Sometimes news comes out that’s stranger than fiction … or, in this case, “faker” than fiction.
There have been a couple media stories circulating today, including a summer reading list with recommendations of books by famous authors like Isabel Allende and a new, Philadelphia-based legal drama featuring cast members from “Parks and Recreation.” Sadly, both were made up.
Billy Penn thought we would get to the bottom of things.
Fake Book Recs
The Inquirer has been pulled into an AI scandal that began when readers of The Chicago Sun-Times noted that a 2025 summer reading list that was part of a seasonal guide included fictitious book recommendations.
The books listed had real, famous authors, like Min Jin Lee of Pachinko and Andy Weir of The Martian, but they were associated with fake titles — Nightshade Market and The Last Algorithm, respectively — and fake descriptions to boot.
“Weir delivers another science-driven thriller,” the blurb for the book read. “This time, the story follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness – and has been secretly influencing global events for years.”
Ironically, this description was also AI-generated!
Social media sleuths and reddit posters were quick to point out that only five of the 15 books listed were real.
On Tuesday, alert readers noted the same guide and summer reading list was part of last Thursday’s Inquirer.
There is no byline on the reading list. However, writer Marco Buscaglia spoke with 404 Media and took responsibility.
“I do use AI for background at times, but always check out the material first. This time, I did not and I can’t believe I missed it because it’s so obvious. No excuses,” Buscaglia said. “On me 100 percent and I’m completely embarrassed.”
While Buscaglia claimed that he “always” double-checks his facts (besides, of course, this glaring incident), The Verge reported that another one of Buscaglia’s stories includes quotes attributed to publications or experts that do not appear to be real. The Atlantic weighed in, with an article that gives away its viewpoint: At Least Two Newspapers Syndicated AI Garbage.
In a statement, Inquirer CEO Lisa Hughes said the entire guide, including the summer reading list, was purchased from a third party (King Features, part of multimedia giant Hearst) and not created by Inquirer staff, nor was it put through its editorial process. The newsroom published an acknowledgement of the issue Tuesday evening.
“All of the material in the supplement was produced and designed by King Features, a unit of Hearst, from which The Inquirer has received syndicated materials like comics, puzzle books and supplemental content for over 40 years,” Hughes said. “The Inquirer newsroom is not involved in the production of these syndicated features, nor was it involved in creating Heat Index.”
The guide was included in Thursday’s print and e-editions, until it was removed Tuesday. Hughes called the AI-generated content “a violation of our own internal policies and a serious breach.” The Sun-Times said much the same.
For those craving a human-generated summer reading list, The Atlantic recently published its 2025 roundup.
Fake Philly Television
Amy Poehler revealed a trailer this week on her podcast “Good Hang” for a TV show called “Philly Justice,” featuring herself and other “Parks and Recreation” alumni.
Unfortunately, “Philly Justice” is not actually about to be our newest watch repping the City of Brotherly Love, à la “Abbott Elementary” or “It’s Always Sunny.” The show’s a fake, and the trailer was created 13 years ago, as an inside joke between “Parks and Rec” cast members.
Poehler invited show creator Mike Schur and producer Morgan Sackett, as well as actors Adam Scott and Rashida Jones, to talk about the project on her podcast.
The idea began after Poehler, Hahn, Scott, Jones and Paul Rudd appeared together in a photo wearing their “Parks and Rec” workplace attire with their arms crossed, looking sternly at the camera.
Jones joked that it looked like they were filming a legal procedural. From there, things escalated.
“We were talking about how this picture on set then became a private joke that then became a show that then was written by the writers, while we were doing a real show,” Poehler said on the episode.
Eventually, cast members took time out of their busy schedules to get together and actually film scenes for “Philly Justice.”
Sackett, the producer, even sent out an email with a shooting schedule and plan for the show’s pilot, which he read out loud for the podcast.
“We’re planning on converting the Barkley Group set into the office of the Philly Justice team. We’re also going to set up a courtroom scene,” Sackett said. “The plan is to dress and groom everyone as 2002 lawyers.”
The cast even created detailed character backstories.
“I was playing Joey Martinez who was a first-year associate,” Jones explained. “She had a really rough background … She doesn’t like to talk, but she’s the one that gives it to you straight, even when you don’t ask her opinion.”
Scott’s character was even more out there: a leather-jacket-wearing district attorney who was the only person from his former firm to survive 9/11.
“I just remember being so excited that we were going to get to do it,” Scott said. “Because we had been talking at that point for maybe like six months or something.”
Rudd doesn’t appear in the final cut. The cast jokes that they replaced him with the actor Dylan McDermott, who is indeed in the trailer.
At the end of the podcast episode, Poehler finally plays the fake trailer, which involves intense courtroom hijinks, multiple surprise witnesses and a passionate kiss.
“For the first time ever on DVD, a legendary courtroom drama that no one has ever seen,” a trailer narrator says. “These lawyers play by their own rules, and they play for keeps.”
The “Philly Justice” trailer is available on Youtube and Spotify. It starts at about an hour and 8 minutes into the “Good Hang” podcast.
Now, back to real news.
