As Kim Petras and Sam Smith don 'devilish' attire for their Grammy performance of 'Unholy', right-wring pundits claim Satanic panic, echoing outrage seen in American politics since the 1830s. Our new series charts 200 years in American moral panics about music, race, sexuality, and the conservative religious zealot's war for control of America's heart and mind.

Links:

Kim Petras Defends Sam Smith Against 'I'm Not Here to Make Friends' Music Video Backlash (Exclusive) [ET]
The Christian Right Is Having a Meltdown Over the 'Satanic' Grammys [Vice]
Did We Really Need a Satan Bondage Show at the Grammys? [TheDailyBeast]
Link to Smokestack Lightning by Howlin Wolf, Life (1964)
The Black Musician and the White City: Race and Music in Chicago, 1900-1967, Amy Absher [PDF]
Why they tried to censor the blues [Louder Sound]
SEX AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE LONG AND WINDING HISTORY OF OBSCENITY LAW Geoffrey R. Stone, First Amendment Law Review (2019) [WordPress]
The Pop Life; IS PRINCE LEADING MUSIC TO A TRUE BIRACISM? (Dec 2, 1981) [NYT]
WHY THESE POP SINGERS HAVE RISEN TO SUPERSTARDOM (Sep 2, 1984) [NYT]
Birth of the PMRC, Claude Chastanger [HAL Science PDF]
Notes from: Record Labeling: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session, on Contents of Music and the Lyrics of Records, September 19, 1985[University of California Riverside]
Zappa Defends Obscene Lyrics (Nov 6, 1985) [The Harvard Crimson]
Discord on Record Warning (August 29, 1985) [Washington Post]
UNREST IN THE PURPLE KINGDOM (April 12, 1987) [Washington Post]
Bloom and Doom: 'The Closing of the American Mind' [Oct 8, 1987) [Rolling Stone]
[Prager U Video] (Start at 1:05)

About:

Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture landscape: Where it comes from, who wields it, and who suffers at the hands of it. Find out the stories behind the stories, as together they look beyond the headlines of troublesome YouTubers or scandal-ridden A-Listers, and delve deep into the inner workings of Hollywood's favorite pastime. The truth, they've found, is definitely stranger than any gossip.

You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. Or buy our merch! Any personal, business, or general inquires can be sent to eatingforfreepodcast@gmail.com

Joan Summers: Twitter: @laracroftbarbie
Matthew Lawson: Twitter: @_matthewlawson

Jeremiah ch.51 - Submerged in the Euphrates