We all remember the very real threat of cooties, a contractable playground malady that developed out of the adult fear of germs. Cooties have long acted as a tool of kiddy quarantine as well as a tool to define who are the social others of the school hierarchy. Today we will dive into the long history of cooties, from wartime trenches to the jungle gym.  The AFTER SHOCK is a Skylark Media production Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Co-written and researched by Riley Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios (https://www.clearcommo.com/) Get ticket to our LIVE Seattle show here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398) Next week’s episode: Quackery

In a real sense, germs are our only modern predator and they are invisible and impossible to detect; what could be scarier? America has adjusted to the threat of germs by not only working toward cures and vaccinations, but by making uncleanliness in general a cultural symbol meant to separate social others from the affluent. Anxieties about race and immigration, about gender and sexuality and class, played out in the way products were marketed, as well as in how public policy and public opinion were formed, leading to several needless quarantines and travel bans throughout history. American’s obsession with cleanliness has become a kind of religious ritual, and scientists and psychologists now believe that the fear of germs may influence all our political and moral opinions without us evening knowing it.   American Hysteria is LIVE IN SEATTLE June 27th Get your tickets now! (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398)   This episode is sponsored by DailyHarvest, go to Daily-Harvest.com and use promo code AMERICAN for three free cups in your first box   American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios (https://www.clearcommo.com/) Voice acting by Will Rogers Research assisted by Riley Smith Art by Roache (https://www.xroache.com/)   Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: AmerHysteria (https://twitter.com/AmerHysteria) Instagram: AmericanHysteriaPodcast (https://www.instagram.com/americanhysteriapodcast/) Facebook: /AmericanHysteriaPodcast (https://facebook.com/americanhysteriapodcast)   Please rate and review the show!

From the partnership that brought you Dirty John, comes Man in the Window. Pulitzer prize winning reporter Paige St. John investigates The Golden State Killer and traces his path of devastation through the eyes of his victims. Listen now at wondery.fm/hysteria.

American Hysteria presents the AFTER SHOCK, a follow-up minisode to the main episode before it, basically The Shit They Didn't Show or From The Cutting Room Floor. We'll cover one interesting story every other week. This episode is about 'griefbots,' a new form of AI that app developers are creating. By scouring social media posts and text messages of deceased persons, they work to design chat bots that loved ones and future generations can actually interact with. One developer is even offering a way to contribute to a future digital version of yourself, that could live on long after you die. The AFTER SHOCK is a Skylark Media production Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Co-written and researched by Riley Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios (https://www.clearcommo.com/) Get ticket to our LIVE Seattle show here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398) Next week’s episode: Germs

For the season two premiere, we are exploring the rich American history of Spiritualism, a massive 80-year trend of popular culture lasting from the Civil War to the Jazz age in which mediums began speaking to, and then speaking for, the spirits of the dead. A sudden craze of magical, fun, gross, and sexy parlor room séances swept the nation, materializing during the awe-inspiring age of invention and scientific inquiry. But the movement also had a political side; for the first time women were given a voice for social and political change, a voice that just happened to be channeled from beyond the veil. How they used that otherworldly voice, however, was both revolutionary and problematic, much like the progressive movements we experience today.  American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios (https://www.clearcommo.com/) Voice acting by Will Rogers Research assisted by Riley Smith Art by Roache (https://www.xroache.com/) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: AmerHysteria (https://twitter.com/AmerHysteria) Instagram: AmericanHysteriaPodcast (https://www.instagram.com/americanhysteriapodcast/) Facebook: /AmericanHysteriaPodcast (https://facebook.com/americanhysteriapodcast) Please rate and review the show! Subscribe to Feminist Folklore here (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feminist-folklore/id1238384423) American Hysteria is LIVE IN SEATTLE June 27th Get your tickets now! (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398)

Join us next week, Monday, June 3rd, for the premiere of season two where we cover the creepy, sexy, gross, and surprisingly political American movement of Talking to the Dead. Find out what more you can expect from our coming season, from terrorism to dangerous teens, from medical quackery to the dangers of the crossword puzzle. In the meantime, if you love the show, please leave us a five star review, it really helps the show out.

After TMZ reported that Britney Spears had been checked into treatment for mental health issues in April, concerns were raised about the state of her conservatorship, the legal agreement that gives her father a great deal of power over her affairs. A conspiracy theory under the hashtag #freebritney, started by the pop culture podcast Britney’s Gram, has spurred actual protests as the news of the state of Britney Spears continues to be updated daily. 

 Season two of American Hysteria premiers on June 3rd.

 [Click here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398) for tickets to our first live show in Seattle on June 27th 
American Hysteria is a Skylark Media production
 Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
 Assistant produced by Derrick Smith
 Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
 Research assisted by Riley Smith
 Thank you to Kristen Rogers-Anderson for help on this episode 

Follow us on social media and please leave us a review!

Through meticulously crafted storytelling and sound design, American Hysteria's newest sponsor, the Murder Minute podcast, delivers a unique and immersive listening experience in true crime. Murder Minute is the length of a short commute, it’s a perfect addition to your routine. Make sure to subscribe now for true crime storytelling without the distraction of too much extra conversation, they call it their "no frills, all chills" podcast.  [Click here to subscribe](https://link.chtbl.com/murderminute) Heads up: The clip contains graphic content

For the very first time, American Hysteria is putting on a live variety-hour vaudevillian show so that you can experience our first season of moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories in a totally different way. You've never seen a live podcast show like this. [Get your tickets here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-hysteria-variety-hour-seattle-tickets-61051071398) June 27th at the Columbia City Theater in Seattle

Out now, Earth Break is the latest scripted series from Skylark Media. Jenny Slate stars as Lynn Gellert, the last person left on Earth. Her constant and only companion is the voice recorder she managed to salvage from her mother's house. As symptoms of a strange illness seem to set in, Lynn comes to terms with her mortality, only to realize that she's not sick, she's pregnant. Lynn is not a survivalist, or even good at camping, but somehow she has to find what it takes to confront a dangerous and uncertain future. Subscribe now: [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/earth-break-few-suggestions-for-survival-additional/id1460595349) [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/will-rogers/earth-break-a-few-suggestions-for-survival-with-additional?refid=stpr) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6PrFCS9ALEFFW9a7FiuZJ5) [Google Podcasts](https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Ilitjz6p4x57o237bfkik76qq4q) [Audioboom](https://www.audioboom.com/channel/EarthBreak)

This is the 20 year anniversary of one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, a movie that 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. These mini episodes will cover the strangest viral phenomena of the world wide web, coming every two weeks during our off-season. Check out Skylark's urban legend audio drama Blackwood [here,](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/blackwood) or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on social media and leave us a review on iTunes <3 American Hysteria is a Skylark Media production Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios Research assisted by Riley Smith

Check out another of the Skylark family's podcasts: Blackwood, the story of three teenagers investigating a local urban legend, The Bugman, that turns out to be more fact than fiction. Blackwood is an audio drama written by Will Rogers, American Hysteria's resident voice actor. If you loved The Blair Witch Project, IT, and Stranger Things, Blackwood is your next horror journey.  Head to [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/blackwood](https://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/blackwoodhttps://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/blackwood) or subscribe to Blackwood on iTunes or wherever you are listening right now. In honor of its 20 year anniversary, come back next Monday for our episode on the outrageous marketing campaign of The Blair Witch Project, and see how their team got a whole nation to believe that a horror movie was actually a documentary. In the meantime, find American Hysteria on social media and leave us a review.

Our culture, our society, our very sense of self, relies heavily on a faith in our memories as perfectly accurate. But what if our memories aren’t as reliable as we think? What if we can recall vividly, things that never actually happened? And what if that can extend out to an entire culture, a whole group collectively remembering something wrong? The Mandela Effect, however, says that parallel dimensions are to blame for discrepancies of mass childhood memories, such as the spelling of Berenstain Bears and the Sinbad's 90s genie movie Shazam.  These mini episodes will cover the strangest viral phenomena of the world wide web, coming every two weeks during our off-season. Follow us on social media and leave us a review on iTunes <3  American Hysteria is a Skylark Media production Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios Research assisted by Riley Smith

Feminist Folklore is a weekly podcast from Skylark Media, assistant produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith. Each week, Carlea Holl-Jensen and Rachel Marr share a different folk story or fairytale from around the world and dive into what it says about past and present ideas of gender, class, race, and more.  Subscribe to Feminist Folklore on Apple podcasts or where ever you're listening right now. You can also find the show at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/feministfolklore](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/feministfolklore). Follow Feminist Folklore on Twitter: @femlorepod Instagram: @feministfolklorepodcast Facebook: @femlorepod American Hysteria will be back next week, in the meantime, find our goofy ass on social media too.  Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

The newest viral internet urban legend focuses on an entity named Momo, a creepy humanoid figure with giant eyes, a strange too-wide smile, and grotesque chicken legs, said to message teens and kids on messaging apps with escalating dangerous challenges ending in self-harm and suicide. On this mini episode, we'll explore this and other panics that look for something to blame for the issue of adolescent mental health. These mini episodes will cover the strangest viral phenomena of the world wide web, coming every two weeks during our off-season. Follow us on social media, as well as our sister podcast Feminist Folklore American Hysteria is a Skylark Media production Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios Research assisted by Riley Smith

It has been said that the apocalypse is as American as apple pie, and for our season finale we are exploring different versions of the end of the world, the hyper-religious, the new age, and the scientific, as well as Chelsey’s personal experience with the 2012 Mayan Apocalypse. The stories we tell about the end of time tend to involve not only a series of cataclysmic, devastating events, but also the saving of an elect few, and the punishing and death of the rest. While none of the end times predictions have come to pass, major leaps in technology have opened us up to both the potential nuclear war and the potential for climate disaster, terrifying realities that prove more difficult to face than our fantasies. What comes next is up to us.  This episode is sponsored by Daily Harvest, head to [daily-harvest.com](https://www.daily-harvest.com/) and use promo code American for three free cups in your first order. This episode is also sponsored by Audible, go to [Audible.com/ah](https://www.audible.com/ah) or text AH to 500500 for a 30 day free trial. American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith
 Assistant produced by Derrick Smith
 Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
 Show art by [Roache](http://www.xroache.com) Voice Acting by Will Rogers
 Thanks to Jim and Perry Weber for their interview Thank you to research assistant Riley Smith For further reading, check out [The America Syndrome: Apocalypse, War, and Our Call to Greatness](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547525/the-america-syndrome-by-betsy-hartmann/9781609807405/) by Betsy Hartmann Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) 


Follow American Hysteria on social media:
 Twitter: @AmerHysteria
 Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast 
Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Season two will be dropping soon, in the meantime we will be updating you with mini episodes, so please stay tuned, and thanks so much for listening.

This week we will be discussing the history of drug panic in the United States and its effects in the present day. My guest is Sarah Deutsch, a friend of mine from high school who received her masters in Public health from the City University of New York. Sarah went on to become the Director of Outreach and Prevention for a syringe exchange in Washington Heights, where she worked for many years. Currently, Sarah is working in Washington State to scale up programs that serve people who use drugs. For this episode, Sarah will share her expertise as we discuss the morality of drugs, and the differences and similarities in cultural perceptions in the current opioid crisis.  This episode is sponsored by Daily Harvest, the superfood subscription service. Head to [Daily-Harvest.com](https://www.daily-harvest.com/) and use promo code AMERICAN for three free Daily Harvest cups in your first order.  This episode is also sponsored by Molekule, the newest in air purification technology. Head to [molekule.com](https://www.molekule.com) and use promo code AH at checkout for $75 off your first purchase. From Skylark this is American Hysteria’s The Calm Down My guest this week is Sarah Deutsch And this episode was produced by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Join me next week for our season finale on The End of the World

_This episode contains references to graphic racism_ When a security camera caught footage of a 31-year-old Florida resident eating the face of a homeless man, the news and social media dubbed him the Miami Zombie, and it was widely speculated that he was under the influence of a new synthetic drug called Bath Salts, a claim that was later found to be false. Hysterical drug rhetoric has long talked of zombies and monsters and aggressors with superhuman strength and an imperviousness to police bullets, and panic around drug use has long been manufactured by politicians with specific groups in mind, to dehumanize those who appear to cause a threat to the established social order, marking them inhuman groups in need of social control and even long-term imprisonment. Many of us were drafted into the War on Drugs as kids and teens through faulty programs implemented by D.A.R.E. police officers, and taught to mimic this unreasonable rhetoric that has caused irreparable harm to many American communities and continues to do so to this day. This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh, head over to [hellofresh.com/AH80](https://www.hellofresh.com/landing/ah80) and use the code AH80 for $80 off your first month. American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Show art by [Roache](http://www.xroache.com) Thank you to research assistant Riley Smith and to Sarah Deutsch for advising For further reading, check out [Synthetic Panics](https://nyupress.org/books/9780814742440/) by Phillip Jenkins Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria)

 Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

For this week's episode of the Calm Down, my guests are the women of Feminist Folklore, our partner podcast at Skylark media. Each week Carela Holl-Jensen and Rachael Marr consider what fairytales, folk stories, and urban legends can tell us about culture at large, about beliefs surrounding gender and sexuality and the prescribed roles of women. Today we’ll be discussing different interpretations of the Hook man urban legend as well as the true crime stories of Lover’s Lane, while we dissect the phenomenon of the teenage urban legend and what it has to do with American traditions. Make sure you [subscribe to Feminist Folklore](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/feministfolklore) on follow them on social media! This episode is sponsored by Hunt A Killer, the monthly murder mystery subscription box service, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) for 10% off your first box. From Skylark This was American Hysteria's The Calm Down Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith This week's were Carela Holl Jensen and Rachel Marr of Feminist Folklore This episode was produced by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) American Hysteria is taking a break next week, but come back in two weeks for our episode on drug panics. In the meantime, leave us a review and find us on social media!

In 1996, Scream taught American teenagers the first rule to surviving a horror movie. Never, ever have sex. Classic slasher movies have their roots in an urban legend we all heard growing up: a guy and a girl are parked on a deserted lover’s lane making out while a hook-handed killer is on the loose. The 2000s gave us urban legends about dangerous teen sex games, Rainbow parties and sex bracelets, as well as bans on high school dances over grinding and twerking, and with the recent outrage over teen sexting, it seems that kids these days are out of control. But since the invention of the American teenager, rumor and outrage has swirled around this reckless developmental stage. Through looking at the start of teenage culture in the 1920s, when risqué dance trends and controversial make-out parties scandalized the nation, we’ll find the roots of these modern moral panics, and see how our battles around sex education have left them in an uneducated limbo, creating suburban legends to make sense of their parents’ utter horror at their private lives. This episode is sponsored by Daily Harvest, the superfood subscription service. Head to [daily-harvest.com](http://www.daily-harvest.com) and use our promo code American to get three cups free in your first box. American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Voice acting by Will Rogers and Lily Orrey Show art by [Roache](http://www.xroache.com) Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: 
Twitter: @AmerHysteria
 Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast
 Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

For the Calm Down this week my guests are my two Christian friends who wish to remain anonymous, as they are sharing some anti-establishment opinions. Brianna is a poet who got her masters with me at the University of Virginia, and her husband Patrick has a master’s degree in biblical and theological studies and teaches the bible at a private high school. Brianna and Patrick are dedicated to questioning and exploring their faith in big ways, and today we’ll talk about their changes of heart as young Christians, what the the Bible says about homosexuality in its historical context, and how the philosophy of queerness just might help save the Christian faith.  This is American Hysteria’s The Calm Down Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith This week’s guests were Brianna and Patrick This episode was produced by Clear Common Studios This episode is sponsored by A Discovery of Witches, exclusively on Shudder and Sundance Now, head to [discoveryofwitchestv.com](http://www.discoveryofwitchestv.com) and use promo code AH for a 30-day free trial for either streaming service.  Join us next week for the panics surrounding Teenage Sex.

The purse-carrying, tutu-wearing purple Teletubby Tinky Winky was outed as a homosexual in 1999, capping off a decade of conspiratorial anti-gay writings and videos that influenced politics straight up to supreme court. Accused of using kids shows and public schools to influence impressionable minds and recruit new young homosexuals, the gay militants were secretly powerful agents of a massive conspiracy to bring down traditional American values and take over the country. The creation of the Gay Agenda theory borrowed from a long history of devastating misinformation and a concerted effort to rid America of this apparent moral disease without mercy, a process that began as the first puritans encountered tribal communities with ways shockingly different than their own, and began their own anti-gay crusade that has lasted centuries. This episode is sponsored by Care/Of. Get 50% off your first month by heading to [TakeCareOf.com](http://www.takecareof.com) and entering promo code AH50 From Skylark Media American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Show art by [Roache](http://www.xroache.com) Voice acting by Will Rogers and Lily Orrey Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Introducing another great podcast from Skylark Media! Feminist Folklore is a weekly storytelling and discussion podcast where each week, hosts Carlea and Rachael share a fairy tale, myth, or legend from around the world, and discuss it from a feminist perspective. Does Snow White pass the Bechdel test? How different would Sleeping Beauty really be if you replaced the heroine with a sexy lamp? Whether you love Disney princesses or chilling ghost stories, Feminist Folklore has something for you. From old English ballads to contemporary Japanese legends, nothing’s off limits in these frank, funny discussions. The stories Carlea and Rachael cover can be problematic, but there’s never a dull moment. Feminist Folklore explores tough and timely topics like gender equality, toxic masculinity, and body positivity, and considers how societal attitudes about sex and gender are influenced by our deep-seated cultural narratives. You’ll be surprised by how little has changed for women since the days of the Brothers Grimm, and how much ancient myths and legends can still tell us about women’s lives. Subscribe [here](https://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/feministfolklore), or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Calm Down this week we are talking Phantom clowns, horror movies, and the uncanny valley. My guest is John Campopiano, an independent filmmaker, writer, and film collector who works for PBS’ Frontline His debut documentary explored Stephen King's Pet Sematary, and his latest project, now in post production, is an all encompassing look at the 1990 miniseries IT starring Tim Curry. John has also co-written a new short film inspired by IT called 'Georgie,' which is due out in the spring, both of which I AM SO EXCITED FOR. We’ve already covered the panic, now here’s the calm down. This episode is sponsored by Hunt A Killer, the monthly murder mystery subscription box service. Head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) for 10% your first box.  Follow John's Pennywise doc [here](https://www.facebook.com/pennywisedoc/) From Skylark My guests this week was John Campopiano I’m your host Chelsey Weber-Smith and this episode was produced by Clear Commo Studios Join me next week for our next episode on The Gay Agenda

For most of us living in the US, clowns have become much more associated with horror than the laughter of kids. The “killer clown” epidemic went viral in 2016, with reports across the nation of evil clowns trying to lure children into the woods, attacking adults, and threating harm to local schools, but as you might guess, they were all hoaxes or hysteria. However, it wasn’t the first time that America was invaded by Phantom Clowns. For this episode, I will trace the history of our relationship to the clown as a cultural archetype, explore a strange theory of creepiness known as the uncanny valley, and try to understand why these particular creatures emerge from the woods when they do.
 This episode is sponsored by Audible. Try it for free for 30 days at [audible.com/AH](https://www.audible.com/ep/podcast?source_code=PBPGB021010919012H) or text AH to 500500 American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Show Art by [Roache](http://www.xroache.com) Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria)

 Follow American Hysteria on social media:
 Twitter: @AmerHysteria
 Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast
 Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

For this week’s Calm Down we are talking about part two of Satanic Panic that focused on Satanic ritual abuse. My guest is American Hysteria’s editor and producer Rod Rodriguez of Clear Commo Studios. A US Army Reserve Intelligence Officer, Rod earned his masters in Mental Health Counseling from Capella University in 2015\. He surprised the hell out of me the other day by revealing his experience both growing up embroiled in his own hometown Satanic scare and as a grad student studying traumatized children, learning hard lessons from the the Satanic ritual abuse investigations, experiences he is going to share today. We are both so happy this episode is behind us, join us as we try to process it all together. This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh. Get $80 off your first month by going to [HelloFresh.com/AH80](http://www.HelloFresh.com/AH80) and entering our promo code AH80. From Skylark Hosted Chelsey Weber-Smith  Our guest this week was Rod Rodriguez and this episode was produced by [Clear Commo Studios](https://www.clearcommo.com/) Join me next week for our next episode on Phantom Clowns [Subscribe here](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) and leave us a review! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

_Please be aware that this episode talks about child sexual abuse. We recommend listening to part one of Satanic Panic first._ In 1980s America, when 60% of people believed that devil worship was a serious problem, two new characters, Stranger Danger’s murderous pedophile and the Satanist, blurred into a new villain and psychological archetype: The Satanic pedophile. In part one, we saw how Satanic hysteria was sown through pop culture, sensational media, and religious hucksters, causing the widespread fear of Satan’s influence over children and their behavior. We touched on the cultural anxieties that were raging during this time, with women beginning careers and leaving kids in daycare for the first time in history, and the Moral Majority pushing fundamentalism into the political sphere. For part two, Chelsey covers ‘satanic ritual abuse’, the belief that Satanic cults were using daycare centers as fronts to physically, sexually, and emotionally abuse children in horrifying religious rituals allegedly described by the children themselves. This moral panic has been called the Salem Witch Hunt of our modern era, including the longest and most expensive trial in US history, with some of the accused wrongly imprisoned for twenty years. Chelsey will try to understand this shocking moment in our recent history, how something like this could have happened, and the cultural issues it was really about. American Hysteria is sponsored by Hunt A Killer. For 10% off your first box, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) For further reading, check out '[We Believe the Children](https://shop.nplusonemag.com/products/we-believe-the-children-preorder)' by Richard Beck. From Skylark American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by [Clear Commo Studios](https://clearcommo.com/) Show art by [Roache](https://www.xroache.com/) Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media:
 Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast 
 Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Welcome to The Calm Down, this week Chelsey is talking Satanic Panic with two friends and coworkers, siblings Will Rogers and Kristen Rogers Anderson. Will is the writer behind Skylark media’s audio drama Blackwood, an amazing series following three high school students who investigate a local urban legend. Kristen is American Hysteria’s social media manager, as well as a cohost with Will on the hilarious horror podcast Guide to the Unknown. The three of them discuss Satan’s reign of the 1980s, as well as his current return to pop culture with the success of both Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. We’ve covered the panic, now here’s the Calm Down. This episode is sponsored by Hunt A Killer, the monthly murder mystery subscription box service, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) for 10% off your first box. Check out Will’s podcast Blackwood [here](https://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/blackwood) Check out Will and Kristen’s podcast Guide to the Unknown [here](http://www.talkbomb.com/gttupod/) From Skylark this was American Hysteria’s The Calm Down This week's guests were Will Roger and Kristen Rogers Anderson Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced by Clear Commo Studios Join us after the holidays for the return of American Hysteria, Part two of Satanic Panic, coming January 7th [Subscribe here](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: [@AmerHysteria](https://twitter.com/AmerHysteria) Instagram: [@AmericanHysteriaPodcast](https://www.instagram.com/americanhysteriapodcast/) Facebook: [@AmericanHysteriaPodcast](https://www.facebook.com/AmericanHysteriaPodcast/) ***Correction from this episode, it was the Satanic Temple that sued Warner Brothers for copyright infringement of the Baphomet statue, not the Church of Satan***

This episode is part one of our two-part series on perhaps the most mystifying moral panic in US history, the 1980s and early 90s 'Satanic Panic.' For this episode, Chelsey covers the rise of organized Satanism beginning in the late 60s, as well as the adversarial countercultures of the hippies and the metalheads, and their apparent Satanic crimes that would be hailed as proof of their evil, as well as proof that teens, as well as children, were in serious moral peril. Satan was allegedly hypnotizing the youth with secret messages in backwards rock songs, teaching them occult magic in Saturday morning cartoons, and causing suicides through a popular role-playing game, all while helping religion blur into politics for good. For part two Chelsey will cover what came next, a serious investigation into an imagined network of Satanic cults ritually abusing children in daycare centers all over the country. Chelsey will try to understand this shocking decade in history, why it happened, and the cultural issues it was really about. Part two is coming after the holidays. Check out [Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s](http://www.spectacularoptical.ca/store/product/satanic-panic-pop-cultural-paranoia-in-the-1980s/) by editors Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe for further reading. This episode is sponsored by Care/Of. For 25% off your first month of personalized vitamins and supplements, head to [takecareof.com](https://www.takecareof.com) and use promo code AH From Skylark American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios Show art by [Roache](https://www.xroache.com/) Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media:
 Twitter: @AmerHysteria
 Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast 
Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

The Calm Down is a mini episode of American Hysteria coming every other week. Today we’re following up on last week’s show about the illuminati, please listen to that episode first. My guest is Mark Gunnery, a queer Jewish journalist who produces the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU, Washington DC's NPR station. He is currently working on a podcast series about Sabbatai Tzvi, a 17th century false messiah who changed the course of Jewish history. We’ll talk about the Jewish Illuminati conspiracy theories and where they come from, and then scratch surface of the coming episodes on the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. TCD is sponsored by Hunt A Killer, the monthly murder mystery subscription box service, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) for 10% off your first box. From [Skylark](http://www.skylarkmedia.com) This week's guest was Mark Gunnery, visit his website [here](https://www.markgunnery.com/) Hosted Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced by Clear Commo Studios Join us next week for a new episode of American Hysteria, Part one of Satanic Panic. [Subscribe now](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

For this episode, we'll explore the mother-of-all conspiracy theories, the Illuminati, an alleged secret society and their evil world domination plan known as the New World Order. Chelsey takes a stroll down memory lane with friend Austin Smith, to a time when they believed in the Illuminati and found what seemed like proof. We’ll explore the history of the theory itself, why some people are more prone to believing than others, and how at the heart of the theory lies a dark ideology that has affected our culture into the present. Check out _A Culture of Conspiracy_ by Michael Barkun for further reading American Hysteria is sponsored by Hunt A Killer. For 10% off your first box, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](http://www.huntakiller.com/hysteria) From Skylark
 American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith
 Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
 Show art by Roache ([xroache.com](xroache.com))
 Voice acting by Will Rogers Thanks to my guest, Austin Smith, check out his new book of poems [here](https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13241.html) Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](http://www.skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast 

Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Every other week host Chelsey Weber-Smith will sit down with a guest to breakdown the previous episode, reveal all the stuff that was left out, as well as chat about the next week’s topic. This week, Chelsey and long time friend Jake Weholt, who you will remember from the Stranger Danger episode and their own hometown panic, discuss Stranger Danger, Poisoned Halloween Candy, the Illuminati, and the importance of critical thinking. TCD’s guest this week is Jake Weholt Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced by Clear Commo Studios Join us next week for our episode on the Illuminati! American Hysteria is sponsored by Hunt A Killer, the monthly murder mystery subscription box service. Head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](huntakiller.com/hysteria) for 10% off your first box.

This episode takes a look at our history with candy, the desire and the panic, and explains why sweets have always been a source of fear for parents. Starting with the strange 1800s religious beliefs of Dr. Harvey Kellogg, about candy leading to sexual deviancy, we'll move through the goofy urban legends of the 1970s, to the 80s and 90s when people allegedly began finding dangerous objects in their foods, like syringes in Pepsi cans and poison in Halloween candy. Check out _Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure_ by Samira Kawash for further reading. American Hysteria is sponsored by Hunt A Killer. For 10% off your first box, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](huntakiller.com/hysteria) From Skylark American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Rod Rodriguez Show art by Roache ([xroache.com](xroache.com)) Voice acting by Lily Orrey and Will Rogers Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](skylarkmedia.com//podcasts/americanhysteria) 

Follow American Hysteria on social media:
 Twitter: @AmerHysteria 
 Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast
 Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

This episode explores the evolution of American's bogeyman, the Stranger, and reveals how rare these types of kidnappings really are. Through looking at the sensational child snatching crimes that have shaped our culture from the 1800s to the 1980s, and how we have responded to them in the media, in books, with PSAs and made-for-TV movies, host Chelsey Weber-Smith explains the problem with Stranger Danger and what this moral panic might be covering up. American Hysteria is sponsored by Hunt A Killer. For 10% off your first box, head to [huntakiller.com/hysteria](huntakiller.com/hysteria) From Skylark American Hysteria is written and produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith Assistant produced by Derrick Smith Produced and edited by Rod Rodriguez Show art by Roache ([xroache.com](xroache.com)) Thanks for Jake Weholt for the interview Thanks to Corinne Manning for advising Check out [Kidnapped: Child Abduction in America](https://www.amazon.com/Kidnapped-Abduction-Paula-S-Fass/dp/0195117093) by Paula Fass for further reading Subscribe now at [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria) Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Facebook: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Skylark Media presents American Hysteria, a brand new podcast exploring our moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories, how they shape our psychology and culture, and why we end up believing them. Host Chelsey Weber-Smith will attempt to understand why we fear the wrong things, explore how these fears shape our past, present, and future in sometimes hilarious and sometimes devastating ways, and also what these bizarre panics might be covering up. Topics range from Stranger Danger to Poisoned Halloween Candy to Satanic Panic to the Illuminati. Subscribe now where ever you get your podcasts or head to [skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria](skylarkmedia.com/podcasts/americanhysteria). The first two episodes drop November 12th.