The Satanic Panic

FromYou're Wrong About

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The Satanic Panic

FromYou're Wrong About

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Length:

20 minutes

Released:

May 3, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

The 1980s were real but the Satanists weren't. Sarah tells Mike about why America spent a decade worried about witches running daycare centers. Continue reading →

Released:

May 3, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (50)

Mike and Sarah are journalists obsessed with the past. Every week they reconsider an event, person or phenomenon that's been miscast in the public imagination.

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Crack Babies: Sarah tells Mike about the long history of white anxiety over black motherhood. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
46 min listen
Afterschool Specials: Mike tells Sarah that the TV movies of her childhood were both less and more problematic than she remembers. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
64 min listen
The American Taliban: “He’s been punished even more than the American prison system can aspire to punish anyone”: Mike tells Sarah how John Walker Lindh became a terrorist in the media, a freedom fighter in his own mind and something between the two in reality. Digressions include “Newsies," Bruce Willis and “Candide.” Sarah sneakily reveals her lifelong affection for Howard Stern. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
72 min listen
‘Yoko Ono Broke Up The Beatles’: Mike tells Sarah how the myth of meddling wives serves to exonerate terrible husbands. Digressions include "50 Shades of Grey," Marie Antoinette and the end of the 1960s. This episode, we’re sorry to say, contains descriptions of domestic abuse. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Shaken Baby Syndrome: Mike tells Sarah how an over-simplified diagnosis, over-confident doctors and over-zealous prosecutors combined to get thousands of innocent parents thrown in prison. Digressions include food poisoning, Sherlock Holmes and 1950s medical ethics. Mike wanted to mention Louise Woodward but he forgot. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
57 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Nicole Brown Simpson Part 1: Mike and Sarah begin their epic journey into O.J. Simpson's trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, beginning with the story of Nicole's life with O.J. until their marriage in 1985. This episode contains descriptions of violence and domestic abuse. Like so many of the women we talk about, Nicole deserved better. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
63 min listen
Tammy Faye Bakker and Jessica Hahn: “She only said one thing her whole life”: Sarah tells Mike how two decent women became scapegoats for the actions of one terrible man. Digressions include Larry Flynt, NPR tote bags and Playboy back issues. The co-hosts discover they have wildly different relationships with “Saturday Night Live." Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
67 min listen
Snuff Films: Sarah tells Mike about how snuff films don't exist but lots of near-snuff films do. Digressions include "Basic Instinct," gymnastics and YouTube’s righthand bar. Mike is palpably grossed out for at least two-thirds of the episode. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
58 min listen
Stockholm Syndrome: It’s not a real thing! … OR IS IT? Sarah tells Mike about the convoluted history of a contested term. Digressions include James Bond, Charlie Manson and rat poison. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
57 min listen
“The Godfather”: Sarah tells Mike about how America's favorite gangster movie is really its favorite killing-the-American-Dream movie. Digressions include the Mona Lisa, Bruce Springsteen and the tyranny of height-ism. The sound quality continues to worsen. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
55 min listen
Tonya Harding Part 1: Sarah tells Mike the story of a world-class figure skater who worked at a mall potato restaurant. Digressions include “Sleepless in Seattle,” mall walkers, synchronized diving and the difficulty of skating a perfect pentagram. This episode unfortunately contains descriptions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Tonya deserved better. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Halloween Special! Ed Gein and Slasher Movies: Sarah tells Mike how Ed Gein became one of America’s most famous serial killers despite not actually being one. Plus, the cinematic villains Gein inspired and what the slasher movies of the 1980s were really about. Digressions include Freud, summer camp logistics and the T-1000. Mike continues to awkwardly insert his teenage crushes into every conversation. Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
51 min listen
Exorcism: "It just seems like capitalism masquerading as religion": Sarah tells Mike how a horror movie resurrected a ritual and established an industry. Digressions include “Avatar,” the NFL and the ethics of book publishing. The final five minutes are an unintentionally concise description of the core moral principle of this show. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
42 min listen
Homelessness: “We want stories that don’t exist in systems”: Mike tells Sarah what happened when Utah set out to solve one of America's most intractable problems. Digressions include the Paleo diet, the planet Mars and the inadequacy of the term “up the river.” Jimmy Carter makes an extended cameo appearance. www.patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
69 min listen
Gangs: “Isn’t it amazing how we can only imagine our monsters capitalistically?” Mike tells Sarah how police, prosecutors and journalists accidentally conspired to invent the perfect suburban menace. Digressions include IKEA, the "Godfather" trilogy and Fleetwood Mac. Mike takes big gulping breaths when he reads out loud. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The Victims’ Rights Movement: “When you allow emotion into the courtroom, bias rushes in alongside it.” Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah how a good-faith critique of the justice system led to a decades-long crackdown. Digressions include Charles Manson, Ronald Reagan and a billionaire mugshot. Mike’s similes are worse than Sarah’s. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The Wardrobe Malfunction: Our first live show! Mike tells Sarah about Janet Jackson, the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show and the 9/16ths of a second that destroyed her career. Digressions include Puff Daddy, Jessica Simpson and Edward James Olmos. Like all positive developments regarding this show, performing live is something we feel weird about and so we spent the first few minutes talking about it! patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Sex Offenders: “Things are not going to get better if we make the people who scare us seem more powerful.” Mike tells Sarah about the myths of sex crimes, the reality of child abuse and the importance of unsympathetic protagonists. Digressions include frozen pizza, millennials (obvs) and vaccination rates. Mike can only name one state that borders Nevada. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Tonya Harding Part 2: “The story that did the most damage to the people in it was the one that made the most money.” Sarah tells Mike about the low-rent conspiracy that sparked a ratings bonanza. Digressions include "Out of Sight," Robert De Niro and the ancient sexting technology known as landlines. Mike continues to laugh confusedly at references he does not know. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Nicole Brown Simpson Part 2: “You can’t expect people to know the exact kind of help they need.” We continue our deep dive into the O.J. Simpson case with the history of Nicole Brown Simpson's marriage to O.J., their 1992 divorce and the last weeks of Nicole's life. Digressions include Julia Roberts, Malibu real estate and Madonna’s "Erotica." Mike is fighting a cold and apologizes for his raspiness. This episode contains even greater detail on the violence and domestic abuse Nicole suffered. Plus, a correction! Sarah forgot to mention that O.J. Simpson received two years of probation for the 1989 incident. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
97 min listen
Human Trafficking: Mike tells Sarah how NGOs, activists and George W. Bush resurrected the 'stranger danger' panic for the modern era. Digressions include Reply All, muffins and Yelp for massage parlors. Mike's vocal fry is even worse than usual. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Halloween Re-Release! Ed Gein and Slasher Movies: Sarah takes Mike on a grisly journey from Wisconsin bachelor Ed Gein's house to the horror movies he inspired. This is a re-broadcast of our 2018 Halloween episode, whose themes are evergreen. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
51 min listen
The D.C. Snipers: “If you’re black, you can’t get work as a serial killer even if you’re manifestly qualified.” Mike tells Sarah how a military veteran became an abuser, a murderer and, eventually, a footnote in his own crime spree. Digressions include Jim Jones, the Addams Family and “The Gillooly Gang.” The episode gets super dark about two-thirds in, but brightens just before the big twist. We describe—again, unfortunately—domestic abuse in great detail. patreon.com/yourewrongabout paypal.me/yourewrongabout https://www.teepublic.com/stores/youre-wrong-about Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
Re-Release: Poisoned Halloween Candy and Other Urban Legends: Few topics have been suggested to us in the last year as often as the razor blade in the apple. Luckily we've got you covered with last year's Urban Legend Spectacular! Come for the poisoned candy, stay for the high beams and rainbow parties. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
76 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Marcia Clark: Sarah tells Mike how Marcia Clark got the slam-dunk case that ended her career as a trial lawyer. Digressions include string cheese, "Inception" and what calling women "difficult" means in 2019. We go on the record in favor of a wide range of frivolous hobbies. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
80 min listen
Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 2): Sarah and Mike continue their journey into the book that launched a thousand lawsuits. Michelle and Dr. Pazder’s relationship grows more troubling by the chapter. Digressions include orgy etiquette, sheepskin jackets and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Neither co-host believes anything depicted in this book happened as described, but still want to warn you that it contains scenes of torture and sexual abuse. Support us: patreon.com/yourewrongabout paypal.me/yourewrongabout https://www.teepublic.com/stores/youre-wrong-about?ref_id=10420 Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Paula Barbieri Part 1: "Centering conversations around blame is not the most useful thing for us to be doing." Sarah tells Mike about the woman who broke up with O.J. Simpson on the morning of the murders — then stayed by his side through the trial. Michael Bolton makes an extended cameo appearance. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Marcia Clark Part 1: Sarah tells Mike how Marcia Clark got the slam-dunk case that ended her career as a trial lawyer. Digressions include string cheese, "Inception" and what calling women "difficult" means in 2019. We go on the record in favor of a wide range of frivolous hobbies. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Paula Barbieri: "Centering conversations around blame is not the most useful thing for us to be doing." Sarah tells Mike about the woman who broke up with O.J. Simpson on the morning of the murders — then stayed by his side through the trial. Michael Bolton makes an extended cameo appearance. patreon.com/yourewrongabout Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
82 min listen
D.C. Snipers Part 2: Mike tells Sarah how a nice Jamaican kid became the disciple of a mean American adult. Digressions include Tonya Harding (of course), “Sliding Doors” (again) and Anne of Green Gables (Sarah has an English degree). Mildred re-appears just after the hour mark. We are unable to conceive of a content warning comprehensive enough for all the horrors contained in this episode. There is less crying in this episode than the last in this series, but only slightly. patreon.com/yourewrongabout paypal.me/yourewrongabout https://www.teepublic.com/stores/youre-wrong-about?ref_id=10420 Continue reading → by You're Wrong About
20 min listen

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The Satanic Panic

The Satanic Panic

Description

Titles in the series (50)

Related podcast episodes