American Hysteria

Perry Carpenter is the author of the new book FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. For this episode, we are discussing what it means to live in a world where artificial intelligence is altering our reality more and more, how we can navigate a deeply uncertain digital future, and what it all has to do with human nature and the nature of folklore.Check out Perry book FAIK hereFind The FAIK Files podcast on Apple and SpotifyFind the Digital Folklore Podcast hereFind Perry Carpenter on LinkedIn, Twitter, and 8th Layer MediaCheck out Perry's new op-ed with The Hill about our post-truth eraGet tickets to our live show called A Massive Seance with You're Wrong AboutBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsFind us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcastLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerAssociate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode was originally released right before the 2020 presidential election and is even more relevant as we face the 2024 election. Political philosopher Jason Stanley, author of the book How Fascism Works, helps us understand how countries slide into authoritarian systems through conspiracy theories, demonization of others, the systematic erosion of truth, and the manipulation of anxieties around race and gender. Check out How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley as well as his new book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 19th century, America and Europe experienced a panic over premature burial, believing that anyone could be accidentally declared dead and entombed before their time was really up. Led by a movement of quacky Spiritualists, the panic culminated in the creation of safety coffins with mechanisms that promised to save anyone who awoke six feet underground. Mere decades later, burial artists began performing all over America as a part of advertising gimmicks. They spent months underground in decked-out coffins, and the public could pay a dime to look down a viewing chute and see these "living corpses." For this Halloween special, we'll look at the panic-turned-spectacle of the American fear of being buried alive.Get tickets for A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About:linktr.ee/amassiveseanceBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comSound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerVoice Actor: Will RogersWritten, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

'Buried Alive,' our upcoming Halloween special, looks at the American fear and fascination with premature burial. We'll explore the panic that swept the nation in the 1800s, leading to the creation of safety coffins for those potentially entombed too soon, and the spectacles drummed up by eccentric performers who competed to see who could stay buried alive the longest. This episode provides more historical context through excerpts from our previous episodes, Death, The 12 Foot Skeleton, and Quackery.Get tickets for A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About:linktr.ee/amassiveseanceFull episodes to check out:DeathThe 12 Foot SkeletonQuackeryBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsThank you to our sponsor OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code AMERICAN at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpodSound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-SmithEdited by Miranda ZicklerHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About and Chelsey Weber-Smith of American Hysteria for a historical, theatrical, ecstatic spectacular for the living and dead. Hold hands with your favorite disembodied voices for a spiritualist séance* featuring fireside conversation, mystifying tricks, special guests, and music from The Little Lies – the only Fleetwood Mac tribute band that may actually be ghosts. This winter, we will release the phantoms of the past year and make room for the spirit of the new.Get your tickets here: https://linktr.ee/amassiveseance DEC 3 + 4 | PORTLAND, OR DEC 11 | SEATTLE, WA JAN 11 | SAN FRANCISCO, CAJAN 24 | LOS ANGELES, CAProduced in collaboration with Woody Shticks + Miranda Zickler*May contain exorcisms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Sarah Marshall transports us to the old world of British Hysteria to reveal the mysterious story of the Enfield Poltergeist and joins me at the seance table to discuss the great unknown and the ghosts we know. Donate to help those affected by the recent hurricanes:Mutual Aid Disaster ReliefBelovedAshevilleCentral Florida Mutual AidListen to You're Wrong About and You Are Good wherever you get your podcastsBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsFind us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcastLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerAssociate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Generation Alpha has made the uncanny, creepy, and chaotic YouTube series 'Skibidi Toilet' into a viral YouTube sensation, so much so that a famous director may soon be taking it to the big screen, despite the fact that the phenomenon has been called both brainrot and dangerous to the youth. On this episode, we will explain what Skibidi Toilet is, hear about similar internet videos enjoyed by Millennials and Gen X, and learn about famous art movements like net.art, Dadaism, and Surrealism to see if we can fit the seemingly meaningless Skibidi Toilet into an important artistic lineage. Watch some Skibidi Toilet now on our Instagram @americanhysteriapodcastCheck out DaFuq!?Boom!'s YouTube channelBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comSound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerVoice Actor: Will RogersWritten, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our upcoming episode is about the massively successful and deeply uncanny YouTube series Skibidi Toilet, the first content that Generation Alpha's influence has made into a world-wide sensation. Billions of views on YouTube and TikTok are attributed to the original videos and the innumerable fan videos that followed, and soon we may see this bizarro phenomenon on the big screen with a famous director attached. Skibidi Toilet has been called both brainrot and dangerous to the youth, and in this Context Clues episode we will explore transgressive creations of previous generations as well as some other online content that has inspired moral panics. Head to our Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast to see some Skibidi Toilet videos so you can know wtf we are talking aboutFull episodes to check out:#ElsagateThe Momo ChallengeJackassRotten.comBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsSound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-SmithEdited by Miranda ZicklerHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika is a Peabody Award-winning audio journalist and an assistant professor of journalism at New York University. His latest podcast, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD “takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival police gangs battling across the city, to everyday people who resisted every step of the way.” With the national spotlight yet again on the corruption and escalating violence of this increasingly militarized police force, it is necessary to understand the true roots of the NYPD, and see that even after close to 200 years, so much remains the same. Listen to Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPDBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsFind us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcastLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerAssociate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brittany Spanos is a senior writer for Rolling Stone Magazine who has taught a course at NYU called Topics in Recorded Music: Taylor Swift, which analyzes "the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness and power as it relates to her image." Today we are talking about conspiracy theories that come from within the hardcore Swiftie fanbase, and the ones that come from outside, often via the right wing media. Follow Brittany Spanos on Twitter and InstagramBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsFind us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcastLeave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.comProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerAssociate Producer: Riley Swedelius-SmithHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices