
True Crime
10/19/20 • 53 min
2 Listeners
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 Project
American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
Research and cowriting assisted by Riley Smith
Co-Produced by Miranda Zickler
Voice Acting by Will Rogers
Become 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
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 Project
American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
Research and cowriting assisted by Riley Smith
Co-Produced by Miranda Zickler
Voice Acting by Will Rogers
Become 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
Previous Episode

Happy Halloween, It's Season Four!
American Hysteria is back for season four beginning October 19th! Join us as we investigate our ‘vehicles of hysteria’, everything from True Crime to Televangelists, Tabloid Talk Shows to Fake News to see how pop culture, the media, misinformation, and disinformation have influenced and manipulated the reality we share, and sometimes, the reality we don’t.
Become a Patron for more content every month
Follow us on social media
Instagram: @americanhysteriapodcast
Twitter: @amerhysteria
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Next Episode

CrimeCon and Columbiners with Rachel Monroe
Today we’ll be talking with one of the big influences for our True Crime episode, Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession. Rachel talks to us about true crime fandom, getting to know the real people behind the sensational stories, and the impact of crime narratives on public policy.
Next time on the show: Fake News
PLEASE VOTE OMG PLEASE VOTE!!!!!
Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
Produced by Miranda Zickler
Sound by Clear Commo Studios
Sponsored by Anchor Podcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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