Episode 91: The Confidence Game

"it is a likely ruse" [ENGR]     February is a shorter month, so the latest episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere comes to you a day earlier.   We're joined by Maria Konnikova, whom you may remember as the author of . She first appeared on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere  to discuss that very book. Maria is a contributing writer for The New Yorker, where she writes a regular column with a focus on psychology and culture, and her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Scientific American MIND, and Smithsonian, among numerous other publications.   Maria's latest book is . While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true con men are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it? The Confidence Game not only asks why we believe con artists; it also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us, leaving us to fall for it - over and over again. We explore the dark triad — psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism — and probe Maria's research process as she shares with us how a con works and how con artists manage to get away with what they do. From religions and cults to marketers and storytellers, it comes down to intent, and they all prey on the very trusting nature of people.   Our conversation with Maria delved into these issues, as well as cons in the Sherlock Holmes stories, and the ultimate question: was Sherlock Holmes a con man?   Be sure to stay tuned for another gem of an Easter egg.     Our special thanks go out to Mary Miller and Christian Mongaard for their Patreon support!   Sponsors This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and a special sponsor with us for the first half of this year:The , featuring A Curious Collection of Dates, and , where you should get  in now to secure all four issues - now accepting 2016 subscriptions. Also, Paula Berinstein's  series for young adults and the .   Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find .       Links: "" - Weird Al Yankovic by Maria Konnikova , directed by David Mamet The Big Con by David Moore The  page     Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard and Scoop.it sites at  and , as well as on the  on Google+ (now over 3,400 members), as well as through our accounts on ,  and .     Please , ,  or  and be kind enough to leave a rating or review for the show. And please tell a friend about us, in any fashion you feel comfortable.   Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).   --