Bunkum & Ballyhoo

Just listened to this, and it's a very good, concise explanation of why this is genuinely a concerning trend.

A large red number 5 on black background, with red outlined title text reading STRANGER THINGS superimposed over it.

An unscripted & impromptu EMERGENCY EPISODE of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, as @patrickwreed.bsky.social considers the emergent pop culture conspiracy that a series of hidden clues point towards a secret final episode of Stranger Things, & what that tells us about irrationality in general.

🟢: bit.ly/4jCuCF5

Erich Von Daniken - and the media infrastructure that not only took his nonsense seriously but celebrated it - is as responsible as anyone ever has been for actively undermining public understanding of history, science, and other cultures. The obituaries are only going to further that damage.

A black and white picture of the Monopoly Man - he has a simplistic cartoon face, with raised eyebrows and a large white moustache. Je wears top and tails, and is running with a large stride, and a big bag of money marked with a dollar symbol under his arm. He does not wear a monocle, and never has.

On the latest Bunkum & Ballyhoo, we take aim at one of the internet's favourite obsessions - The Mandela Effect, and how it tells us very little about alternate timelines, but a lot about the selfishness of conspiratorial belief.

🟢: bit.ly/4802SFi
🍎: bit.ly/480a83R
📦: bit.ly/4o2jHFw

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns with a look at the most audacious literary coup of the 20th century - The Autobiography of Howard Hughes, the tell-all memoir of the world's most famous eccentric recluse.

Just one problem - the whole thing was a hoax.

🟢: bit.ly/4oLyBAG
📦: bit.ly/4oLyOUu

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns with a look at the most audacious literary coup of the 20th century - The Autobiography of Howard Hughes, the tell-all memoir of the world's most famous eccentric recluse.

Just one problem - the whole thing was a hoax.

🟢: bit.ly/4oLyBAG
📦: bit.ly/4oLyOUu

Bunkum & Ballyhoo S3E3: The Autobiography of Howard Hughes | Patrick W. Reed Get more from Patrick W. Reed on Patreon

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of literary scandal, with a new episode on The Autobiography of Howard Hughes - audacious hoax, or the publishing coup of the century?

Get exclusive access one week early, exclusively on Patreon.

Bunkum & Ballyhoo S3E3: The Autobiography of Howard Hughes | Patrick W. Reed Get more from Patrick W. Reed on Patreon

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of literary scandal, with a new episode on The Autobiography of Howard Hughes - audacious hoax, or the publishing coup of the century?

Get exclusive access one week early, exclusively on Patreon.

God, True Believer Syndrome is a real sonuvabitch.

(Yo, listen to this show!)

In the latest episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle goes to bat to support the authenticity of some extraordinary photographs, which appear to show two young girls playing with the fairies at the bottom of their garden. But are they the real deal?

🟢: bit.ly/4g755Cl

Meanwhile, Patreon subscribers get exclusive access to a new episode of Bonus Ballyhoo, redressing the balance when it comes to Arthur Conan Doyle by examining a hoax that, rather than being suckered in by, some have claimed he was responsible for - the Piltdown Man.

bit.ly/4p8lCtJ

In the latest episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle goes to bat to support the authenticity of some extraordinary photographs, which appear to show two young girls playing with the fairies at the bottom of their garden. But are they the real deal?

🟢: bit.ly/4g755Cl

Bunkum & Ballyhoo S3E2: The Cottingley Fairies | Patrick W. Reed Get more from Patrick W. Reed on Patreon

Patreon subscribers can access the next episode right now, one week before anyone else, as the patron saint of Bunkum & Ballyhoo rubes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, returns to the forefront for the story of the Cottingley Fairies.

I can’t say enough great things about this podcast. It’s a briefer listen than most and uses stories about charlatans and oddities to highlight all-too-present truths.

In this season 3 premiere, I was delightfully surprised by a rare left turn — then faced with a very uncomfortable (needed) truth.

A black and white photo of a white man in an entirely white suit, sat in a very ornate upholstered wooden chair. He has dark hair with a side-parting, and a thick goatee beard. He is holding his hands clasped together in front of his chest.

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of mid-20th century con artists, exploring the story of spiritualist medium M. Lamar Keene and the Psychic Mafia, and the perils of True Believer Syndrome.

Give it a listen now!

🟢: bit.ly/3IVJZdt
🍎: apple.co/4eZcpzn
📦: amzn.to/3IWrMwk

A black and white photo of a white man in an entirely white suit, sat in a very ornate upholstered wooden chair. He has dark hair with a side-parting, and a thick goatee beard. He is holding his hands clasped together in front of his chest.

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of mid-20th century con artists, exploring the story of spiritualist medium M. Lamar Keene and the Psychic Mafia, and the perils of True Believer Syndrome.

Give it a listen now!

🟢: bit.ly/3IVJZdt
🍎: apple.co/4eZcpzn
📦: amzn.to/3IWrMwk

Bunkum & Ballyhoo S3E1: The Psychic Mafia | Patrick W. Reed Get more from Patrick W. Reed on Patreon

If you're a Patreon subscriber, you can get early access to the first episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo Series 3 *right now*, one week before general release!

Bunkum & Ballyhoo S3E1: The Psychic Mafia | Patrick W. Reed Get more from Patrick W. Reed on Patreon

If you're a Patreon subscriber, you can get early access to the first episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo Series 3 *right now*, one week before general release!

Watch this space.

And listen to the old episodes.

Culminating in part 2 with a closer look at the men at the heart of the Highgate Vampire panic, and some of their other equally unusual, and often unsavoury, beliefs - and why I do Bunkum & Ballyhoo in the first place, and why we should always pay attention to the weirdoes.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

And finally, an epic two part finale looking at one of the strangest stories of the 20th century press - the Highgate Vampire, the supernatural fiend that stalked a London cemetery in the 1970s, and the intertwined lives of the two men who sought to exorcise it.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

In an episode I had planned since first creating Bunkum & Ballyhoo, and eagerly anticipated putting together, a look at the life of Grey Owl, an indigenous North American conservationist who turned out to not be what he seemed.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

From the world of wrestling, looking at the life behind the meme and the viral video, exploring the extraordinary life story of The Great Antonio.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

How about Carlos Kaiser, the Brazilian footballing star who never spent a single minute of a single game on the pitch?

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

Or Frank Searle, Monster Hunter Extraordinaire, and his exploits on the banks of Loch Ness.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

Bunkum & Ballyhoo is currently in a between-seasons break, which might run a little longer than expected while @patrickwreed.bsky.social prioritises working on his next book. But that just means there's time to catch up on Series 2, like...

The story of Count Dante!

bsky.app/profile/bunk...

I don't think any human being has ever had as much fun telling a story as @patrickwreed.bsky.social has here talking about the Highgate Vampire and men who cannot stop yelling about being right.

Culminating in part 2 with a closer look at the men at the heart of the Highgate Vampire panic, and some of their other equally unusual, and often unsavoury, beliefs - and why I do Bunkum & Ballyhoo in the first place, and why we should always pay attention to the weirdoes.

bsky.app/profile/bunk...