“Faking It”: Society gets by on life’s little deceptions. So how do they work, and how did they get Barack Obama elected? Listen to a kosher-keeping bacon lover, a fake father and charlatan churchgoer, and one of the Game Change authors.

Not long ago, we published a blog post by a woman in Texas whose family, she explained, “fakes Christianity for social reasons.” It was such an intriguing topic that we’ve turned it into a full-blown podcast. Thus the latest episode of Freakonomics Radio: “Faking It” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, read the transcript, or listen via the media player above). It explores some of the many ways in which so many of us fake it — religiously, sure, but also in politics, in social situations and in the bedroom. Is all this faking a menace to society? Or do we all benefit from everyone else’s fakery? You’ll have to decide for yourself.

The episode was also inspired by a fascinating passage about Barack Obama in the book Game Change. So you’ll hear from Mark Halperin, one of the book’s authors, who will explain the dilemma that had Obama faking it. You’ll also hear from Kara Newman, a kosher-keeping food writer, who comes clean on her illicit love for bacon; and from a guy we call Brian, who maintains a series of mirages about his faith and family.

One of the best parts of making this episode was the interview with William Ian Miller, a law professor at the University of Michigan, who wrote a book called Faking It. Miller’s the guy who may convince you — at least he convinced me — that the way we look at fakery may be all wrong.