Hysteria Home Companion

American Hysteria +
  • 5.0 (6)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
$2.99/month or $33.99/year
Hysteria Home Companion

Support American Hysteria with our new subscription. Access all episodes of American Hysteria from 2023 and onwards completely ad free and gain access to the Hysteria Home Companion talk show, where we share with you all the hottest gossip from the cutting room floor. American Hysteria is a podcast exploring the fantastical thinking and irrational fears of Americans through the lenses of moral panics, urban legends, conspiracy theories, and trends of wild thinking, how they shape our history and culture, and why we end up believing them.

  1. NOV 17 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: An Heiress Buried Alive

    For this episode, I tell Miranda the wild story of Barbara Mackle, an heiress to a real estate fortune who was kidnapped for ransom in 1968 and buried alive in a specially designed coffin. Culture Corner: Smile 2 The Substance Blink Twice

    55 min

  2. OCT 25 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: Celebrity Six with Sarah Marshall

    Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About tells us about a low-stakes but entertaining internet mystery that unfolded on Reddit. Images we talk about can be found on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast Culture Corner: Subreddit drama: r/subredditdrama

    1h 22m

  3. OCT 16 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About PRESALE

    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 presale tickets here: https://linktr.ee/amassiveseance (use code: GHOSTWATCH) DEC 3 + 4 | PORTLAND, OR DEC 11 | SEATTLE, WA JAN 11 | SAN FRANCISCO, CA JAN 24 | LOS ANGELES, CA Produced in collaboration with Woody Shticks + Miranda Zickler

    2 min

  4. SEP 17 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: How Long Live The King

    Our associate producer Riley Swedelius-Smith shares some of the goofiest and weirdest stories from the outrageous life of Elvis Presley. Culture Corner: UnReal (show) The Dating Detectives (podcast) Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood (book) My Cousin Vinny (movie) Co-hosted, produced, and edited by Miranda Zickler

    1h 4m

  5. AUG 27 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: Spiders

    We can't IMAGINE you've had enough spider content yet, so we are telling some of our own personal encounters with these dearest eight-legged freaks and reading some of the ones that you sent in too. Culture Corner: Longlegs Magpie Cinema Club!! Check them out at magpiecinemaclub.bandcamp.com Co-hosted, produced, and edited by Miranda Zickler

    55 min

  6. APR 14 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: Hoax Master

    On this episode, I tell Miranda about a wild April Fools Day prank that took place in 19th century London involving hundreds of people from bakers and undertakers to bankers and politicians. This was a story left out of my recent appearance on You're Wrong About talking with Sarah about our favorite historical hoaxes, check that out on their feed as well! Culture Corner: Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne There's Going to be Trouble by Jen Silverman Dead Weight by Emmeline Clein The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell Co-hosted, produced, and edited by Miranda Zickler

    52 min

  7. FEB 8 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: Titanic in Real Time

    Description: Our associate producer Riley Swedelius-Smith is here to tell us the little-known story of how news of the Titanic tragedy traveled to shore as it was all unfolding. (BTW Riley's audio starts off a little rough but gets better very fast!) Produced and edited by Miranda Zickler

    1h 4m

  8. JAN 3 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hysteria Home Companion: The Toys That Bind

    Today Chelsey tells Miranda about some of the dumbest, goofiest, and grossest novelty items of yore like Trick Smoking Monkeys, Crying Towels, and The Hello Sweetheart Talking Wolf. We also discuss our intentions for the coming year, both for American Hysteria and for our own lives. For help with this episode, we used the book 'Cheap Laffs: The Art of Novelty Items by Mark Newgarden' Culture Corner: LISTEN TO NIGHTSWIM by Miranda's band KUINKA PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine (podcast) No God But God by Reza Aslan (book) These Woods are Haunted (TV show) Scammer by Caroline Calloway (book)

    54 min
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Shows with Subscription Benefits

  • American Hysteria explores how fantastical thinking has shaped our culture – moral panics, urban legends, hoaxes, crazes, fringe beliefs, and national misunderstandings. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith tells the strangest stories from American history and examines the forces that create the reality we share, and sometimes, the reality we don't.

    • 4.3 (2989)
    • SOCIETY & CULTURE
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Support American Hysteria with our new subscription. Access all episodes of American Hysteria from 2023 and onwards completely ad free and gain access to the Hysteria Home Companion talk show, where we share with you all the hottest gossip from the cutting room floor. American Hysteria is a podcast exploring the fantastical thinking and irrational fears of Americans through the lenses of moral panics, urban legends, conspiracy theories, and trends of wild thinking, how they shape our history and culture, and why we end up believing them.

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