Oobah Butler: The Digital Mirage
Apr 16, 2026•2 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Summary
Trevor and Eugene sit down with Oobah Butler, a journalist known for his pranks and social experiments that expose vulnerabilities in digital systems and human perception. They delve into his viral fake restaurant stunt, "The Shed," which manipulated TripAdvisor into a top rating, and explore its broader implications on trust in online reviews and the rise of "scam culture." The conversation also covers his undercover work exposing Amazon's labor practices and tax avoidance, ultimately highlighting how illusion quietly shapes our modern world.Episode description
Trevor and Eugene sit down with journalist and filmmaker Oobah Butler, whose work lives at the intersection of prank and social experiment. From creating a fake top-rated restaurant to exposing how easily online systems can be manipulated, Butler has made a career out of blurring the line between perception and reality.
Together, they explore the rise of “scam culture,” how algorithms quietly shape what we believe, and just how much of the modern world is built on illusion. It is a funny, unsettling look at how easy it is to fake almost anything—and how hard it can be to tell what is real.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android