Infamous news events, hoaxes, and media frenzies revisited — one per day, with the benefit of hindsight. Walt narrates.
Episodes are produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. A Talking Labs production.
Potemkin Villages: The Fake Towns Catherine May Never Have Seen
Did Grigory Potemkin build false villages for Catherine the Great's 1787 tour? Rewind follows the real imperial journey, its elaborate public display and the hostile rumour that grew into a lasting phrase. Historians find contemporary accounts of decoration, but not the familiar deception of portable fake towns.
This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
2 Nov 2026
The Sokal Hoax: A Paper Built to Fool Its Editors
In 1996, physicist Alan Sokal published a parody about quantum gravity in Social Text, then revealed the hoax in Lingua Franca. Rewind traces the paper, the editors' response and the debate over what one editorial failure can prove.
This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
1 Nov 2026
The Bathtub Hoax: Mencken's Fake History That Stuck
H. L. Mencken invented a history of the American bathtub in 1917, then publicly admitted the hoax in 1926. Rewind traces the false Millard Fillmore claim from the original newspaper article to later retellings, and checks it against the White House plumbing record.
This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
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