Oobah Butler: The Digital Mirage

About this episode

Trevor and Eugene discuss the work of journalist Oobah Butler, exploring the intersection of prank and social experiment in the context of modern scam culture.

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.

People in this episode

Host: Trevor Noah

Guest: Oobah Butler

Topics covered

• prank
• social experiment
• scam culture
• online manipulation
• perception vs reality
• illusion

Keywords

• Oobah Butler
• scam culture
• social experiment
• online manipulation
• perception
• reality
• algorithms

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: scam culture, algorithms

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