Episodes
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This episode was originally released right before the 2020 presidential election and is even more relevant as we face the 2024 election. Political philosopher Jason Stanley, author of the book How Fascism Works, helps us understand how countries slide into authoritarian systems through conspiracy theories, demonization of others, the systematic erosion of truth, and the manipulation of anxieties around race and gender.
Check out How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley as well as his new book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future
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In the 19th century, America and Europe experienced a panic over premature burial, believing that anyone could be accidentally declared dead and entombed before their time was really up. Led by a movement of quacky Spiritualists, the panic culminated in the creation of safety coffins with mechanisms that promised to save anyone who awoke six feet underground. Mere decades later, burial artists began performing all over America as a part of advertising gimmicks. They spent months underground in decked-out coffins, and the public could pay a dime to look down a viewing chute and see these "living corpses." For this Halloween special, we'll look at the panic-turned-spectacle of the American fear of being buried alive.
Get tickets for A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About:
linktr.ee/amassiveseance
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Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Voice Actor: Will Rogers
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Missing episodes?
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This is a preview for "Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder." On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 to report that someone was trying to enter her Chicago housing project apartment through the bathroom medicine cabinet. Police thought she was imagining things, but when authorities finally checked on McCoy two days
later, they found her dead with four gunshot wounds. From “48 Hours”, “Candyman: The True
Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder,” revisits the real-life account of McCoy's strange
death – one of the inspirations for the Candyman horror film – and the broader systemic issues
surrounding the tragic event. Hosted by journalist and Chicago native Dometi Pongo.
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'Buried Alive,' our upcoming Halloween special, looks at the American fear and fascination with premature burial. We'll explore the panic that swept the nation in the 1800s, leading to the creation of safety coffins for those potentially entombed too soon, and the spectacles drummed up by eccentric performers who competed to see who could stay buried alive the longest. This episode provides more historical context through excerpts from our previous episodes, Death, The 12 Foot Skeleton, and Quackery.
Get tickets for A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About:
linktr.ee/amassiveseance
Full episodes to check out:
Death
The 12 Foot Skeleton
Quackery
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Sound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-Smith
Edited by Miranda Zickler
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About and Chelsey Weber-Smith of American Hysteria for a historical, theatrical, ecstatic spectacular for the living and dead. Hold hands with your favorite disembodied voices for a spiritualist séance* featuring fireside conversation, mystifying tricks, special guests, and music from The Little Lies – the only Fleetwood Mac tribute band that may actually be ghosts. This winter, we will release the phantoms of the past year and make room for the spirit of the new.
Get your tickets here: https://linktr.ee/amassiveseance
DEC 3 + 4 | PORTLAND, OR
DEC 11 | SEATTLE, WA
JAN 11 | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
JAN 24 | LOS ANGELES, CA
Produced in collaboration with Woody Shticks + Miranda Zickler
*May contain exorcisms.
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Today Sarah Marshall transports us to the old world of British Hysteria to reveal the mysterious story of the Enfield Poltergeist and joins me at the seance table to discuss the great unknown and the ghosts we know.
Donate to help those affected by the recent hurricanes:
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
BelovedAsheville
Central Florida Mutual Aid
Listen to You're Wrong About and You Are Good wherever you get your podcasts
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Generation Alpha has made the uncanny, creepy, and chaotic YouTube series 'Skibidi Toilet' into a viral YouTube sensation, so much so that a famous director may soon be taking it to the big screen, despite the fact that the phenomenon has been called both brainrot and dangerous to the youth. On this episode, we will explain what Skibidi Toilet is, hear about similar internet videos enjoyed by Millennials and Gen X, and learn about famous art movements like net.art, Dadaism, and Surrealism to see if we can fit the seemingly meaningless Skibidi Toilet into an important artistic lineage.
Watch some Skibidi Toilet now on our Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Check out DaFuq!?Boom!'s YouTube channel
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Voice Actor: Will Rogers
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of
nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, they’re
sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically
calibrated to make your blood run cold.
From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange
medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase
“heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a
first-of-its-kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-
winning company behind Dr. Death.
Listen to MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts: Wondery.fm/MBMM_AH_
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Our upcoming episode is about the massively successful and deeply uncanny YouTube series Skibidi Toilet, the first content that Generation Alpha's influence has made into a world-wide sensation. Billions of views on YouTube and TikTok are attributed to the original videos and the innumerable fan videos that followed, and soon we may see this bizarro phenomenon on the big screen with a famous director attached. Skibidi Toilet has been called both brainrot and dangerous to the youth, and in this Context Clues episode we will explore transgressive creations of previous generations as well as some other online content that has inspired moral panics.
Head to our Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast to see some Skibidi Toilet videos so you can know wtf we are talking about
Full episodes to check out:
#Elsagate
The Momo Challenge
Jackass
Rotten.com
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Sound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-Smith
Edited by Miranda Zickler
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika is a Peabody Award-winning audio journalist and an assistant professor of journalism at New York University. His latest podcast, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD “takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival police gangs battling across the city, to everyday people who resisted every step of the way.” With the national spotlight yet again on the corruption and escalating violence of this increasingly militarized police force, it is necessary to understand the true roots of the NYPD, and see that even after close to 200 years, so much remains the same.
Listen to Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Brittany Spanos is a senior writer for Rolling Stone Magazine who has taught a course at NYU called Topics in Recorded Music: Taylor Swift, which analyzes "the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness and power as it relates to her image." Today we are talking about conspiracy theories that come from within the hardcore Swiftie fanbase, and the ones that come from outside, often via the right wing media.
Follow Brittany Spanos on Twitter and Instagram
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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The life of the conspiracy theory that claims Elvis Presley faked his death is an almost unbelievable journey through gimmick-crazy hucksters and true blue believers, the tales turning the king of rock and roll into something more like a cryptid than a superstar, evidence caught in blurry photographs and in secret messages, all covered up by shadowy forces. This zany story shows how conspiracies theories are born, how they transform, and how they never seem to die, no matter what, much like Elvis himself, allegedly.
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Voice Actor: Will Rogers
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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The idea that Elvis Presley did not die in August of 1977, that he instead faked his death, has become one of the most famous and enduring conspiracy theories of all time, essentially elevating the former superstar to the status of a cryptid. For this context clues episode, we are revisiting our 2022 episode called Fangirls which covers the rise of music fandom, including Elvis'. Next week we will explore the bizarre, fantastical creation of the Elvis is Alive movement and the many strange players that brought this tale into the conspiracy theory hall of fame.
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Sound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-Smith
Edited by Miranda Zickler
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Our paranormal correspondent Jim Perry is back to tell us about his recent ghost hunt inside the Queen Mary ship, where he discovered that Walt Disney had installed some ghostly gimmicks decades ago, inadvertently creating a haunting that continued on long after Disney sold the vessel. We discuss what happens when horror entertainment influences our consciousness and helps to create our modern relationship to the paranormal.
Listen to Euphomet wherever you get your podcasts
Check out SpectreVision's other podcasts
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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For part two of our series, we are returning to the phenomenon called 'Tarantism' that began in the Middle Ages in southern Italy where the bite of a local spider caused bizarre and contagious symptoms almost like that of demonic possession and the only antidote was trance-like, vigorous dancing. Today we look at all the theories about what caused this dancing mania: Was it all truly a reaction to the venom? A religious possession? A full-blown hysteria? A feminist revolt? Or an archaic cult’s secret rituals? Sarah and I explore these ideas and add a few unorthodox ones of our own.
Listen to You're Wrong About and You Are Good wherever you get your podcasts
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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The phenomenon called 'Tarantism' began in the Middle Ages in southern Italy where the bite of a local spider caused bizarre symptoms almost like that of demonic possession. The only cure was to dance vigorously for hours or days with the dance itself seeming to become contagious. Was it all truly a reaction to the venom? A religious possession? A full-blown hysteria? A feminist revolt? Or an archaic cult’s secret rituals? Sarah and I try to figure it out over this two part series.
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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Rod Crawford is the curator of the arachnids and related research collections at Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. His website called Spider Myths debunks the many misconceptions about spiders, and for this episode, he joins me to discuss some of these urban legends and bogus facts. Many of them may surprise you!
Check out Rod Crawford's website Spider Myths
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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For this Urban Legends Hotline episode, we are dissecting the myth that the average person swallows a certain number of spiders in their sleep by following this false fact's bizarre and mysterious trail on the early internet, looking at other spider-related urban legends, searching for pop culture references to spiders in mouths, as well as old newspaper articles about the alleged dangers of swallowing spiders, and analyzing the surprising theories behind American's fear of these eight-legged freaks.
Thanks to listener Rebekah for her submission!
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Voice Actor: Will Rogers
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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This is an update on the new developments surrounding one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, paired with our 2019 minisode. When news broke that the film's production company Lionsgate will be reviving the franchise with genre giant Blumhouse, the three original actors took to social media with a serious bone to pick. The Blair Witch Project masqueraded as real found footage of three college students who went missing in the woods while recording a documentary on the local legend. The story of the missing students and the lore of the Blair Witch were both widely believed during its monumental release, and we are covering just how the directors and marketing team were able to pull off one of the greatest hoaxes in American history, creating an original urban legend and facilitating its spread while also using a truly unorthodox method of filming, essentially becoming the Blair Witch, that encouraged true fear out of the actors.
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast
Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com
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For this episode, the hosts of the new podcast Pretendians, Robert Jago and Angel Ellis, explain Indigenous Identity Fraud, the phenomenon of scam artists pretending to be indigenous in order to receive certain kinds of benefits. We talk about the motivations of these Pretendians, how they get away with it, the effects these charlatans have on the indigenous peoples they attempt to emulate, and how these living caricatures overshadow the true identities of various indigenous communities.
Listen to Pretendians wherever you get your podcasts!
Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content
Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts
Head to americanhysteria.com to get merch and leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline
Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler
Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
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