Season 7
13 episodes in season 7.
Birth of a Con Man (Revisited)
This is the very first episode I recorded for PRETEND. Hear how a small-time crook went from breaking into houses to running a phony medical clinic. ------- FEATURING: Follow the…
The Hijacker (Revisited)
This week, we revisit one of PRETEND's most popular episodes. It's called the Hijacker and it's a collaboration with my friend Chris Knittel. Hear Martin McNally describe the day he…
PRETEND turns 4
Jules Hannaford from the Fool Me Twice podcast joins me to talk about 4 years of PRETEND. ________ Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at…
S710: The Sham vol. 1
The Sham vol.1 This week, I turn the mic over to you. Two listeners share stories about their run-in with a con artist. Our first story is from a long-time…
S709: The Liquor Guy
There are two sides to Billy. There's Billy, who just wants to do the right thing. And then there's the criminal lurking from within. So which way did he go?…
S708: The Constable (Criminal Conduct)
This week's episode is actually the first episode of my other podcast CRIMINAL CONDUCT. I wanted you, PRETEND listeners to get a sneak peek before it's debut on April 16th.…
S707: The Lie Detector part 2
Doug Williams, the former Oklahoma City police officer who is best known for his crusade against the polygraph industry, teaches an undercover federal agent how to beat the lie detector…
S706: The Lie Detector part 1
Learn how to cheat a polygraph test. Ex-cop, Doug Williams, says it's a lot easier than you think. Doug Williams is looking over his shoulder because, since 1979, he's been…
S705: The Word of Faith Fellowship Update
If you haven't listened to The Prophet series, start here: http://pretendradio.org/the-prophet-word-of-faith-fellowship-revisited/ When I first started this podcast, I reported on a secretive church located in the foothills in western North…
S704: The Confident Woman
Tori Telfer, author of Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion joins us to talk about female con artists. Today, we're focusing on one of the women…
S703: The Pharmacist
In today's episode, we're going to take another look at the opioid crisis, but this time from a pharmacist's perspective. But this is not just any pharmacist. Dan Schneider is…
S702: The Pill Mill
A doctor caught trading prescriptions for cash leaves a trail of bodies behind. A respected anesthesiologist ran a pain-management clinic on the weekends out of a basement in Flushing Queens,…
S701: The Real Donnie Brasco
Johnny Depp played Donnie Brasco in the Academy Award-nominated film. But the real-life story of Donnie Brasco is even more fascinating. Joe Pistone, an FBI agent, went deep undercover as…