Hoax! Podcast – “I, Libertine” (Jan 5, 2026)

Hosts: Dana Schwartz & Lizzie Logan
Theme: Audacious literary hoaxes, book list manipulation, and why people fall for (and participate in) big cons

Episode Overview

This episode of Hoax! takes listeners into the world of literary tricks, focusing first on bestseller list scams—most notably the notorious “Handbook for Mortals” incident—and culminating with the classic 1950s hoax “I, Libertine,” where a cult-favorite radio host convinced the reading public, publishers, and even censors of the existence of a non-existent book. The hosts explore how lists become gatekeepers of legitimacy, how hoaxes can be both victimless crimes and acts of joyful subversion, and the blurry lines between earnest hustle and outright scam.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bestseller Lists: Prestige, Ego, and Scams

Dana’s Author Experience

• Dana Schwartz shares her legitimate journey to becoming a New York Times bestselling author with "Anatomy: A Love Story" and its sequel, "Immortality."
• [02:41] Dana:
  “It does not mean I'm rich and can retire. It means, I mean, honestly, every week for the New York Times list, it's like you could have a lucky week or an unlucky week...So I was probably lucky that, like, no big YA book was coming out...”

The “Dagger” (†) on NYT List

• If you see a dagger on the list, it means bulk buys—often politicians or celebrities purchasing their own books in bulk.
• [05:44] Dana:
  “People do hoax the New York Times bestseller list. They scam it all the time. And if you ever are reading the New York Times list and see a little dagger next to it, it means bulk buys...”

Ticketed Book Signing Loophole

• Book signings that bundle ticket price with a book purchase force sales numbers up.
• [06:09] Lizzie:
  “If you go to a book signing, a lot of times the ticket...includes the cost of the book, so it forces you to buy it.”

2. The “Handbook for Mortals” Scandal (2017)

How the Hoax Worked

• Author Lani Sarem used bulk orders at reporting bookstores to manipulate her YA novel to #1 on the NYT list, displacing Angie Thomas’s beloved “The Hate U Give.”
• YA Twitter erupted as the book had almost no organic reviews, was sold out on Amazon, and had no visible fandom.
• [11:09] Lizzie:
  “They're like, there's something a little fishy going on here because this is an author no one has heard of...a handful of Amazon reviews, all of which are five stars, all of which look identical.”

Bookstores and Complicity

• Bookstores had little incentive not to comply, as bulk orders were good business.
• [20:13] Lizzie:
  “If someone calls and says, hey, are you a New York Times reporting store? There is no reason...to be like, nope. Because if you say yes, they're probably going to order 90 books from you.”

Sarem's Outlandish Defense

• Claimed she sold 18,000 preorders at conventions, which experts and hosts quickly dismiss as implausible.
• [23:30] Dana:
  “Why didn't you just say pre order through this bookstore? Because she was standing right there. And also because this didn't fucking happen.”

Ethics & Punk Rock Vibes

• Some consider it minorly punk rock, while others (like Dana) find it “a little icky.”
• [25:45] Lizzie:
  “I just want to say, I think what she did is like a teeny tiny bit punk rock.”
• [27:40] Dana:
  “I'm coming out. I want to be on the record as I think this is like, a little icky.”

3. Lists as Gatekeepers and Why People Fall for Them

• Social status, legitimacy, money—all confer upon being “on the list.”
• Lists are often subjective, curated, or outright manipulated.
• [40:13] Lizzie:
  “This whole town runs on lists. You think just because it's on a list, it's gotta be real, and if it's not on the list, it's not real.”

4. The Main Event: The “I, Libertine” Hoax

Setting the Stage: Who Was Jean Shepherd?

• Radio host in 1950s NYC, beloved by “night people”—creative, non-conformists up after midnight.
• Shepherd loved pranks, challenged societal norms, coined “creeping meatballism” for bland conformity.
• [38:14] Lizzie:
  “Day people have something that he called creeping meatballism, which is basically what he called conformity...”

The Prank

• After being told a real book wasn’t on “the list,” Shepherd starts a campaign on his late-night show:
  • Listeners (“night people”) are told to go into bookstores and ask for a completely fictional book: I, Libertine by Frederick R. Ewing, a former British commander and expert on 18th-century erotica.
  • Publisher? “Excelsior, you fathead!” (Shepherd’s catchphrase.)
  • Flight attendants and night-shifters help the prank go international.
• [41:00] Lizzie:
  “He gets them all to call in and write in with names of, like, fake authors and fake books…The best one…was I, Libertine.”

The Hoax Takes Off

• Booksellers start parroting the fictional book’s “cool factor.”
• Even academic assignments and censorship bodies (the Boston Archdiocese) fall for it—Boston bans the book.
• [43:13] Lizzie:
  “College students are turning in book reports on I, Libertine, and they're, like, getting good grades on that.”
• Eventually, the media exposes the hoax. Instead of backlash, Shepherd is celebrated for pranking the arbiters of taste.

The Aftermath: Making the Fake Real

• Publisher Ian Ballantine hears about the prank and, with Shepherd, his wife, and sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon, actually writes and releases a “real” I, Libertine—fulfilling the demand they created.
• Shepherd hosts meetups where night people get their copies signed.
• [44:49] Lizzie:
  “And they're like, well, if a bunch of people want a book called I, Libertine, let's give them a book called I, Libertine.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:00] Dana (jokingly adopting “ghost” persona):
  “I'm the ghost of Dana Schwartz.”
• [12:27] Dana (on NYT list thresholds):
  “You will hit the New York Times bestseller list on like an off week with like 4,000, 5,000.”
• [41:58] Dana (praising the prank):
  “That is actually very plausible.” (Reacting to booksellers faking knowledge)
• [44:23] Dana (on the prank's value):
  “They're in on the joke. And it's also like, you know, it's showing that, like, you date people aren't smarter than anybody else.”
• [46:14] Dana (reading from “I, Libertine”):
  (Performs a dramatic reading with a thick cockney accent)
• [48:44] Lizzie (the twist):
  “And in 1983, it was turned into a movie called A Christmas Story.”
• [49:15] Dana:
  “I like a little feeling like you're part of a club. Yeah. Even though I go to bed at 9:00 every night. So I'm not a night person … but I'm like, yeah, stick it to the man.”

Important Timestamps

• [02:00-04:53] — Dana’s path to bestsellerdom
• [05:40-08:10] — Introduction to book list scams
• [10:07-16:05] — The “Handbook for Mortals” manipulation unfolds
• [20:12-23:30] — Bookstores and ethical dilemmas
• [28:20-35:41] — Introducing Jean Shepherd and “night people” culture
• [40:12-44:33] — The “I, Libertine” hoax, prank mechanics, and viral spread
• [44:49-47:56] — The hoax becomes real: book written and published
• [48:44-50:12] — The twist: Jean Shepherd’s connection to “A Christmas Story”

Overall Tone and Takeaways

The chatty, slightly subversive humor of Dana and Lizzie underscores the episode. They delight in odd, victimless crimes (“I think what she did is like a teeny tiny bit punk rock” – Lizzie, [25:45]) but also stress the fragility and arbitrariness of prestige mechanisms like bestseller lists. There’s admiration for hoaxes that include and delight their audiences—I, Libertine—and skepticism for those that exploit or exclude.

Final Message:
Lists are just lists—often arbitrary, sometimes manipulated, and rarely the sole arbiters of quality or worth. Sometimes the greatest trick is simply getting everyone to look in the same direction.

Where to Find More

Find the “Hoax!” podcast on Instagram (@hoaxthepodcast), or email Dana at hoaxthepodcastmail.com
Dana: @DanaSchwartzz (Instagram/TikTok)
Lizzie: @lizzie.logan

Closing Advice:
[50:44] Dana:
“And as always, please Hoax responsibly. Bye.”