Fool Me Twice

Episode 13 of Fool Me Twice, hosted by Brad Oakes and Steve Van Aperen, explores the theme of deception, with a strong focus on truth in advertising, corporate accountability, and how misleading information operates in everyday life. The episode blends humour, personal anecdotes, and detailed explanations to unpack how lies, defined as deliberate, factually incorrect statements intended to mislead...

Episode 12 of the Fool Me Twice podcast features hosts Bradford Oakes and Steve Van Aperen discussing deception in politics, focusing on how politicians lie, why they do it, and how those lies shape public perception. The conversation opens with lighthearted banter about accents and impersonations before shifting to the central topic: the prevalence of lying in politics. Steve defines a lie as "kn...

Episode 11 of Fool Me Twice with Brad Oakes and Steve Van Aperen explores the growing problem of online dating scams and the psychology behind how scammers manipulate people into giving away money. The conversation focuses on deception, catfishing, love bombing, and the playbook commonly used by fraudsters to exploit loneliness and trust. The episode opens with some light conversation during Grand...

In Episode 10 of Fool Me Twice , Steve Van Aperen and Bradford Oakes dive headfirst into the murky worlds of art fraud, AI deception, political deflection, and undercover policing—unpacking how lies work, why they succeed, and what ultimately exposes them. The episode opens with a light-hearted exchange about names, identity, and misdirection, setting the tone for a deeper conversation about how p...

Episode 9 of Fool Me Twice dives deep into the many shades of deceit in sport, with Brad Oakes and Steve Van Aperen exploring how dishonesty can range from subtle strategy to outright corruption. The episode opens with a broader discussion about lying, including how deception is often embedded in everyday life and even professional roles. From there, the conversation shifts into the sporting arena...

In episode 8 of the Fool Me Twice Podcast, comedian Brad Oakes is joined by former police detective Steve Van Aperen for an in depth discussion on lying deception memory and investigative interviewing. The episode examines how professionals distinguish between deliberate dishonesty and genuine human error and why this distinction matters. Steve Van Aperen defines a lie as the intentional act of mi...

Episode 7 of the Fool Me Twice podcast dives deeply into the nature of lying, deception, and the psychology behind why people mislead others, sometimes deliberately, sometimes by omission, and often for self preservation. The episode opens with light hearted banter between hosts Brad and Steve, touching on everyday complaints, injuries, and humour around masculinity, before quickly shifting into t...

Episode 6 of Fool Me Twice explores deception in its many everyday and extreme forms, blending humour, criminology and behavioural science. The conversation opens with a lighthearted discussion about lying what it is, how common it is and how easily people rationalise small deceptions. This theme quickly shifts to modern petty crime, particularly self serve supermarket checkouts, where customers m...

Episode 5 of Fool Me Twice centres on one of Australia’s most infamous criminals, Ivan Milat , using his case to explore how lies, fear, and behavioural deception operate in serious crime. Rather than focusing on sensationalism, the episode examines the mechanics of deception surrounding a serial offender and the long lasting consequences those lies can have on victims, families, and the justice s...

Episode 4 of Fool Me Twice dives deep into the messy, uncomfortable, and often humorous reality of lies, particularly in selling. Steve and Brad begin by defining a lie as a deliberate attempt to mislead someone while knowing the truth, that lying is often professionally useful. From there, the conversation moves fluidly between comedy, psychology, ethics, and lived experience. A major focus of th...

In this episode of Fool Me Twice, Bradford and Steve take listeners inside the mechanics of lying and explain how easily confidence and charm can mislead us. Steve defines a lie as a deliberate attempt to mislead while knowing the truth, then challenges many popular beliefs about how liars behave. He explains that nervousness, lack of eye contact, or awkward pauses rarely signal deception on their...

In Episode 2 of Fool Me Twice, the conversation moves beyond why people lie and into something far more revealing. What do liars actually do differently from people telling the truth? The episode opens with a deceptively simple question most of us ask every day. How are you? What appears to be a polite greeting is often an invitation to edit reality rather than reveal it. Social convention encoura...

In the first episode of Fool Me Twice , comedian Brad Oakes and former police detective and deception expert Steve Van Aperen dive headfirst into one deceptively simple question: why do we lie, and how can we tell when someone else is doing it? The episode opens with the idea that lying is not rare, criminal, or even unusual. It is an everyday social behaviour. From comedians exaggerating stories...