For the 100th anniversary of the Macy's Parade, we are looking at the chaos energy that has always animated this... more

This episode will give some context for our upcoming episode about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, its unbelievable chaotic origins... more

Perry Carpenter is the author of the new book FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes,... more

This episode was originally released right before the 2020 presidential election and is even more relevant as we face the... more

In the 19th century, America and Europe experienced a panic over premature burial, believing that anyone could be accidentally declared... more

This is a preview for "Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder." On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie... more

'Buried Alive,' our upcoming Halloween special, looks at the American fear and fascination with premature burial. We'll explore the panic... more

What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong... more

Today Sarah Marshall transports us to the old world of British Hysteria to reveal the mysterious story of the Enfield... more

Generation Alpha has made the uncanny, creepy, and chaotic YouTube series 'Skibidi Toilet' into a viral YouTube sensation, so much... more

The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new... more

Our upcoming episode is about the massively successful and deeply uncanny YouTube series Skibidi Toilet, the first content that Generation... more

Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika is a Peabody Award-winning audio journalist and an assistant professor of journalism at New York University. His... more

Brittany Spanos is a senior writer for Rolling Stone Magazine who has taught a course at NYU called Topics in... more

The life of the conspiracy theory that claims Elvis Presley faked his death is an almost unbelievable journey through gimmick-crazy... more

The idea that Elvis Presley did not die in August of 1977, that he instead faked his death, has become... more

Our paranormal correspondent Jim Perry is back to tell us about his recent ghost hunt inside the Queen Mary ship,... more

For part two of our series, we are returning to the phenomenon called 'Tarantism' that began in the Middle Ages... more

The phenomenon called 'Tarantism' began in the Middle Ages in southern Italy where the bite of a local spider caused... 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

Justin McHenry, author of the forthcoming book Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake Place, tells me an expansive tale... more

To unpack the movie trope of the Murderous Man in a Dress, prolific horror film analysts and writers BJ and... more

For part two of our series, we are starting in the anti-gay moral panic of the 50s and 60s to... more

This series will cover the moral panics and cultural crazes that have long followed the controversial art form once called... more

Our upcoming series, Early Drag Queens, will cover the surprising relationship between "female impersonation" and American masculinity in the time... more

As the social media and the news got word of the new cases of leprosy found in Florida, a slew... more

BJ Colangelo is an editor at Slash Film and the writer of “The Only Guide To Barbie Lore You Will... more

This is a collaborative look at the panics around Furby with the podcast Unspookable, a show much like ours that... more

Jamie Loftus is the author of the recent New York Times bestselling book 'Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot... more

*Urban Legends Hotline* The inbred cannibal pig people who are said to inhabit Pig Hill in Meadville, PA attack teenagers... more

Harmony Colangelo is one of the hosts of This Ends at Prom, a podcast that analyzes coming of age teen... more

In the year 2000, a group of rowdy skateboarders and loosely defined "performers" came to MTV with a pitch that... more

This episode will give context for our upcoming series on Jackass, an early reality show starring a group of skateboarders... more

Blake Pfeil is the host of 'abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast,' a multimedia travelogue exploring abandoned spaces across the United... more

*Urban Legends Hotline* Lauren's story: On a rural road outside Chicago, the ghosts of children killed in a school bus-train... more

For part two of my conversation with Sarah, I finish telling her about a satanic panic era "memoir" published by... more

Over the next two episodes, I tell Sarah the story of another one of Jack Chick's occult experts using his... more

Who was Jack Chick, really? For the final episode in our series we will explore his childhood, his time in... more

An ex-druid grand priest for the illuminati, an undercover Jesuit agent of destruction, a woman married to the devil, and... more

Cartoons of satanic witch cults, Illuminati world domination, demonic homosexuals, and the pressing choice of hell or salvation were the... more

Chick Tracts, what are they? You'll find out in our upcoming three-part series that covers a fundamentalist comic artist who... more

Are we being invaded?? I sure thought so. Today we are talking quite animatedly to our official paranormal correspondent Jim... more

In 2014, an urban legend formed around a cartoon cat chatbot when rumors spread across social media that a child... more

For this episode we chat about the sensational tales of cyberspace, from Slenderman to the Momo suicide game, with the... more

Nope, it's not an urban legend! Today we are talking to journalist and filmmaker Robin Washington who, like a huge... more

In 1974, running naked in public became a major fad led by students on college campuses across the nation. This... more

This episode will give context for our upcoming topic called The Streaking Craze using excerpts from previous shows including: Terrorism Pt.... more

Tickle Me Elmo, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pokemon cards. These trendy toys all inspired parental parking lot brawls and... more

Because so many Hallmark writers and directors also make horror movies, I called in podcasters Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed... more

They usually go something like this: A cranky career woman from the big city who has lost the true meaning... more

This episode gives context to our upcoming series on Hallmark Christmas Movies using excerpts from previous topics including The War... more

Colin Dickey is one of American Hysteria's biggest influences—our episodes called Talking to the Dead and Alien Abductions relied on... more

Paranormal podcast host (and major buddy) Jim Perry of Euphomet returns to discuss a couple of the many experiences that... more

Featuring poems, fiction, nonfiction, AND A GROUP SONG with work by Sarah Marshall (You're Wrong About, You Are Good), Alex... more

Here’s a preview from a podcast that's right up your dark alley! On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford finds... more

We'll see how possessed playthings have crept their way into the dark attic of America: Thomas Edison's little monsters, a... more

To get you ready for our upcoming episode called Haunted Dolls, we have selected some excerpts on Furby urban legends,... more

Our most classic American urban legend is back with a vengeance, promising to ruin Halloween yet again. With an updated... more

To get an extended director's cut of this episode, become a patron: patreon.com/americanhysteria For this Halloween Party, we are joined by... more

Not unlike the bubble markets of Beanie Babies and Cryptocurrency, the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s was a chaotic... more

The Florida Man meme, with its bizarre crime headlines and mugshots, has become one of our most popular and long-lasting... more

This episode will provide some context for our upcoming series on Florida Man. The excerpts are from Trash Talk Shows,... more

CW: Sexual violence. Since the 1970s, Loretta J. Ross has been an instrumental activist in the fight for 'Reproductive Justice',... more

Featuring yet another flamboyant abortionist, sideshow fetuses, Mother with a capital M, eugenic suspicions, and plenty more population panics. We'll... more

Featuring flamboyant abortionists, dangerously determined doctors, problematic feminists, opportunist politicians, and one sneaky pope, this two-part series will explore the... more

Our upcoming series is about the origins of the anti-abortion movement in the time before Roe vs Wade. This Context... more

Alice Sparkly Kat (who goes by Ace) is an astrologer and the author of the book ‘Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the... more

In 1941, hundreds of British secret agents were sent to the United States to spread creative anti-Nazi propaganda with the... more

Dr. Eric Kurlander is the author of Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich which details the occult... more

This episode is not about debunking astrology, it’s about something far more interesting: the role that star-gazing soothsaying advisors have... more

In honor of Pride month, here is a little rerelease of last year's special episode! Over the last ten years,... more

*CW: Brief description of animal abuse, some brief descriptions of death* Sarah Marshall is the host of our sibling podcasts You’re... more

Rotten.com was a shock website from the late 90s and early 2000s that collected the most gruesome and explicit photos... more

Snuff films are alleged murders filmed for the purpose of distribution, an urban legend that has been circulating since the... more

This rerelease will give some context for next week's new episode called Snuff Films. Become a Patron and support our show! Follow... more

Just a handful of little announcements as we take a few weeks off (back in late April). Learn more about your... more

Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a Guatemalan-Colombian-American poet, screenwriter, and educator, and co-host of the podcast Say More. She is the author... more

'This Ends at Prom' is a podcast that dives deep into coming-of-age and teen girl movies from the queer, feminist... more

Behind every manufactured boy band there is what the press calls a Svengali, a puppet master who assembles the group... more

Hysterical fangirls have become so commonplace in popular music that we hardly pay attention to them anymore, no matter how... more

To prepare for our series called Fangirls and Boy Bands, we are heading back to the fantastical realm of the... more

*Please listen to our Westboro Baptist Church episode first!!* Megan Phelps-Roper was born and raised in the WBC, a fervent... more

The Westboro Baptist Church outraged both sides of the political spectrum throughout the 90s, 2000s and 2010s, picketing the funerals... more

Next week we will be covering the Westboro Baptist Church, the small family clan and hyper-Calvinist group who have long... more

This is a sneak peek of our new Patrons-only podcast Hysteria Home Companion, where we share with you all the... more

Today we're talking to podcaster Jim Perry, the host of Euphomet, a paranormal documentary series that explores the unknown and... more

In this classic episode, learn about the battles fought for and against this controversial American holiday from the Puritans to... more

For part two of our series, we will look at skeptics' explanations for the alien abduction phenomenon to see what... more

For part one of our two-part series, we will learn about the lives of some of the most influential abductees... more

Satanic Ritual Abuse in Space? To get us ready for our two-part series on Alien Abductions, we are talking about... more

Here's a little more information about our new Patron's-only talk show Hysteria Home Companion, in which producer Miranda Zickler and... more

Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed host the feelings/movie podcast 'You Are Good'. On this episode, we talk about our own... more

In the late 1980s, a New Age America began telling children that they were special, that if they just believed... more

This rerelease episode is about America's lifelong obsession with Get Rich Quick magical thinking. It will help us put into... more

If you want to learn more about the topics covered on American Hysteria, subscribe to our Patreon talk show with... more

Today we talk to the wonderful Shar Mayer, a 45-year veteran of Scare Acting known in the haunt community as... more

Today we'll be talking about the fake-blood-covered history of Haunted Attractions, their raucous origins wrangling violent pranksters, the gory charity... more

This ghostly re-release (with a new introduction) is here to help us fit next week's brand-new episode 'Haunted House Attractions'... more

Join us October 18th for our spooky season premiere on Haunted House Attractions and learn a little more our show's... more

In 2017, YouTube Kids was embroiled in a major scandal when it was discovered that a dark underbelly of inappropriate... more

In preparation for our upcoming *Weirdest Episode of All Time*, we are rereleasing this minisode on a mysterious phenomenon where... more

(Make sure you listen to part one first!) Today, Chris shares his experience becoming a sudden villain in the fringe... more

Chris Gethard is a stand-up comedian, podcaster, actor, filmmaker and author of Weird New York as well as an editor... more

Susan Styker is the author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution as well as a filmmaker, distinguished professor,... more

Over the last ten years, Gender Reveal Parties have exploded, figuratively and literally. Parents, communities, and social media followers alike... more

Pride Rerelease! This is a listener favorite. Back in 2018, I had my two Christian friends on the show, who... more

Listen or re-listen to learn all about our panics surrounding what amounts to the queer illuminati and their evil plans... more

Finally, it is ME CHELSEY WEBER-SMITH as our interview guest, questioned lovingly by our producer Miranda Zickler. We will discuss... more

The kids' book series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was based largely on urban legends, and when I... more

In preparation for our season finale next week on Urban Legends, we wanted to replay our deep dive into the... more

The genres of modern scary movies known as slashers, meta-horror, torture porn, and social thrillers, each tell us about the... more

We need a little extra time for Horror Movies II, so here is a re-release of a very related and... more

Carmen Maria Machado is the author of three books, the award-winning Her Body and Other Parties, a collection of vibrantly... more

Lil Nas X and the sexy-ass Satanic imagery featured in Call Me By Your Name has sparked a mini Satanic... more

Horror movies, consistently written-off by critics, exist unbound from mainstream respectability and because of this, they can often tell us... more

Mara Wilson is a writer, actor, and the former star of the 1996 classic movie Matilda as well as the... more

The new American archetype known as the “Influencer” has existed in various forms long before the advent of social media,... more

Gael Aitor is a senior in high school and the host of the podcast Teenager Therapy, a show where he... more

Our Live Variety Hour is not your run-of-the-mill podcast live show, but an actual two-hour theatrical production performed in 2019.... more

As the nation grapples with a volatile culture war over just what version of American history our children will grow... more

Ellen Cushing's recent piece in The Atlantic called “I was a teenage conspiracy theorist” tells her story as a young... more

Join me and our Disney darling of the day, podcaster Sarah Marshall of ‘You’re Wrong About’ and ‘Why Are Dads?’... more

Disney has been presenting a fairytale reality within a reality since the 1920s, a far cuter reality that mimics our... more

Alissa Bennett is co-host of The C-Word podcast on Luminary as well as a decorated historian of bad behavior. “By... more

There are few pieces of popular culture as problematic as the trash talk shows of the 1980s and 90s. Many... more

Due to the what appears to be an attempted coup happening right now at the Capitol, I wanted to re-release... more

Podcaster and storyteller Glynn Washington grew up in an extremist religious sect called the Worldwide Church of God and also... more

The charismatic leaders we are talking about today offer utopia and doomsday, salvation and absolute truth, perfection of the self... more

“I would like to step out of my heart/and go walking beneath the enormous sky”, poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote... more

Today we are talking to two scholars of religion, Professor Lerone A. Martin of Washington University in St. Louis and... more

At this point in American culture, televangelists are often seen as overblown parodies, with their pleas for private jets, their... more

Today we are talking to Jason Stanley, Jewish-American professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of the New York... more

PLEASE VOTE!!! Fake news was the unofficial buzzword of 2016, as incendiary disinformation spread prolifically across the tabloids, TV news... more

Today we’ll be talking with one of the big influences for our True Crime episode, Rachel Monroe, author of Savage... more

To this day, glossy tabloids show the face of a six-year-old pageant girl murdered in a wine cellar in 1996,... more

American Hysteria is back for season four beginning October 19th! Join us as we investigate our ‘vehicles of hysteria’, everything... more

Just in time to kick off this Halloween season, I got to be a guest on the amazing podcast ‘You’re... more

We finally have the extremely dope merch you’ve been asking for, and it's ready for preorder! The design (from Brothers... more

Over our summer break, we will be rereleasing some of our old episodes as they become relevant in the present... more

For our season finale, we will be exploring our ultimate human fear, our number one cognitive dissonance that arguably leads... more

The national and international protests over the death of George Floyd have generated larger and more widespread conversations about systemic... more

Like many shows, we are taking a break this week. We will be back next Monday with an audio guide... more

The internet hate campaign known as #gamergate began in February of 2013 when video game developer Zoe Quinn put out... more

In 2014, a young man named named Elliot Rodger went on a killing spree as revenge for the beautiful women... more

Have you ever heard of the Curse of the Lottery? The legend that most, if not all big winners eventually... more

The search for untold riches has always been at the heart of America, from its very beginning as a nation... more

Since the tragedies of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and the Charleston Church shooting that killed nine black... more

For this episode we are dissecting the archetype of American rednecks, hillbillies, and those we call white trash, a group... more

On this episode we explore the history of one of the most hipster of trends, how facial hair has come... more

Throughout my lifetime I have been both a middle class college student and a summer hitch-hiker dead set on finding... more

Whether you were a cheerleader, a football player, a painted fan, or a bad kid under the bleachers, you will... more

For this episode, we are covering the uncanny cul-de-sacs of American suburbia, how this way of life formed, and how... more

Growing up in the 90s, kids were targeted by a widespread campaign featuring what felt like every single cool celebrity... more

Welcome to our season three premiere! Whether we’re conscious of it or not, hamburgers have always been an American symbol,... more

We are stoked to announce that our season three premieres this coming Monday, February 17th! On this season we're going... more

Since we are on a break this week, I wanted to share with you my former work with an incredible... more

This is a surprise early Season Three premiere! Merry Whatever y'all! Learn about the history of America's relationship to Christmas,... more

Join our Patreon now! American Hysteria has officially left our network and we are striking out on our own for... more

For our season finale, I am going to step into the unknown recesses of the mind, especially my own. I’ll... more

In part one of Terrorism, we looked at the history of domestic extremists on both the left and the right,... more

Since 9/11, the fear of terrorism has centered on what we call Islamic extremism, but this two-part episode will instead... more

Eighty-four million Americans witnessed the greatest pop culture spectacle of 2004, when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson headlined the Super... more

Pornography has existed all over the world for all recorded time, and now porn websites are visited by an estimated... more

AFTER SHOCK: Since the 1970s, violent video games have been a popular scapegoat used by Republicans and Democrats alike to... more

Despite how these last few years have felt, schools are still statistically the safest place our kids and teenagers can... more

AFTER SHOCK: Many of us were gifted a strange robotic creature in the last years of the 1990s, a furry... more

After the heavy first half of this season, I wanted us to take a little break together and have some... more

For this very special episode, we present to you a mash-up of some of our favorite parts of American Hysteria’s... more

Today I plan to lose all creditability among our dedicated skeptics by sharing my ghost experiences, talking about astrology, and... more

AFTER SHOCK: In the summer of 1944, Americans saw terrifying headlines about a possible Nazi chemical weapons strike in the... more

Monsters come from the darkness, from the depth of lakes and swamps, from the shadows of forests and hills, and... more

AFTER SHOCK: This 1970s rockstar biopic of a man whom we can all agree should be deeply reviled isn’t a... more

Whether we like to admit it or not, we have celebrities that we follow, and we can watch their dramatics... more

AFTER SHOCK: On this week's show we talk about a disease known as Parrot Fever that frightened the nation in... more

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Lifestyle-brand ‘Goop’ and the expensive products it peddles are just the newest in a long line of medical... more

We all remember the very real threat of cooties, a contractable playground malady that developed out of the adult fear... more

In a real sense, germs are our only modern predator and they are invisible and impossible to detect; what could... more

American Hysteria presents the AFTER SHOCK, a follow-up minisode to the main episode before it, basically The Shit They Didn't... more

For the season two premiere, we are exploring the rich American history of Spiritualism, a massive 80-year trend of popular... more

Join us next week, Monday, June 3rd, for the premiere of season two where we cover the creepy, sexy, gross,... more

This is the 20 year anniversary of one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, a... more