Hard Know

Hard Know is a narrative dive into the world of scams, cons, schemes, and deception. A journey into all the forces behind the ways we love to lie, and be lied to. From snake oil salespeople, to psychics. From news empires, to memes. Hard Know explores the patterns of behaviour that blur the lines between truth and fiction. Is it a matter of perception? Or suggestion? From Disinform

Dan meets his new producer and the show begins...Scumbag Steve? Tea-Sipping Kermit? Pepe the Frog? What's your meme of choice? Our favourite JPEG-based form of communication has taken over our world, but memes didn't spring up overnight. From the suggestion of "cultural transmission" in the 1970s, to an endless barrage of jokes with hidden messages, memes reach depths we've never r

Dan ventures into the world of wellness and health products. Staying healthy is a daily challenge, and the fragility of our physical and mental health make them perfect for predatory schemes. From the first snake-oil salesman, to modern health influencers, exploiting the instinctive need to feel healthy is a lucrative business strategy. One that pays off, with little consequences.P

Dan and his producer start with a classic scheme, the Nigerian Prince email.But where did this fishing scheme come from? Was it just a piece of the internet age? Or a spin on an old scam?And why do people fall for these tricks? The allure of money? A desperate need to be a part of something bigger?Grab your golden eggs, check those spam folders, and join the journey as we get into

Dan and his producer seek some spiritual guidance in order to know the unknowable. From the dawn of time, humans have sought to understand life, death, and what comes after. Psychics and spiritualists of all kinds provide people with great comfort, but also, great pain. How do we navigate the lines between grief, belief, and the various ways we fill in the gaps of what we know abou

HEY LOOK HERE! Hi! My name is Dan and I'm the host of the podcast whose description you are currently reading. And I'm here to tell you about how in episode 5, me and my producer are figuring out the world of Celebrity Endorsements, and the modern wave of influencer marketing.We see thousands of ads per day, and countless more pieces of content. It's awfully hard to get someone's u

Confidence is KING! (so they say). But finding confidence isn't easy. It can take a lifetime to build-up, and a moment to destroy. Studies show you CAN fake it 'till you make it, and that there's no difference to the world around us whether we're truly confident, or just pretending. All great schemers have confidence, real or not. Confidence was the root word of the "Con Man", so i

After getting rattled in episode 6, Dan returns to the studio to dive into the word of semantics, and language to figure out what's going on when we talk to each other, and when messages get sent. It's not about what you say, or necessarily what you mean. It's what the receiver of the message understands. A lot gets lost in the sauce when we communicate, so are we really getting th

Us vs Them, Good vs Evil, Left vs Right, Coke vs Pepsi. If you can dream it, you can divide it! As Dan's frustration builds with the things he's learned this season, it's time to figure out the forces behind the divisive news, politics and social commentary that is everywhere. Part psychological exploit, part news driven narrative, but it's 100% human. One side vs the other is simp

~BREAKING NEWS~ This episode, Dan's learned a lot this season, and he's feeling more confident than ever. We're in the business of passing along the ideas about what's happening in the world that you NEED to know! We rely on news to keep us informed, tell us the truth, and reassure us in an uncertain world. But from the beginning, news, money, and the power to sway the informationa