Brittany Spanos is a senior writer for Rolling Stone Magazine who has taught a course at NYU called Topics in Recorded Music: Taylor Swift, which analyzes "the culture and politics of teen girlhood in pop music, fandom, media studies, whiteness and power as it relates to her image." Today we are talking about conspiracy theories that come from within the hardcore Swiftie fanbase, and the ones that come from outside, often via the right wing media.

Follow Brittany Spanos on Twitter and Instagram

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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The life of the conspiracy theory that claims Elvis Presley faked his death is an almost unbelievable journey through gimmick-crazy hucksters and true blue believers, the tales turning the king of rock and roll into something more like a cryptid than a superstar, evidence caught in blurry photographs and in secret messages, all covered up by shadowy forces. This zany story shows how conspiracies theories are born, how they transform, and how they never seem to die, no matter what, much like Elvis himself, allegedly.

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Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Voice Actor: Will Rogers

Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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The idea that Elvis Presley did not die in August of 1977, that he instead faked his death, has become one of the most famous and enduring conspiracy theories of all time, essentially elevating the former superstar to the status of a cryptid. For this context clues episode, we are revisiting our 2022 episode called Fangirls which covers the rise of music fandom, including Elvis'. Next week we will explore the bizarre, fantastical creation of the Elvis is Alive movement and the many strange players that brought this tale into the conspiracy theory hall of fame.

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Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts

Sound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-Smith

Edited by Miranda Zickler

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Our paranormal correspondent Jim Perry is back to tell us about his recent ghost hunt inside the Queen Mary ship, where he discovered that Walt Disney had installed some ghostly gimmicks decades ago, inadvertently creating a haunting that continued on long after Disney sold the vessel. We discuss what happens when horror entertainment influences our consciousness and helps to create our modern relationship to the paranormal.

Listen to Euphomet wherever you get your podcasts

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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For part two of our series, we are returning to the phenomenon called 'Tarantism' that began in the Middle Ages in southern Italy where the bite of a local spider caused bizarre and contagious symptoms almost like that of demonic possession and the only antidote was trance-like, vigorous dancing. Today we look at all the theories about what caused this dancing mania: Was it all truly a reaction to the venom? A religious possession? A full-blown hysteria? A feminist revolt? Or an archaic cult’s secret rituals? Sarah and I explore these ideas and add a few unorthodox ones of our own.

Listen to You're Wrong About and You Are Good wherever you get your podcasts

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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The phenomenon called 'Tarantism' began in the Middle Ages in southern Italy where the bite of a local spider caused bizarre symptoms almost like that of demonic possession. The only cure was to dance vigorously for hours or days with the dance itself seeming to become contagious. Was it all truly a reaction to the venom? A religious possession? A full-blown hysteria? A feminist revolt? Or an archaic cult’s secret rituals? Sarah and I try to figure it out over this two part series.

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Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast

Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Rod Crawford is the curator of the arachnids and related research collections at Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. His website called Spider Myths debunks the many misconceptions about spiders, and for this episode, he joins me to discuss some of these urban legends and bogus facts. Many of them may surprise you!

Check out Rod Crawford's website Spider Myths

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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For this Urban Legends Hotline episode, we are dissecting the myth that the average person swallows a certain number of spiders in their sleep by following this false fact's bizarre and mysterious trail on the early internet, looking at other spider-related urban legends, searching for pop culture references to spiders in mouths, as well as old newspaper articles about the alleged dangers of swallowing spiders, and analyzing the surprising theories behind American's fear of these eight-legged freaks.

Thanks to listener Rebekah for her submission!

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Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com

Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Voice Actor: Will Rogers

Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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This is an update on the new developments surrounding one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, paired with our 2019 minisode. When news broke that the film's production company Lionsgate will be reviving the franchise with genre giant Blumhouse, the three original actors took to social media with a serious bone to pick. The Blair Witch Project masqueraded as real found footage of three college students who went missing in the woods while recording a documentary on the local legend. The story of the missing students and the lore of the Blair Witch were both widely believed during its monumental release, and we are covering just how the directors and marketing team were able to pull off one of the greatest hoaxes in American history, creating an original urban legend and facilitating its spread while also using a truly unorthodox method of filming, essentially becoming the Blair Witch, that encouraged true fear out of the actors.

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For this episode, the hosts of the new podcast Pretendians, Robert Jago and Angel Ellis, explain Indigenous Identity Fraud, the phenomenon of scam artists pretending to be indigenous in order to receive certain kinds of benefits. We talk about the motivations of these Pretendians, how they get away with it, the effects these charlatans have on the indigenous peoples they attempt to emulate, and how these living caricatures overshadow the true identities of various indigenous communities.

Listen to Pretendians wherever you get your podcasts!

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Head to americanhysteria.com to get merch and leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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