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American Hysteria explores how fantastical thinking has shaped our culture – moral panics, urban legends, hoaxes, crazes, fringe beliefs, and national misunderstandings. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith tells the strangest stories from American history and examines the forces that create the reality we share, and sometimes, the reality we don't.
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A boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and dive into a new story from around the world. Hear fresh takes on classic myths and learn new stories from around the world, served up over ice by two tipsy history geeks. New episodes every Wednedsay!
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A feelings podcast about movies.
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Scream (1996) w. Chelsey Weber-Smith
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There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie! In which we go back to slasher school and revisit Scream with the incandescent Chelsey Weber-Smith. Chelsey's American Hysteria can be found online here. Magpie Cinema Club's cover of Red Right Hand and all their other songs can be streamed HERE! https:/…
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I Was a Teenage Poltergeist with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'
1:38:26
1:38:26
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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 …
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409: Your Urban Legends XCVII - The Most Metal Girl Guide Trip
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We let Girl Guides get up to the wildest stuff. From age-inappropriate field trips, handsy ghosts, and the return of the Half-Perched House, this episode has us riled up! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, lack of consent, medical mistreatment, capital punishment, execution, and sex. Housekeeping - Reco…
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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, …
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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 mis…
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Children of the Corn Page-to-Screen w. Miranda Zickler!
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"Any religion without love and compassion is false! It's a lie!" In which we shuck some Children of the Corn with Miranda Zickler. Miranda can be found online here. Carolyn Kendrick's The Devil's Nine Questions is now streaming! You can pre-order her new record here! Magpie Cinema Club rules! There is an extended cut of this episode available on Pa…
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We’ve got a goddess double header! We dive into two underappreciated goddesses, who really are way cooler than you were led to believe in your elementary school Egyptian history unit. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of sex, infidelity, pregnancy and birth, murder, and death. Housekeeping - Recommendation: This…
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Context Clues: Brr Skibidi Dop Dop Dop Yes Yes
1:04:36
1:04:36
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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 bizarr…
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Garden State w. Niko Stratis and Chelsey Weber-Smith
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1:20:20
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"If you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you'd like." Y'all remember Garden State? Let's talk about Garden State with Niko Stratis and Chelsey Weber-Smith! Niko can be found online here. Chelsey's American Hysteria can be found online here. Magpie Cinema Club's cover of New Slang and all their other songs can b…
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If you hear whistling on the plains at night, it might be too late for you. Because you’ve probably run into El Silbón, the South American boogeyman known for his distinct whistling and vengeful nature! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of domestic violence, murder, infidelity, colonization, abuse, animal attack…
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The Untold History of the NYPD with Chenjerai Kumanyika of Empire City
1:03:32
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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 ga…
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The Hand that Rocks the Cradle w. Megan Burbank
1:17:54
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"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." In which we unpack The Hand that Rocks the Cradle with our fabulous friend Megan Burbank. Megan's website can be found here. CW: sexual assault, pregnancy loss, suicide, murder, medical misconduct There is an extended cut of this episode available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts! Spea…
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406: Your Urban Legends XCVI - A Haunted Gin & Tonic
58:15
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This is a very grandparent-focused episode. Grandparents haunting churches, haunting plants, all different hauntings. PLUS a ghost child named…. Semler? Who knows what’s up with that. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of family members death, cancer, motorcycle accidents, sex, blasphemy, and fire. Housekeeping -…
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"Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him." In which we see what's behind these walls, and unpack The Money Pit, with our friend Sarah Archer. Sarah's website can be found here. Her Substack can be found here. This episode was made possible by your support! Thanks to everybody who supports us on Patreon and Apple Plus. We LOV…
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We’ve been circling around Horus like a HAWK during this series, but now it’s finally time to dive right into it. We talk about the origins of this boy bird king, how he grew up, and how he managed to finally become the head god in charge! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of colonization, genitals, sex, childbi…
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Taylor Swift Decoded with Pop Music Journalist Brittany Spanos
1:04:38
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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 with…
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All drains lead to the ocean! In which we unpack the fact, fiction and feelings floating around in Finding Nemo with Brianna Bowman! Brianna's Free Willy Patreon can be found here. More information about sex change in clownfish can be found here. This episode was made possible by your support! Thanks to everybody who supports us on Patreon and Appl…
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404: American Hysteria (with Chelsey Weber-Smith)
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We are digging into urban legends near and far with our guest, Chelsey Weber-Smith of American Hysteria. We chat about the cross section of poetry and moral panic, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and where fear comes from. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of conspiracy theories, spiders, clowns, child endang…
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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 shadow…
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It's finger-lickin' good! In which Sarah and Alex unpack Near Dark and the phenomenon that is the vampire Western. Check out Magpie Cinema Club (and find out where 'Fever' is streaming) here! This episode was made possible by your support! Thanks to everybody who supports us on Patreon and Apple Plus. You can subscribe to Alex's zine here! Merch in…
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Keeping with our nature spirits trend, we’re talking about the horny (in more ways than one) Greek nature spirits: satyrs, and their Roman counterparts, fauns! Later satyrs! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of sexual content, sexual assault, masturbation, bestiality, and drugs. Housekeeping - Recommendation: Th…
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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…
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Three Men and a Baby w. River Butcher
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Hush little baby, don't you cry. When Peter gets home, we're gonna punch him in the eye. We love Three Men and a Baby so flippin' much, and we unpack all that and more with the great River Butcher! We ALSO have a Three Men and a Little Lady episode featuring River on Patreon and Apple podcasts! River can be found online here! This episode was made …
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402: Your Urban Legends XCV - Just Another Blood Curse
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Sometimes you record an episode from the middle of the woods in rural Canada, so you have to really up the ante. We taunt a malicious spirit, start a ghost story, and dive into the microfiche to investigate a haunting. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of child endangerment, panic attacks, and home invasion. Hou…
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Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) w. Candace Jane Opper
1:09:37
1:09:37
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We're right on top of that, Rose! We giddily go back to 1991 and talk all things Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead with our great friend Candace Opper! An EXTENDED CUT of this episode is available on Patreon and Apple podcasts! Candace Jane Opper can be found online here! https://candacejaneopper.com Merch inspired by this episode can be found h…
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Every story needs a villain, and Egyptian mythology has Set. But is he really just a villain? We explore his multifaceted domains, his motivations, and the worst salad story you’ve ever heard. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, murder, sexual content, sexual assault, colonization, infidelity, eye injury…
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The Disney Gimmick That Conjured a Ghost with Jim Perry of Euphomet
58:14
58:14
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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 ou…
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The Secret Garden (1993) w. Melanie Zanetti
1:13:12
1:13:12
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We learn to laugh and we learn to cry in The Secret Garden with our great pal Melanie Zanetti. Find Melanie online here! This episode was made possible by your support! Thanks to everybody who supports us on Patreon and Apple Plus. We LOVE Magpie Cinema Club! You can find their songs / Bandcamp HERE! You can buy a You Are Good logo shirt DESIGNED B…
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400 episodes. Wow. We decided for this one to talk about something that has captured our interests since before Spirits was even the thing - the Oneida Community. We talk about the Second Great Awakening, the Burned Over District, and the result: A well-known silver company. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of …
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Tarantism: Dancing Mania pt. 2 with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'
1:22:26
1:22:26
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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 …
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