The Paranoid Strain

The Paranoid Strain? They still do episodes of that show? Will wonders never cease.Sorry we're late. I promise, we weren't being neglectful. We just got caught up in a combination of holiday obligations, ongoing research, and a mountain of work for an upcoming project so ridiculously grandiose, we can't believe it ourselves (and it was our idea). That's coming soon. How soon? Who knows. But for now, enjoy the last part of our coverage of the satanic panic proper--this time, focusing on the story of a deputy sheriff with a very active imagination, who essentially imagined himself into a satanic plot that came from his own fertile mind. As you would expect, nothing good came of this. We're back on schedule, so we'll see you with some real-world post-satanic panic followup in a couple of weeks.

Our de facto holiday episode is here, not that there's anything notably Christmassy about it. Or even Hannukah-y. We continue to lift up the rocks of the Satanic Panic and watch the horrible worms and bugs squirm in the disinfecting light of the truth. This time, we turn our attention to the way the media fanned the flames of the panic, convincing people across North America that Satan was coming for their kids. We also do a deep dive into one of the most heart-warmingly silly anti-rock and roll Christian documentaries every created. It's a lot of fun. As the episode intro notes, we're taking one episode cycle off to work on a huge, ambitious project, so don't expect to hear from us again until mid-January. As always, we thank you for sticking with us for another year. Here's to many more, Strainiacs.

We're waist-deep in Satanic Panic, with no end in sight. Our story continues with details of the McMartin preschool trial, the highest-profile, most emblematic event of the whole sad, deluded era. Our expert interviewees walk us through the gory details...you know, normally when people use that expression, they don't mean it. Unfortunately, in this case, the details are pretty awful, and we don't want to mince words: this episode includes catalogues of truly nauseating accusations. The only relief, if you can call it that, is that apparently none of those horrible things ever happened. Also, there's a puppet with a penis. Really, we're sorry. See you in a couple of weeks