Why Do We Fall for Charlatans?

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What makes us vulnerable to charlatans? A new book by journalist Quico Toro takes a close look at charismatic manipulators from literal snake oil peddlers to crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried. We talk to Toro about how charlatans exploit our need for certainty, belonging and leadership — and why the tricks are old, but thanks to viral amplification on social media, the scale is new. Toro’s book, co-written with Moisés Naim, is “Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses.” Guests: Francisco Toro, author, "Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters "Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses" - he's also director of climate repair at the Anthropocene Institute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.1	From KQED.
0:35.5	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. When you think of a charlatan, who comes to mind?
0:40.3	People out to exploit you with their promises are nothing new, but according to my guest, Francisco Toro,
0:47.3	spawning the charlatan has become a key survival skill for the 21st century, when technology
0:53.3	has improved to charlatans' methods and
0:56.0	created an endless number of potential marks. Have you or someone close to you ever been
1:00.9	influenced by someone you later realized was a charlatan? Toro has co-written with Moises Naim,
1:07.4	a new book out today called Charlottons, How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters, bamboozle
1:12.0	the media, the markets, and the masses. He joins me now. Welcome to Forum, Kiko.
1:16.8	Thanks so much for having me. So you say charlatans are not mere scammers or fraudsters. So what defines a charlatan?
1:24.6	Well, sure. I mean, a scammer or a fraudster is someone who comes into your life,
1:29.9	takes advantage of you, and then disappears. They're usually anonymous. Charlatans aren't really
1:35.6	like that. Charlatans are public figures. They operate out in the open under their own name,
1:41.5	and they dig their claws into you, and they can manipulate you over the long term.
1:48.0	So I think that's really distinctive.
	...

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