Psychics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Psychics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Psychics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Psychics may seem harmless and fun on TV, but they can make a lot of money by exploiting vulnerable people.

I'll never forget my friend who paid for a card reading, and the woman saying "the cards are telling me you're having trouble in the bedroom with your boyfriend...." my friend is asexual, and has never had a boyfriend. It took everything I had to not bust up laughing.

 

On an episode of Hacking the System they did a thing about con artists and there was a segment dedicated to cold reading. The host (Brian Brushwood of Scam Nation and The Modern Rogue here on YT) got a bunch of people and did a cold reading on a kid telling him about his grandfather and all that and it was exactly like the mediums from the clips. The only difference is that at the end he explained to everyone that he basically was just shot gunning general statements until something stuck and then went from there and that they should all be aware that psychics are usually just scams. Also on the H3 podcast not too long ago Justin Roiland (creator of Rick and Morty) and Alex Hirsch (creator of Gravity Falls) got together with Ethan and they called a few psychic hotlines to troll them and they were being charged like $5-10 a minute....so when John says it's a billion dollar industry I believe it 

 

Egh, I dont think all psychics are evil con artists praying on people's misery. I think people often dont think about what a person has to actually go through to come go the radical conclusion that they are psychic. Thinking that you've seen someone die isn't a funny joke these people are playing. For a lot of them they are scared and genuinely deeply confused about their human existence. Not intentional con artists, just deeply disturbed.

A practicing Catholic for decades, Lucky the Leprechaun began to feel disenchanted after the Chile protests. Then one day, he passed a mosque and on an impulse, went in. Lucky was amazed at how much he identified with both the liturgy and sense of community, and found himself returning again and again. By the time his imam asked if he was interested in converting and taking an Arabic name, the decision seemed so logical, he didn't even need to think about it. Faith finds us all differently. On a related note, look for Black Kaaba pieces in Lucky Charms this summer! 

 

Best psych bust was when a post op trans woman asked a psychic about getting pregnant... It was juicy. When asked if there would be any complications with the pregnancies, the psychic said there'd be none🤣 lmao transition goals - dupe a psychic