Futility Closet

Ferdinand Demara earned his reputation as the Great Impostor: For over 22 years he criss-crossed the country, posing as everything from an auditor to a zoologist and stealing a succession of identities to fool his employers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review Demara's motivation, morality, and techniques -- and the charismatic spell he seemed to cast over others. We'll also make Big Ben strike 13 and puzzle over a movie watcher's cat. Intro: In 1825, Thomas Steele proposed enclosing Isaac Newton's residence in a pyramid surmounted by a stone globe. In 1923 Arthur Guiterman found a rhyme for wasp. Sources for our feature on Ferdinand Demara: Robert Crichton, The Great Impostor, 1959. Robert Crichton, The Rascal and the Road, 1961. Frank E. Hagan, Introduction to Criminology: Theories, Methods, and Criminal Behavior, 2008. Joe McCarthy, "The Master Imposter: An Incredible Tale," Life, Jan. 28, 1952. Susan Goldenberg, "Unmasked," Canada's History 91:1 (February/March 2011), 31-3