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Two women. Half the population. Several thousand years of history. About an hour.
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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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Please join us and our fellow Field Trip Friends, as we all tell you about our adventures in France! From the glitter of Paris to the Champagne country caves, we share all the highlights of our trip. There's also a very special announcement at the beginning that we're pretty excited about! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therap…
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American Hysteria
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The Many Lives of a Carnival Corpse | Subscriber Sneak Peek
26:34
26:34
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This is a story from a recent episode of our exclusive Patreon/Apple + talk show Hysteria Home Companion, where producer Miranda and I take turns sharing stories related to the topics we are covering. For this one that we felt was too good not to share far and wide, Miranda tells me the story of a mysterious hanging cadaver that once decorated a Ca…
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As is our annual tradition for both National American Indian Heritage Month and Thanksgiving, we present you with a bonus episode this month, our 2017 coverage of Pocahontas. She did save lives, but her story is far from the fairy tale often presented. For this episode's shownotes, visit us at The History Chicks Learn more about your ad choices. Vi…
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(explicit content warning) This *Urban Legends Hotline* episode dives deep into the viral myth that 90s shock rocker Marilyn Manson had ribs surgically removed so that he could perform autofellatio. We'll look at two other famous and controversial artists who also had this rumor attached to them, learn about another related tale that went around du…
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Frances Glessner Lee was the mother of modern forensic medicine; as an heiress and socialite, she might have been expected by her peers to live a staid, placid life. Her immersion into the gory and sometimes alarming world of post-mortem medical work led to remarkable scientific advancement in the field. Working on the famous "Nutshell Studies of U…
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American Hysteria
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...And This is American Hysteria [Five Year Anniversary Special]
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57:18
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To celebrate five long years of American Hysteria, our producer Miranda Zickler interviews Chelsey about the origins of the podcast and how their own life has impacted the content. Chelsey also answers questions that listeners have sent in over the years and gets into feelings around queerness, solidarity, faith, and death. And we celebrate you, ou…
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Follow MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge the first 8 episodes, early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. 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, we’re sharing medical horror s…
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The History Chicks met fifty listeners in London for the trip of a lifetime! From the coziness of Jane Austen's house to the grandeur of Westminster Abbey, we left no stone unturned in this magical city. We wanted you to hear from the chicks and roosters that accompanied us on our journey... and so we invited them to help make this episode. You'll …
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American Hysteria
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Our Dearest Fears with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'
1:16:31
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For our very special two-part Halloween conversation, Sarah Marshall and I are going to be sharing the less serious things that scare us: our favorite phobias, eerie feelings, and uncanny upsets. In this episode, I share the things that freak me out, from stilts and spiders to giraffes and medieval art. in order to hear all about what freaks Sarah …
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Home Depot's 12 ft. Skeleton decoration first premiered in the fall of 2020 and sold out immediately, the nationwide obsession fueling an underground black market. Memes and tweets made 'Skelly' the hottest Halloween fad of the last three years, and for some reason, the internet's biggest crush. For this episode, we will not only explore how the cr…
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Our Halloween special will cover the 12 ft. Skeleton craze and the history of skeleton decorations in America. This episode will give some extra context using segments from: Haunted Attractions Death Horror Movies pt. 1 Join our Patreon or subscribe on Apple+ for ad-free early episodes and bonus content! Call into our Urban Legends Hotline and shar…
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Please enjoy this rewind of last year's Halloween special called Haunted Dolls. Coming up next week we'll start our Halloween series called 'The 12 ft. Skeleton.' Then we'll be teaming up with our sibling podcast You're Wrong About for another Halloween special! For this rewind, we'll see how possessed playthings have crept their way into the dark …
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Admit it: you’re obsessed with royal families – watching them, gossiping about them, wanting to be them. It’s the stuff of fantasy. But for real life royals, the crown jewels can be more like shiny handcuffs. There are expectations and rules – and if you break them, the consequences are big, and very public. And no, we’re not just talking about Har…
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The History Chicks
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Absinthe with The Gilded Gentleman (and Roosters!)
52:40
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While we're on a Field Trip, we turned the show over to the Roosters this week with a Veuve Clicquot adjacent subject: The History of Absinthe with The Gilded Gentleman, Carl Raymond. Keep an ear out for cameos from Bowery Boy Greg Young, and Chris Graham Beckett's husband. Carl talks with Don Spiro, creator of New York's Green Fairy Society to tel…
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American Hysteria
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Lemuria: The Strangest Place to Never Exist with Author Justin McHenry
56:45
56:45
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Justin McHenry, author of the forthcoming book Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake Place, tells me an expansive tale of an alleged long lost continent first written about in early scientific works, then harnessed by esoteric eccentrics and new age mystics, mutating over the decades into fantastical fuel that is embedded in the strangest of conspiracy t…
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Barbe-Nicole Clicquot built a luxury empire amid the turbulent politics of post-Revolution France. After years of battling everything from Napoleon to Mother Nature herself, she finally rocketed to worldwide fame after one daring escapade, Raise your glasses to the Grande Dame of Champagne! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho…
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American Hysteria
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The Killer Crossdresser with Horror Analysts BJ and Harmony Colangelo
1:16:18
1:16:18
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To unpack the movie trope of the Murderous Man in a Dress, prolific horror film analysts and writers BJ and Harmony Colangelo discuss with me all the complicated trans and drag “representation” in movies like Sleepaway Camp, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Dressed to Kill, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We’ll look at how these crossdressing k…
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For part two of our series, we are starting in the anti-gay moral panic of the 50s and 60s to see how the drag scene continued to transform underground, with female impressionists dazzling the starlets they tried to copy as closely as possible. We'll be introduced to a nationwide pageant circuit which allowed drag queens the opportunity to compete …
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This series will cover the moral panics and cultural crazes that have long followed the controversial art form once called "female impersonation." For part one of our two part series, we'll start back in the 1800s to look at the earliest drag balls put on by formerly enslaved men as well as the police raids that made front page news. We'll learn ab…
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We dove into our archives for the story of Maria Montessori who revolutionized education during the early 20th century with her unique approach to child-led learning. Maria was convinced that the children of the world were the key to peace on earth, and her methods and techniques are still used in childhood education today. If you would like to joi…
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Our upcoming series, Early Drag Queens, will cover the surprising relationship between "female impersonation" and American masculinity in the time before the gay and transgender civil rights movements. This episode will give historical context with excerpts from these previous episodes: Gender Reveal Parties Trash Talks Shows Horror Movies pt. 1 Jo…
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American Hysteria
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Love in the Time of Leprosy with Advocate José Ramirez, Jr.
59:41
59:41
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As the social media and the news got word of the new cases of leprosy found in Florida, a slew of misinformation and stigmatization followed. José P. Ramirez Jr. is the author of the memoir Squint: My Journey With Leprosy (Hansen's Disease), which leads readers through the mystery illness that took over his life as a teenager in the 1960s, his diag…
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The History Chicks
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Lillian Moller Gilbreth (and an announcement)
1:39:26
1:39:26
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Lillian Gilbreth should be remembered for any of her life accomplishments: psychologist, industrial engineer, author, inventor, and pioneer in the field of industrial psychology. From her collection of degrees to her equal partnership marriage to her work with Presidents and to the trailblazing example she set for us modern mothers...she should be …
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American Hysteria
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Blame It on Barbie with Entertainment Journalist BJ Colangelo
1:24:51
1:24:51
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BJ Colangelo is an editor at Slash Film and the writer of “The Only Guide To Barbie Lore You Will Ever Need,” a comprehensive look at the cultural movement of America's pinkest lady. On this episode, BJ will take us through the moral panics, conspiracy theories, and misunderstandings that have followed this controversial toy starting back in the 19…
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The live-action movie, Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig is opening and we're not only buying tickets and wearing our Barbie pink but we're also looking back on our coverage of this iconic figure and the woman who created her: Ruth Handler. If you're interested in joining us on our Thames or Seine River, Local's Meet-up Dinner Cruises this fall when…
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