@bunkumballyhoo.bsky.social
A podcast about liars, grifters, con artists, showmen, hoaxers, hustlers and bullshit through history, hosted by @patrickwreed.bsky.social https://open.spotify.com/show/3AOHULjSoQWlLRMR3LEeNJ?si=351e68e8bf974528
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 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 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.
13.10.2025 15:02 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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
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.
28.08.2025 18:44 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
15.08.2025 07:18 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 1
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
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!
14.07.2025 14:32 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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!
14.07.2025 14:32 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0Watch 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.
05.05.2025 17:35 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0Culminating 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...
