America's History of Hoaxes and Popular Delusion
On the Media | Dec 1, 2017
From "fake news" to Twitter bots, it's easy to feel like we have suddenly become awash in hogwash. But according to Kevin Young, author of Bunk, “flimflammery is as American as Jazz.” Young traces our unique penchant for hoaxes largely back to PT Barnum, who understood that a mixture of pseudo-science and pre-existing cultural divisions would guarantee to draw crowds. Brooke talks to Young about his book, how hoaxes speak to the public delusions and wishes of their time and why hoaxes are so often connected to notions of race.
Song:
Carnival of Souls by Verne Langdon
