What is it about a particular cultural object — or trend, or perceived trend — that makes people FREAK THE F OUT? Anyone who's looked at historical freakouts knows: it's never really about the thing itself, but more about ideologies that are under threat and in flux. If you challenge the status quo, in other words, there's a high likelihood that you could get swept up in a panic about something that has nothing to do with the way in which you're actually challenging the status quo.

The best person to talk about these sort of freak-outs is Sarah Marshall, beloved host of You're Wrong About and current host of a new CBC limited series on the satanic panic called The Devil You Know. In this episode, Sarah brings her trademark empathy to your smart questions about freak-outs old and new (yes, we talk about kids & screens, but not for the entire episode). This episode was an utter delight to record and I can only hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

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Show Notes:

Listen to THE DEVIL YOU KNOW on CBC or wherever you get your podcasts!
More about Sarah's work here
Listen to You're Wrong About here
If you missed the episode we did on conspiracy theories last year, it's a great companion to this one

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

WEIRD ENGLISH WORDS (where do they come from!) with Colin Gorrie, who writes explainers like this one on the word DOG
Questions About How to Respond When People Ask/React To the Knowledge That You're Not Having Kids
How Did Everyone Low-Key Become an Influencer? AKA How do you see influencer posting logic creeping into non-influencer accounts
The Wild Largely Unregulated World of IVF
Audiobooks!!! (with MVP audiobook narrator Julia Whelan)
Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment
As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

Show Notes:

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

For this week’s discussion: I'd love to hear your alternate reads on what caused any of the cultural panics we discussed in the show.

Song of Solomon, Day 7