American Hysteria

This episode of American Hysteria explores the urban legend of Marilyn Manson's rib removal surgery for autofellatio, debunking the myth and examining its cultural context. It also delves into the controversial personas of Marilyn Manson and Prince, and discusses the historical trend of rib removal surgery for a tiny waist, mentioning celebrities like Cher and Marilyn Monroe. The podcast reflects on the cultural impact of the rib removal myth and its connection to themes of rebellion and vanity in pop culture.

To celebrate five long years of American Hysteria, our producer Miranda Zickler interviews Chelsey about the origins of the podcast and how their own life has impacted the content. Chelsey also answers questions that listeners have sent in over the years and gets into feelings around queerness, solidarity, faith, and death. And we celebrate you, our dear listeners, who have made all of this possible. Thank you <3Become 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 HotlineProduced, edited, and hosted by Miranda ZicklerSound design by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our very special two-part Halloween conversation, Sarah Marshall and I are going to be sharing the less serious things that scare us: our favorite phobias, eerie feelings, and uncanny upsets. In this episode, I share the things that freak me out, from stilts and spiders to giraffes and medieval art. in order to hear all about what freaks Sarah out, head to the You're Wrong About feed, do not miss it my ghouls!Become 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 HotlineAmerican Hysteria is produced and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithEdited by Miranda ZicklerSound design by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Home Depot's 12 ft. Skeleton decoration first premiered in the fall of 2020 and sold out immediately, the nationwide obsession fueling an underground black market. Memes and tweets made 'Skelly' the hottest Halloween fad of the last three years, and for some reason, the internet's biggest crush. For this episode, we will not only explore how the craze around this big old bone daddy unfolded, but we will also take you through our centuries-long bizarro relationship with human skeletons, both the fake and the very real, and we will consider the role they have played in the development of dark humor, the kind that made Skelly a massive star.Become a Patron or subscribe on Apple Podcasts to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentTell us your teenage tale on our Urban Legends Hotline!Get your tickets for our live show with You're Wrong AboutAmerican Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo StudiosResearch Assistant: Riley Swedelius-SmithProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerVoice Acting by Will Rogers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Halloween special will cover the 12 ft. Skeleton craze and the history of skeleton decorations in America. This episode will give some extra context using segments from:Haunted AttractionsDeathHorror Movies pt. 1Join our Patreon or subscribe on Apple+ for ad-free early episodes and bonus content!Call into our Urban Legends Hotline and share your teenage tale!This episode was produced by Riley Swedelius-SmithProduced and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this rewind of last year's Halloween special called Haunted Dolls. Coming up next week we'll start our Halloween series called 'The 12 ft. Skeleton.' Then we'll be teaming up with our sibling podcast You're Wrong About for another Halloween special!For this rewind, we'll see how possessed playthings have crept their way into the dark attic of America: Thomas Edison's little monsters, a demonic Raggedy Ann, a living ventriloquist dummy, a deadly voodoo curse, and an online market where you can buy yourself a soul trapped in the body of a doll.Become a Patron and support our show! Or subscribe on Apple Podcasts!American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithCo-produced and co-edited by Miranda ZicklerCo-researched and co-editing by Riley SmithSound design by Clear Commo StudiosVoice Acting by Will Rogers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin McHenry, author of the forthcoming book Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake Place, tells me an expansive tale of an alleged long lost continent first written about in early scientific works, then harnessed by esoteric eccentrics and new age mystics, mutating over the decades into fantastical fuel that is embedded in the strangest of conspiracy theories and cults to this very day.Preorder Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake PlaceBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsAmerican Hysteria is produced and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithEdited by Miranda ZicklerSound design by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To unpack the movie trope of the Murderous Man in a Dress, prolific horror film analysts and writers BJ and Harmony Colangelo discuss with me all the complicated trans and drag “representation” in movies like Sleepaway Camp, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Dressed to Kill, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We’ll look at how these crossdressing killers have affected the psyche of Americans through the decades, whether there is anything redeemable about these characters, and what they have to tell us about the horrors of the present day.Listen to This Ends at PromPreorder 'Sleepaway Camp'Read Harmony's thoughts on The Silence of the LambsBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple PodcastsAmerican Hysteria is produced and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithEdited by Miranda ZicklerSound design by Clear Commo Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For part two of our series, we are starting in the anti-gay moral panic of the 50s and 60s to see how the drag scene continued to transform underground, with female impressionists dazzling the starlets they tried to copy as closely as possible. We'll be introduced to a nationwide pageant circuit which allowed drag queens the opportunity to compete just like Miss America contestants, leading to a popular and well-reviewed documentary that revealed the controversial personal lives of these performers. Then we'll drop right into the Gay Liberation Movement where rifts between gay men, lesbian feminists, and drag queens led to a harsh animosity. Next we'll look at the southern tradition of Womanless Weddings that stretches back to the 1800s, where well-to-do men acted out every part of ceremony as a community wide ritual of hilarity. Finally, we'll travel all the way back to 16th century London where a moral panic around the theater's evil influence very much included the boys and men who dressed in woman's costumes to play their roles.Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentTell us your teenage tale on our Urban Legends Hotline!American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo StudiosResearch Assistant: Riley Swedelius-SmithProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerVoice Acting by Will Rogers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This series will cover the moral panics and cultural crazes that have long followed the controversial art form once called "female impersonation." For part one of our two part series, we'll start back in the 1800s to look at the earliest drag balls put on by formerly enslaved men as well as the police raids that made front page news. We'll learn about a famous Vaudeville star known for his hyper-feminine on-stage and hyper-masculine off-stage personas. We'll explore a time when gay was in, the 1930s Pansy Craze, and the political crackdown that inevitably followed. And finally, we'll cover the smash-hit drag musicals put on by the manly soldiers of WWII and the closeted GIs who may have woven in a secret campy code. Throughout, we'll start to analyze how the culture reacted to female impersonation based on the changing events of the decades, bestowing on these performers both massive success and frightening suppression, usually depending on who was performing and what their intentions were.Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus contentTell us your teenage tale on our Urban Legends Hotline!American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithSound design by Clear Commo StudiosResearch Assistant: Riley Swedelius-SmithProducer and Editor: Miranda ZicklerVoice Acting by Will Rogers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices