Kayfabe Country
What does Hulk Hogan body-slamming Andre the Giant have to do with modern politics? Jamie Bartlett follows an idea that escaped the ring and changed the world.
In episode two, Jamie ventures into the strange world of 1980s WWF wrestling - where performers and fans share an unspoken agreement to treat the whole spectacle as real. A shared illusion where everyone knows it's fake, but plays along because it feels true. It sounds like harmless fun. And for a while, it was. But Jamie soon wonders: what happens when an idea like that escapes the ring and changes the world?
Credits:
Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Series Producer: Tom Pooley
Sound Design: Rob Speight
Production Coordinator: Neena Abdullah
Original music: Coach Conrad
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4.
On radio
Broadcast
- Wed 18 Mar 202609:30BBC Radio 4
Podcast
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Everything Is Fake
Jamie Bartlett investigates how fakery became the operating system of modern life.
