Zenon is the father of street magic, the first magician to take close up magic to the streets in his successful TV specials. However, Paul is also an accomplished actor, author and skeptic. His tales of his run ins with mediums, television producers and other scumbags are the stuff of legend. http://www.mammothaudio.com.au/scamapalooza…

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27: The Million Dollar Challenge with Richard Saunders 54:40

9y ago54:40

54:40

How does a psychic prove they are the real deal? For close to a hundred years, skeptics around the world have been offering cash prizes to anyone who can provide evidence of the paranormal. On this week’s episode podcaster Richard Saunders explores the world of psychic challenges from the Scientific American in 1922 to the James Randi Million Dolla…

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26: F Is For Fake with Simon Caterson 48:14

9y ago48:14

48:14

Orson Welles' last project before the descending into a life of frozen pea commercials and voicing Transformers was F Is A Fake. The film is a magician’s bag, full of cinematic tricks and double bluffs. On this week’s episode, Simon Caterson returns to explore Orson Well’s final great trick, a pseuod-documentary about an art forger and the hoaxer w…

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25: Romance Scam Survivor With Jan Marshall 54:12

9y ago54:12

54:12

Jan Marshall is an intelligent woman. She’s university educated, articulate and has lived and travelled around the world. So why, in 2012, did she lose over a quarter of a million dollars to a romance scammer? On this week’s episode, Jan tells her incredible story, not just of how she lost the money but how she regained her life. And then she came …

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Welcome To 2016 21:27

9y ago21:27

21:27

Scamapalooza returns for 2016. On this week’s episode Nicholas is flying solo as he recounts the top episodes of last year, reveals a few rejected episode ideas and reads a classic tale of gambling, cheats and beautiful blondes from card cheating expert John Scarne. http://www.mammothaudio.com.au/scamapalooza…

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24: Houdini and The Medium with John Cox 51:16

9y ago51:16

51:16

Harry Houdini was not just one of history’s most famous magicians he was also obsessed with death and the afterlife, dedicating years to uncovering the truth about life after death. Mina Crandon was a spirit medium who claimed that the ghosts she communicated with could ring bells, float tables and throw trumpets across rooms. On this week’s episod…

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23: The Great Moon Hoax with Matthew Goodman 42:29

9y ago42:29

42:29

On 25 August 1835, The Sun newspaper in New York reported that a telescope had been invented so powerful that it could see the surface of the moon. There, alien life had been discovered. Man bats, bipedal beavers and abandoned temples to forgotten gods were all described in great detail. On this week’s episode Matthew Goodman, author of The Sun and…

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22: Piff The Magic Dragon with John Van Der Put {Explicit} 31:28

9y ago31:28

31:28

Piff The Magic Dragon isn’t your usual magician. He plays Las Vegas and wows judges on TV shows like America’s Got Talent and Penn and Teller Fool Us. But, his also a fire breathing dragon with a pet chihuahua, known for sending playing cards into toasted cheese sandwiches and shooting his beloved Mr Piffles out of a canon. On this week’s episode, …

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21: The Sting with Matthew Specktor 37:33

9y ago37:33

37:33

The Sting is the king of con artist movies and the godfather of every twist happy heist movie from Ocean’s 11 to Matchstick Men. This week on the podcast writer Matthew Specktor talks about the incredible legacy of The Sting, a film that swept the 1973 Academy Award, reteamed Robert Redford and Paul Newman and changed film forever. MATTHEW'S SITE: …

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