Hysterical

4.1 (82)
DOCUMENTARY
WEEKLY SERIES

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Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize. From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, this 7-part series forces us to grapple with the mysteries of our own minds, and reckon with a contagion that we thought was long dead, but may be the defining disorder of our time. Listen to Hysterical on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/hysterical/ now.

TRAILER

Introducing: Hysterical

Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize. From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, this 7-part series forces us to grapple with the mysteries of our own minds, and reckon with a contagion that we thought was long dead, but may be the defining disorder of our time. Follow Hysterical on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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4.4 (313)

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4.5 (6538)

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4.3 (4383)

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4.2 (406)

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4.5 (216)

HISTORY
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3.5 (388)

HISTORY

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Dan Taberski

Host

4.1

out of 5

82 Ratings

Fascinating… and a little frustrating

23 Jul

Ruth Devon

This left me feeling that the human brain is extraordinary and quite mysterious! However it would have been good to include how often illnesses with neurological systems have incorrectly been seen as psychogenic historically. Perhaps most of them? Certainly Parkinsons, M.S, Tourette’s and Autism. (My mum is old enough to remember nurses dismissively saying a patient had a ‘typical M.S personality’.) Patient shaming has a long history. Are we sure we know better now? The cases discussed in this series are varied and complex, but I agree that the real hysteria is the reaction of bystanders and opinion makers. The need to create dogmatic narratives about illness is a strong one. Rigid hypotheses usually hurt someone. The discussion about proximity and handling of drugs was interesting. (Has anyone ingested powder? I imagine it’s possible. Emphasis on ingestion specifically) Whatever the cause of the prosecutors symptoms, I disagree with ‘confronting’ someone who you think had a psychogenic episode. I’m glad the presenter refrained from this. What does that achieve? A sense of superiority that you wouldn’t have a panic attack at work? (If that’s what it was) Let’s sit with the unknown. Overall a very interesting subject.
Too many ads

10 Sept

Afkecc

Intrusive and frequent advertisements made this quite an unpleasant experience. Gave up after two episodes. Such is the way with podcasts these days
Brilliant story that unravels the mind of a small town

24 Aug

EnvoyTak

Picked this up by chance on a long drive and we were all hooked, ended up subscribing to wondery :) great mystery, social psychology and pastiche of a weird moment in history. Great work.
Bingeable

16 Aug

Dizdazdoz91214

Intriguing, listened in just a couple of sittings

Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize. From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, this 7-part series forces us to grapple with the mysteries of our own minds, and reckon with a contagion that we thought was long dead, but may be the defining disorder of our time. Listen to Hysterical on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/hysterical/ now.