American Hysteria

Latest Episodes:

Context Clues: The Uncanny Valley of the Dolls Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

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

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Rainbow Fentanyl: Poisoned Halloween Candy Rerelease Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

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 Reduction Coalition

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

Edited by Miranda Zickler and Riley Smith

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

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Halloween is Millennial Christmas with Podcaster Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

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 Wrong About and You Are Good

Produced and hosted by Miranda Zickler

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

And Chelsey Weber-Smith talked and giggled like a child clown

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FLORIDA SCAM Sep 19, 2022

Show notes

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

Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Find our merch at americanhysteria.com

American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

Co-production and co-editing by Miranda Zickler

Co-research and co-writing by Riley Smith

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FLORIDA MAN Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

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: @AmerHysteria

Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast

Find our merch at americanhysteria.com

American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

Co-production and co-editing by Miranda Zickler

Co-research and co-editing by Riley Smith

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Context Clues: Feeling Like a Freak on a Beach Sep 05, 2022

Show notes

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

An Irresistible Movement with Reproductive Justice Activist Loretta J. Ross Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

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.Today Loretta will share some of her prolific personal and political journey and what it has taught her about the importance of solidarity, about how we create a strong movement genuinely dedicated to working together even when it's difficult to do.

Take a class, buy a book, and learn more about Loretta J. Ross at lorettajross.com

Donate to SisterSong at sistersong.net

Become a Patron and support our show!

American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

Produced by Miranda Zickler

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WOMB WARS pt. 2 Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

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 fears.

Head to Podvoices.help for information on how you can get involved in the fight for abortion rights

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

Co-production and co-editing by Miranda Zickler

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

Co-research and co-editing by Riley Smith

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WOMB WARS pt. 1 Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

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 involved in the fight for abortion rights

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 Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

Research and edited by Riley Smith

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Context Clues: Maybe it Ain't About the Babies Jul 25, 2022

Show notes

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 Commo Studios

Voice Acting by Will Rogers

Research and Production for this episode by Riley Smith

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices