Colin Dickey is one of American Hysteria's biggest influences—our episodes called Talking to the Dead and Alien Abductions relied on his books Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places and The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained. His newest piece is called Land of Delusion and it explores two new bizarre conspiracy theories that center around secret societies and buried histories. We’ll talk about the conspiratorial tales we keep telli...
Nov 28, 2022•54 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Paranormal podcast host (and major buddy) Jim Perry of Euphomet returns to discuss a couple of the many experiences that have made it impossible for us to live purely skeptical lives: his time getting personal with a haunted doll and my time getting personal with the ghost that tried to burn my house down. As usual, expect lots of philosophical waxing from both of us about the mysteries of the supernatural and about how no one really knows anything, no matter what they say. Listen to Euphomet Fo...
Nov 07, 2022•58 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Featuring poems, fiction, nonfiction, AND A GROUP SONG with work by Sarah Marshall (You're Wrong About, You Are Good), Alex Steed (You Are Good), BJ Colangelo (This Ends at Prom), Will Rogers (Guide to the Unknown), Carolyn Kendrick (You're Wrong About, You Are Good), Miranda Zickler (Kuinka), Riley Swedelius-Smith (American Hysteria), and Chelsey Weber-Smith (me duh) To get an mp3 of our Halloween song, head to patreon.com/americanhysteria In order of appearance: Will Rogers Guide to the Unknow...
Oct 31, 2022•44 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast Here’s a preview from a podcast that's right up your dark alley! On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford finds the morals in moments from the greatest mistakes and tragic catastrophes of the past. This Halloween season, he’s exploring “Halloween sadism” – where a stranger puts something dangerous in the treats collected by children. Razor blades in apples. Rat poison in chocolate. That sort of thing. Fantastical reports of trouble pop up every spooky season, but is trick or treating ...
Oct 28, 2022•16 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast We'll see how possessed playthings have crept their way into the dark attic of America: Thomas Edison's little monsters, a demonic Raggedy Ann, a living ventriloquist dummy, a deadly voodoo curse, and an online market where you can buy yourself a soul trapped in the body of a doll. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com American Hysteria is written, produced,...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast To get you ready for our upcoming episode called Haunted Dolls, we have selected some excerpts on Furby urban legends, demon-possessed toys, and uncanny killer clowns. Listen to Furby here Listen to Satanic Panic pt. 1 here Listen to Phantom Clowns here Become a Patron at patreon.com/americanhyseria Produced by Chelsey Weber-Smith, Riley Smith, and Miranda Zickler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 17, 2022•40 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast Our most classic American urban legend is back with a vengeance, promising to ruin Halloween yet again. With an updated introduction to our 2018 episode, we'll explore the newest fearful iteration: Rainbow Fentanyl. Are drug traffickers really passing out a deadly drug disguised as colorful candy in order to get kids hooked? And if not, who stands to gain from reviving this debunked tall tale? For more information about how to access Naloxone (Narcan), you can use this link to the National Harm ...
Oct 11, 2022•47 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast To get an extended director's cut of this episode, become a patron: patreon.com/americanhysteria For this Halloween Party, we are joined by our favorite undead friend Sarah Marshall, and she and I will answer some spooky questions asked by the waking nightmare that is our producer, Miranda Zickler. We scream like hovering banshees about horror movies, Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating, and even play a little game of horror villain F-ck Marry Kill because we are disgusting! Listen to You're W...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast Not unlike the bubble markets of Beanie Babies and Cryptocurrency, the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s was a chaotic craze that caused the largest migration in American history. This episode follows the ridiculous life of Carl Fisher, one of the most flamboyant gimmick artists in American history who helped convince thousands of people to spend their life savings of on his half-baked dream. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Inst...
Sep 19, 2022•40 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast The Florida Man meme, with its bizarre crime headlines and mugshots, has become one of our most popular and long-lasting social media staples. This episode will explore the strange history of the state that produced our Florida men, from cracker cowboys to rum runners, circus freaks to spring breakers. We’ll also look behind the memes into the dark forces that swirl around America's weirdest superhero. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @Amer...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast This episode will provide some context for our upcoming series on Florida Man. The excerpts are from Trash Talk Shows, Drugs, and Rednecks. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Production for this episode by Riley Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 05, 2022•31 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast CW: Sexual violence. Since the 1970s, Loretta J. Ross has been an instrumental activist in the fight for 'Reproductive Justice', a framework she and her colleagues created in 1994 that went beyond the pro-choice and pro-life debate. She has worked as the Director of the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women, the program director of the Black Women's Health Imperative the director of projects for the National Anti-Klan Network, and is an author and professor as well. Toda...
Aug 15, 2022•51 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Featuring yet another flamboyant abortionist, sideshow fetuses, Mother with a capital M, eugenic suspicions, and plenty more population panics. We'll see how the battle over family planning took very different forms from 1900 up to when Roe vs. Wade made abortion federally legal. We'll see how conversations around the history of abortion and birth control continue to leave out the most important voices, the voices of those who can get pregnant, instead promoting racial population fantasies and f...
Aug 08, 2022•57 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast Featuring flamboyant abortionists, dangerously determined doctors, problematic feminists, opportunist politicians, and one sneaky pope, this two-part series will explore the surprising origins of the anti-abortion movement long before Roe v. Wade changed everything. We'll see how the bodies of those who can get pregnant have been used as potent weapons of both population wars and power grabs by forces seeking to control the future. Head to Podvoices.help for information on how you can get involv...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast Our upcoming series is about the origins of the anti-abortion movement in the time before Roe vs Wade. This Context Clues episode combines clips from three previous episodes to give some context. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced by Miranda Zickler Sound design by Clear Co...
Jul 25, 2022•34 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Alice Sparkly Kat (who goes by Ace) is an astrologer and the author of the book ‘Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor’. Today they share with us their perspective on the power of the practice and how it has served those in power and those looking for empowerment in different ways. Get a copy of Postcolonial Astrology! @alicesparklykat on twitter @alicesparklykat on instagram Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: T...
Jul 05, 2022•42 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast In 1941, hundreds of British secret agents were sent to the United States to spread creative anti-Nazi propaganda with the hopes of convincing the American people to support military intervention. This included a flamboyant astrologer sent to give false predictions about the imminent downfall of Adolph Hitler. Head to choice.crd.co to get involved/find resources in respond to the overturning of Roe V. Wade Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @...
Jun 27, 2022•41 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Eric Kurlander is the author of Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich which details the occult practices and pseudosciences that many high ranking Nazis investigated at length. This episode will explore the 'supernatural imaginary' the early Nazi party was able to cultivate through a mash-up of esoteric beliefs, astrology, eastern and western religion, and pseudoscience, World Ice Theory, and sensational conspiracy theories. Listen carefully and you will start to hear ...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is not about debunking astrology, it’s about something far more interesting: the role that star-gazing soothsaying advisors have played in American politics, and the secret history of how first ladies, presidents, and other politicians have been influenced by those swearing that they can see the future. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com Amer...
Jun 13, 2022•55 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast In honor of Pride month, here is a little rerelease of last year's special episode! Over the last ten years, Gender Reveal Parties have exploded, figuratively and literally. Parents, communities, and social media followers alike can witness the moment that parents and families find out the sex of their future baby, but lately, these parties have gotten so out of hand as to cause massive wildfires, explosions, damage to homes, injuries, and death. For this episode, we will try to figure out what ...
Jun 06, 2022•45 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast *CW: Brief description of animal abuse, some brief descriptions of death* Sarah Marshall is the host of our sibling podcasts You’re Wrong About and You Are Good, and is also an expert on satanic panic in all its myriad forms. Today we discuss the decade that produced snuff urban legends, the other horror movies that added to the lore, and learn about the way this tale continues to express itself on the shadowy dark web. Make sure you listen to You’re Wrong About and You Are Good Become a Patron ...
May 23, 2022•58 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast Rotten.com was a shock website from the late 90s and early 2000s that collected the most gruesome and explicit photos on the early internet. After a series of outrages pushed it into the public eye, the site would become an unlikely voice in the battle for online free speech at a time when the government was first attempting to censor the net. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch ...
May 16, 2022•28 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Snuff films are alleged murders filmed for the purpose of distribution, an urban legend that has been circulating since the porn wars of the 1970s. We'll explore the Manson Family rumor that first sparked the story, the hoax film that led to feminist protests, the Christian organization that laid the foundation, and a mysterious home movie found tied to a cluster of balloons. We'll also see what it all has to do with Winnie the Pooh as well as what it can teach us about how false stories can be ...
May 09, 2022•55 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast This rerelease will give some context for next week's new episode called Snuff Films. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Sound design by Clear Commo Studios Research and co-writing by Riley Smith Co-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler Voice Acting by Will Rogers and by Lily Orrey...
May 02, 2022•43 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast Just a handful of little announcements as we take a few weeks off (back in late April). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 04, 2022•3 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a Guatemalan-Colombian-American poet, screenwriter, and educator, and co-host of the podcast Say More. She is the author of a novel in verse called Dreaming of You, about bringing 90s Mexican-American pop star Selena back to life through a séance and the disastrous consequences that follow. Along with our producer Miranda, we talk about the life and death of Selena who was murdered by a 'crazed fan', about the power of poetry and lyrics, and our favorite karaoke songs. Fi...
Mar 28, 2022•41 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast 'This Ends at Prom' is a podcast that dives deep into coming-of-age and teen girl movies from the queer, feminist cisgender and transgender perspectives of wives and film analysts BJ and Harmony Colangelo. Today we chat about millennial pop groups, the emo scene, pop punk, hair metal, gender contamination, boy band haircuts, and what we hope for the next generation of stars and the fans that make them. Listen to This Ends at Prom! Twitter: @thisendsatprom @BJColangelo @Veloci_trap_tor Become a P...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Behind every manufactured boy band there is what the press calls a Svengali, a puppet master who assembles the group and styles everything about them. This episode will introduce us to the eccentric producers and talent agents who have long shaped pop music from behind the curtain. American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Sound design by Clear Commo Studios Research and co-writing by Riley Smith Co-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler Voice Acting by Will Roger...
Mar 07, 2022•55 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Hysterical fangirls have become so commonplace in popular music that we hardly pay attention to them anymore, no matter how loud they scream. But there was a time when the screaming, crying, fainting teenage fan was seen not only as a psychological puzzle but also as a major threat to the American empire. Today we’ll cover four eras of landmark swooning starting in the mid-1800s and heading through to Beatlemania, taking a look at the moral panics they inspired and the new power these teenage gi...
Feb 21, 2022•47 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast To prepare for our series called Fangirls and Boy Bands, we are heading back to the fantastical realm of the teenager and the reactionary moral panics their sex lives have inspired since the days of the Puritans. In this episode, pay special attention to the invention of the teenager in the 1920s and 40s as well as the way the small revolutions that music and dance were able to incite, and then come back next week when we will break down the archetype of hysterical fangirl and see how these seas...
Feb 14, 2022•39 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast 
