On October 24, 2008, right before the last Presidential election, I was a guest on the radio show Studio 360, a popular program on Public Radio International (PRI) hosted by Kurt Anderson. Due to its timeliness, Anderson raised the question as to whether politicians were similar to magicians. Specifically, he focused on the power of “patter” – a magicians’ term for the words spoken during a magic trick.

Two other magicians, both close friends of mine, Mark Levy and Harry Lorayne also appear in the broadcast. There are a few other very recognizable voices too. Click the play button, and see if you can figure them out!