American Hysteria explores how fantastical thinking has shaped our culture – moral panics, urban legends, hoaxes, crazes, fringe beliefs, and national misunderstandings.... more
Rod Crawford is the curator of the arachnids and related research collections at Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.... more
For this Urban Legends Hotline episode, we are dissecting the myth that the average person swallows a certain number of... more
This is an update on the new developments surrounding one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch... more
For this episode, the hosts of the new podcast Pretendians, Robert Jago and Angel Ellis, explain Indigenous Identity Fraud, the... more
Fur and Loathing is a new investigative podcast from Nicky Woolf about an unsolved 2014 chlorine gas attack on the... more
Reporter and Radiolab producer Matthew Kielty and musician Chad Matheny (AKA Emperor X) were both part of a 2014 episode... more
How do we warn people 10,000 years in the future about nuclear waste sites that will remain extremely dangerous for... more
For some context for our upcoming series that we have not yet revealed, we will revisit excerpts from our past... more
Amanda Montell is the host of the podcast Sounds Like A Cult as well as the author of the new... more
Sarah Marshall joins me to chat about how, in 1968, one unsuspecting young woman’s bustline almost caused a stock market... more
In the late 1950s, an organization known as SINA started a campaign with the mission of clothing naked animals for... more
Journalist and author Tom Risen is here to tell me about some of the real conspiracies that the CIA and... more
John O'Connor is the author of The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, a cross-country... more
For the second part of this Urban Legends Hotline episode, we are continuing to explore various tall tales of ruthless... more
For this Urban Legends Hotline episode, we are answering a listener message about a story of street gangs initiating wannabes... more
'Gang Initiations' is the topic of our upcoming series, and this episode will provide extra context using excerpts from three... more
Live at SF Sketchfest, Sarah Marshall tells me about the urban-legendary alligators in the sewers of New York City. But... more
Today I'm joined by paranormal corespondent Jim Perry of the podcast Euphomet and Sapphire Sandalo of the podcast Stories With... more
In this episode I tell podcaster Sarah Marshall a truly wild story I uncovered about the first recognized case of... more
Pop culture correspondent and major Pro Wrestling fan BJ Colangelo and I discuss the quirky history of this manly soap... more
Author of the book Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America, historian Wendy Woloson joins me to discuss the... more
The novelty pets known as Sea Monkeys have delighted and disappointed millions of American children since they were first marketed... more
This is a rerelease of last year's holiday special! Find our new merch at americanhysteria.com/merch They usually go something like this:... more
This is a story from a recent episode of our exclusive Patreon/Apple + talk show Hysteria Home Companion, where producer... more
(explicit content warning) This *Urban Legends Hotline* episode dives deep into the viral myth that 90s shock rocker Marilyn Manson... more
To celebrate five long years of American Hysteria, our producer Miranda Zickler interviews Chelsey about the origins of the podcast... more
For our very special two-part Halloween conversation, Sarah Marshall and I are going to be sharing the less serious things... more
Home Depot's 12 ft. Skeleton decoration first premiered in the fall of 2020 and sold out immediately, the nationwide obsession... more
Our Halloween special will cover the 12 ft. Skeleton craze and the history of skeleton decorations in America. This episode... more
Please enjoy this rewind of last year's Halloween special called Haunted Dolls. Coming up next week we'll start our Halloween... more
Home Depot's 12 ft. Skeleton decoration first premiered in the fall of 2020 and sold out immediately, the nationwide obsession fueling an... more