Topic: Cold Reading

The resurgence of "California Psychics" commercials is identified as a cyclical phenomenon often tied to economic depressions. The business model, which starts at $1 per minute but can escalate to $14 per minute, is deconstructed as a classic cold-reading scam that uses basic personal information to create the illusion of supernatural insight.

The technical aspects of using a teleprompter are discussed following a gaffe where President Obama reportedly mispronounced "wreak havoc" as "wrecking havoc." The difficulty of "cold reading" and the development of a specific "announcer cadence" to mask reading errors are explored as professional broadcasting techniques.