I always enjoyed the stories of The Grift, and recently old episodes have been randomly popping back into my feed. Please bring more stories! Of course I’m giving the old shows are-listen when they come into my feed, but new shows would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I really want to enjoy this podcast, but the narration is very strange and unnatural. There is no natuaral rhythm or flow to the narration. Each sentence is read in a different rhythm and its difficult to get in to it. THe voice seems forced but pretending to be natural. Just weird. I can't.

This podcast lies at the intersection of what you hope isn’t true and what you want to believe. The tales of grifting are akin to what Da Vinci did for inventions. There are certainly parts that are fanciful, but everything is rooted in truth. The trouble is that you can never tell what is an elaboration and what is historic. Thus making the intrigue all the greater.

I missed this one and consistently overlooked it. It is excellent and so is family ghosts.

I don’t know what everyone is talking about, I love her voice! I love that even though it’s a crime podcast it’s not horror story stuff. It gives enough information that you can see the harm done by these fascinating manipulators but not so much you lie awake thinking about it with terror. It helps you to see that things like this can happen to anyone, but I think that knowing how it’s done to you can help you to avoid it, even if that just means being more careful about what you believe or who trust.

Very well done. Enjoy listening to your podcast. Looking forward to future new ones.

I like the content but I agree with the other reviewer. The voice is distracting. I realize people cannot control their natural voice but I guess my impression is that is not her voice. It feels like catching your friend in a fake, phone voice. It seems she is a little too in love with the sound of her voice.. in this case quite literally

I love this podcast! Why did they stop making it? It's been two years! I enjoy the host's storytelling style and brashness when conducting interviews. The stories are fascinating and informative. I want more! Bring her back!

Tried this podcast for the first time. The story was interesting and well researched although the narrators/hosts voice made it a difficult listen. I had to stop listening before the end of the episode.

The stories are good, told well and researched well. The host is the problem. She speaks so slowly and over annunciates her words, like she is talking to a deaf person that needs to read her lips or someone who doesn’t understand English well. I could only do two episodes. It just drove me nuts.

Ughh I feel terrible for judging someone’s podcast on their voice, but..... her voice is SO BAD. It is so distracting it’s hard to even enjoy the content.

Episodes cut/skip unexpectedly. Sounds botched. Disappointing.

Cannot stand the vocal fry that the presenter uses on the last word on every sentence. Seems like it could be an interesting podcast, but she sounds like a 17 year old high school mean girl. Nope!

Too much is garbled and buzzy. I gave up after two episodes...sadly as sit seems a good set of shows.

The problem with this series is that the investigative “journalism”lacks diligence, effort, or substance. Though the host says she’s interested in the plight of victims whose lives have been ruined, she does nothing to verify the statements by the con artists she interviews, or even track down the victims. Take the episode about the painter who painted fake paintings – – she gives his view of how the victims got what they deserved but makes no effort to contact even one of them. This is a small point, but in the “card shark” episode, the correct term is card sharp. this feels like a bad high school project, that would get a B- for an absence of effort. while I am fascinated by the topics selected, I will unsubscribe shortly.

Good podcast and the host’s voice is fine. Sadly though, I don’t see a season 2.

I love how well researched this is. Every episode drew me in. No Maria doesn’t sound like me from the Midwest but I find her intriguing and brilliant

This is a great podcast. Subjects are throughly researched and clearly presented in 30min episodes. The podcaster has a smooth, calm style. No profanity, warnings on sexual or violent content, which makes the podcast kind of “family friendly” if you wanted to listen w friends and family on a car ride or whatever. I got a recommendation to try this podcast from a true crime facebook group, so glad I tried it.

Content is intriguing, but the host’s voice and intonation are so irritating I couldn’t get past 5 minutes of episode one. I tried listening to a more recent episode to see if she toned down the obnoxious, overly-dramatic presentation, but she hadn’t. Too bad because I would really like to hear these stories! Maybe someone else could record them for us.....!?! (And I’m a woman, so the comments that accuse people of being “sexist” if they hate her voice are ridiculous. She’s just very annoying!)

I’ve been binging this for two days now, and I’m just about done. It’s pretty entertaining, I just wish the episodes were longer. I feel like they could put a little more meat on it...

I've listened to other podcasts like Serial and Stown. All of them were good but, this is sooo interesting and soooo well done. I've told friends about it and I've listened to the first few podcast more than once. They keep my interest and make me anticipate the next episode.. Nice job and many thanks for great entertainment!

I love the idea of this podcast! The con artists are super compelling! There are some weird elements to the podcast itself with over the top bad music in some episodes, and really hammy narration. There is moral commentary on these criminals which really turns me off. I think that is better left to the listener to judge. Tweak the formula and I’m in.

Really great podcast. But no new episodes in a long time.

Could be interesting but the host is not made for doing this. Reading like such earnest 5th grade show and tell, the nasal singsong I just couldn’t get past. Gave up after 10 mins.

Very enjoyable delve into the minds of people who’s brain just does not function the same way mine does. I think my favorite part is how they don’t condemn or romanticize the grifters, just let them tell their stories. Looking forward to more episodes.

Love it

I listened to what was proposed to be the most disturbing of grifter stories from the season. It wasnt. There was never a motive explained, no real victims or incidents of fraud detailed. The narrator never used one adjective when five would suffice. Delete!

A bunch of stories about really compelling people and their situations. Nice work, and please do more!

Entertaining and fun, with moments of real compassion. So looking forward to more!

The premise is intriguing, but the narration is cheesy and overdone. I had to force myself to make it through the entire podcast. The interviewer carried the podcast, in spite of the host’s delivery.

I love everything about the concenpt of sharing these stories with the combined efforts of the narrarator and each subject's own tellings, but NO. The host's voice is so poor for podcasts. No matter how much I want to be open to it, and can always get through other podcasts with "vocal fry" in a lot of reviews, this one is the one that I just can't do.

Maria does a great job selecting compelling con artists, and does a great job telling their stories, from the small cons of card sharks, to the most outlandish grifts imaginable. Your emotions will range from amusement at some of the more victimless crimes, to horror at the sheer ruin these con artists can bring onto people. The episodes are a perfect length, and always leave you wanting more. I'm so very hopeful for a second season. Make it happen, Panoply!

The content is interesting. Stories I haven’t heard before. You hear from both the conned and the cons.

Wish there were more episodes, really enjoyed listening to these.

The Grift is great. Family ghosts- so boring I could barely stop hitting my head against my desk long enough to post this review. It was so bad I thought it might be a parody, but not funny. So - ick no.

Did I miss something? I was binging on the podcast only to see the last one was published in June. Please tell me you're coming back!

great listen, defianltey worth your time!

Listen to ~3 minutes of any episode and you’ll be hooked.

Great

This is not a subject I have a particular interest in, but I am finding these stories fascinating and well told. A episode on Trump would be great.

Fun, informative and also manages to really effectively balance the more thrilling/salacious details of the grift with genuine understanding and empathy for those who've fallen victim to these cons. Side note: every time someone writes a condescending podcast review solely criticizing a woman's speaking voice, an angel loses its wings.

I'm sorry to say that I couldn't listen more than a few minutes because the host's nasal sounding voice was very grating. I have an awful nasal voice too so I'm sympathetic...I don't know if there's some way of changing that quality.

I love this show; I found it when a friend's stupid grifter (his words) ex-wife failed to protect her reasonably intelligent 80 year old (!) mother from losing everything to an online scammer and then illegally evicted her from the house to have another illegal AirBnB room. Fun stuff! Little grift compared to what the pod covers- grifting takes some intellect and determination but yuck. Awful way to spend time. Seconds ago while thinking about the Paris Accords I thought about the con pulled on the nation last November-even leaving out the Russians and the STOOPID long con of discrediting Hillary. Think what you will about Hillary personally (hard to separate the person from the scam? I guarantee she's not who the GOP claims; more effective high profile Dem government experience of course leads to more activity to discredit her) but you can bet she wouldn't be working counter to whatever she said during her campaign. The point of running was not to con the nation, she didn't learn The Art of the Grift at (literally) her daddy's knee. The "man" turning the White House Grey is the Ultimate Grifter in need of investigation. August Add On- I guess we're not getting more from this. Too bad. We'll just have to keep looking to "politics" to see The Biggest Grifter in office since Reagan to see what's going on. (Learn nonpartisan economics and you'll see what Reagan did.)

I had read Maria Konnikova's "The Confidence Game." I bumped into this podcast serendipitously through NPROne App, in which it's curated by NPR editors. I was absolutely wowed by the euphonious diction of the podcast. The way, she exudes the passion for her subject with a wonderfully written script that's accentuated by the caesuras and pauses and witty narrations made me get hooked on to this one. So much so, I got on to my iTunes to download the entire series. I like Maria's voice and her unflappable diction, which is definitely sui generis, given the number of other podcasts I listen to. The subject itself could be dark, but, the illumination on it couldn't have been better.

I really like this podcast: I read the podcaster's book, which was really interesting. I look forward to seeing this podcast every week (wish there were more episodes!)

The host's compassionate yet also realistic attitude towards her subjects is refreshing. She doesn't oversimplify or vilify, and presents the con-artist/victim dynamic in all its fascinating complexity.

I love the fresh take on a crime podcast. Yes the murder podcasts cover the psychology of the murderer, but this one focuses on non lethal criminals and it's fascinating. I'll recommend this podcast to anyone who will listen

3 stars - A minutes into the first episode, I didn't think I could continue because of the hosts voice. The storyline was great, but unfortunately, I just don't think the host has a good Podcast/radio voice which really takes away from the concept of this pod. I'm going to continue listening because I genuinely hope it gets better, but I probably won't be recommending to anyone. UPDATE: 1 star - I can't deal with the hosts voice. She sounds great when she speaks normally to people, but once she starts narrating, it's all vocal fry and over-dramatic enunciation. The concept is great and I really hope the host works on eliminating the vocal fry.

If you like Crimetown but find it's little boring or long-winded, check out the Grift. Different topic each episode, from all different time periods. Wish there was more diversity in demographics of the grifters, who do range widely in type of con-artistry. Loved the heiress one.

I'm 33/f and not even particularly interested in this topic and it's captivating. The hosts could talk about anything and I'd be engaged