Stuff They Don't Want You To Know Interview: The Devil You Know, with Sarah Marshall
9 snips
Nov 19, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Sarah Marshall, a writer and media critic known for her podcast The Devil You Know, dives into the phenomenon of the satanic panic. She explores its historical roots and how media amplified fears around child abuse and satanic rituals. Sarah connects past and present moral panics, highlighting the role of conspiracies like Pizzagate. Listeners learn about the psychological underpinnings of false memories and the dangers of scapegoating marginalized groups. A fascinating examination of a cultural hysteria that echoes today!
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Moral Panic As A Viral Cultural Meme
- The satanic panic was a modern moral panic that spread via media and institutions in the 1980s and early 90s.
- Sarah Marshall argues it functioned like a meme that replicated across communities and systems.
How The Topic Entered Her Life
- Sarah discovered the panic through Texas Monthly articles about the Keller daycare case and started digging in grad school.
- That early exposure led her to see later events echoing the same patterns she studied.
Timeline And Lack Of Evidence
- Marshall frames the panic roughly between Michelle Remembers (1980) and the FBI's Lanning Report (~1992).
- She notes the lack of evidence for organized, hierarchical satanic cults despite many allegations.
