Miss Cleo and the Psychic Readers Network

The Reference Desk

Call me now for your free reading!
In this episode, Katie is bewitched by Miss Cleo and the Psychic Readers Network.
Late-night advertising in the 1990s and early 2000s was full of 900-number hotlines promising everything from video game tips to proof that Elvis was still alive. But the most pervasive and perhaps harmful were hotlines promising to connect you with a psychic reader.
Miss Cleo became a pop culture icon in this space with her sassy tarot readings, no-nonsense advice, and signature Jamaican patois. But a string of lawsuits exposed the dark side of the "for entertainment purposes only" psychic hotline. Who should be held responsible for the harm caused by this sinister business model- the woman who inspired millions to call in or the men behind the curtain?
Staff Picks:
Novel Effect interactive reading app
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
Recommended reading:
Affinity by Sarah Waters
Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Suddenly Psychic by Elizabeth Hunter
Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium by Mark Edwards
The Darkened Room by Alex Owen

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe by Dr. Steven Novella

Recommended viewing:
Call Me Miss Cleo documentary (HBO max)
Sources:
"In The '90s, A Black Psychic Friend Fooled White America. Then They Were Pissed" by Candice Frederick
"A History of TV Psychics (and Why We Love Them So Much)" by Rae Alexandra
"Miss Cleo Left a Trail of Deception in Seattle" by D. Parvaz

"‘Grand Theft Auto’ Makers Sued by Psychic Readers Network Over Miss Cleo ‘Doppelganger’" by Tim Kenneally
"I Was a Hotline Psychic for Miss Cleo" by Bennett Madison

"Miss Cleo on her Allegedly Fake Patois and Getting Ripped Off by Her Old Bosses" Vice

"Miss Cleo Comes Out" by Greg Hernandez

"Miss Cleo Still Knows" by Brandon Voss

FTC vs. Access Resource Services, Inc. et al

"Miss Cleo, Famed '90s TV Psychic, is Getting a Documentary" by Bria McNeal
"Steven Feder and Peter Stolz: Where Are PRN Co-Owners Now?" by Kumari Shreya
Support the show