American Hysteria

Due to the what appears to be an attempted coup happening right now at the Capitol, I wanted to re-release this vital interview immediately. Please listen and share if you can. This is the colossal power of conspiracy theories.Today we are talking to Jason Stanley, Jewish-American professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of the New York Times bestselling book 'How Fascism Works'. He'll help us understand more about the relationship between conspiracy theories, moral panics, and the tactics of fascist movements. Make sure you check out Jason's book 'How Fascism Works', it's vital! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Podcaster and storyteller Glynn Washington grew up in an extremist religious sect called the Worldwide Church of God and also hosted the Heaven’s Gate podcast about the UFO cult that famously committed a mass suicide in 1997. He’ll tell us all about this experience and how it shaped him, and together we will talk about how cults draw well-meaning people in, and what it means to be a seeker.For more monthly content become a Patron and get access to our new exclusive podcast called Walk with MeThis episode was produced by Miranda Zickler, check out her band Ladies and their new cover of Blue Christmas with more at listentoladies.comSound by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The charismatic leaders we are talking about today offer utopia and doomsday, salvation and absolute truth, perfection of the self and of the world at large, as long you dedicate yourself completely to the reality of these embodied Gods. Their radical alternate realities can draw in hundreds, thousands, even millions, as they preach spiritual wholeness and heaven, equality and communalism, or apocalyptic visions of a degrading nation, promising they alone can make it great again. For this episode, we’ll look at some lesser known leaders of cults and new religious movements from the puritans to the present, and we’ll also investigate Narcissistic Personality Disorder, collective narcissism, and cognitive dissonance to try to make sense of how these leaders have molded our history and how they are radically affecting our present.Become a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly, including our brand new podcast Walk with MeAmerican Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo Studios Research and co-writing by Riley SmithCo-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler Follow American Hysteria on social media:Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I would like to step out of my heart/and go walking beneath the enormous sky”, poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in 1918, probably consumed with a similar human anxiety to the one we each bear every weirdass day of our lives. This is the first episode of our new biweekly Patron’s-only podcast where you’ll come on a walk with me, either literally or figuratively, from wherever you happen to be. Walks facilitate, by nature of our very biology, more creative ways of thinking about the world; they are a liminal place where small things happen that feel big, things that can change you. Fair warning, this new show is very different from American Hysteria, and you’ll have to be willing to roll with me out of history and logic and into that dreaded contemplative, meditative territory of ethereal questions and embodied experience, and perhaps worst of all, the joy at the miracle of being alive. I hope you might be willing to share your own thoughts eventually too, so that we can turn this into a kind of ramblin’ collaboration. So, in this time when walks are one of the only things we know are safe to do, I hope you’ll come and walk with me.If you like this episode, become a patron now for a new episode every two weeks as well as more bonus content!Music by Miranda ZicklerHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are talking to two scholars of religion, Professor Lerone A. Martin of Washington University in St. Louis and Professor Anthea Butler of the University of Pennsylvania about the relationship between white and black evangelicalism and televangelism in the 20th century through the present day. Lerone is also the author of Preaching on Wax: The Phonograph and the Making of Modern African American Religion and Anthea is the author of Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making a Sanctified World, and the forthcoming White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America.Next week, you’ll hear episode one of our new Patrons' only podcast, Walk with Me. Find our Patreon here! After that we will be covering Charismatic Leaders.Produced by Miranda Zickler (check out her band's new single here)Sound by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this point in American culture, televangelists are often seen as overblown parodies, with their pleas for private jets, their fiery sermons, their many scandalous falls from grace. However, millions of people believe in the messages of these celebrity Christians who preach the Prosperity Gospel, that money donated to their megachurches will return to the donor in fantastical ways. Since the 1950s, conservative political preaching has slowly weaved into the gospels of prominent televangelists who have hidden ulterior motives under stories of societal decay. Since the 1970s, these pop-preachers have been able to rally the coveted ‘white Evangelical vote’ to advance right-wing policies and presidents, with 80% voting for Donald Trump in 2016, contributing profoundly to his victory.Next time on the show: Charismatic LeadersConsider donating to Jay Bakker’s Revolution ChurchBecome a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly!American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo Studios Research and co-writing by Riley SmithCo-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler Voice Acting by Will RogersBecome a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly!Follow American Hysteria on social media:Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are talking to Jason Stanley, Jewish-American professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of the New York Times bestselling book 'How Fascism Works'. He'll help us understand more about the relationship between conspiracy theories, moral panics, and the tactics of fascist movements.Make sure you check out Jason's book 'How Fascism Works', it's vital!Next time on the show: TelevangelistsHosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithProduced by Miranda ZicklerSound by Clear Commo StudiosBecome a Patron for extra content every month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PLEASE VOTE!!! Fake news was the unofficial buzzword of 2016, as incendiary disinformation spread prolifically across the tabloids, TV news reports, and social media, along with accusations of liberal media bias and even accusations of a democratic satanic cult. Some of what we are covering today are fantastical hoaxes that duped a gullible American public, priming future generations with a preference for the almost-unbelievable. But we’ll also look at how atrocity propaganda has been used by opportunist media outlets and politicians to get rich and to help incite literal and cultural war. Through examining fascist tactics, we’ll also see the dangers of constructing alternate realities, and how stories that hit on our most base emotions are controlling our personal and national consciousness and the future of our democracy at large.Please consider donating to First Draft NewsCheck out the awesome Wild Wild Tech podcastCheck our voice actor Will Rogers and his sister Kristen Anderson in the hilarious and spooky podcast Guide to the UnknownAmerican Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo StudiosResearch and co-writing by Riley SmithCo-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler Voice Acting by Will Rogers and directed by Kristen AndersonBecome a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly!Follow American Hysteria on social media:Twitter: @AmerHysteriaInstagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Find our merch at americanhysteria.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites, explores true crime fandom, the impact of crime narratives on public policy, and the disturbing subculture of 'columbiners'. They also discuss the contradictions of true crime, the allure of CrimeCon, the perception of danger for female travelers, the impact of true crime on identity and society, and personality hoaxes throughout American history.

To this day, glossy tabloids show the face of a six-year-old pageant girl murdered in a wine cellar in 1996, and 20 years later, an NBC special about the unsolved case still pulled in more viewers than the Emmys. Over the last few years, America has experienced a serious boom in True Crime entertainment; endless docuseries, TV shows, films, podcasts, and books, but our fascination with crimes that have nothing at all to do with us is a part of American history, and in fact, a part of human history as well. On this episode we will explore our most sensational boogiemen: uncaught sadistic geniuses, sociopathic hippy cults, allegedly handsome men with broken arms calling you into their cars, and silent killers slipping into your window at night. But we will also chart our historical reactions to this content, our intrinsic desire to become armchair sleuths and what that says about the psychology and biology of this thing called Justice, and how the public fear of these rare, sensationalized murders has aided Law and Order policies by making us all into future victims. Please consider donating to the Insight Prison ProjectAmerican Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithProduced and edited by Clear Commo StudiosResearch and cowriting assisted by Riley SmithCo-Produced by Miranda Zickler Voice Acting by Will RogersBecome a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly!Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices