The Toaster Hoaxster

Cheat!

Sony Music

True Crime, Tv & Film, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Goofing around in class one day, Alex and Alan had no idea that they were about to create a decade-long Wikipedia hoax that would spread into some pretty surprising corners of Scotland: from coffee table books to cooking shows to potentially the country’s currency. In this episode of Cheat, we talk to the two men who created “Alan McMasters, the Scottish inventor of the electric toaster”, and to the two people who brought the whole lie to light: a teenage reddit enthusiast and an investigative journalist. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Notification from Monzo
0:02.8	You've spent $54 at Crystal SprayTan
0:06.4	You've spent $67 at Crystal SprayTan
0:10.2	You've spent $86 at Crystal SprayTan
0:14.2	Welcome to LA
0:16.8	Welcome to fee-free spending abroad
0:19.5	Welcome to making your travel money go further
0:22.2	with your Monzo Mastercard
0:24.8	Search Monzo Travel today
0:27.2	UK Residents, Terms and Conditions Apply
0:38.5	So it was February 2012 I think
0:42.2	and we just started a new term with the new set of lectures
0:46.4	Alex, then a 19-year-old engineering student
0:49.6	was sitting with his friend Alan in a lecture hall one day
0:52.5	listening to their professor introduce the class
0:55.2	he's, oh this is actually somewhat intimidating Canadian
0:59.2	and he starts off telling us about how he doesn't want us using
1:04.7	disreputable sources
1:06.8	including one we've probably all used at one point or another
1:11.6	Wikipedia and he says he better watch out with Wikipedia
1:16.6	you never know who might intercept themselves as the inventor of the toaster
1:20.8	Most of the students laugh but Alex had an idea
	...

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