Do you hear what I hear? Backmasking. 

From the Beatles to Led Zeppelin, rumors of hidden, subversive messages in popular music sent Christians into a frenzy. Backmasking wasn’t just a recording trick—it was seen as proof that rock musicians weren’t just after album sales but after the very souls of our children. Today, we’re unpacking the hysteria around backmasking, but first let’s explore the conservative resurgence and the world events that set the stage for a full-blown moral panic.

We’ll begin at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where megachurches mobilized thousands of evangelists to the spiritual frontlines of the world games, then we’ll head south to the buried secrets within the Southern Baptist Convention. At the center of this resurgence were two men with unchecked power—Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson. Their legacy was once seen as the North Star of conservative values but would later be tainted by allegations of abuse and cover-ups that exposed the very evil they claimed to stand against.

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Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page. 

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Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester

Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

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In today’s episode, we’re exploring how fear and false memories motivated us to believe stories that were horrific yet too compelling to check. It started with Jay’s Journal, where Beatrice Sparks transformed teenage angst into a cautionary tale of demonic possession. Then, Michelle Remembers, the book that introduced the idea that buried trauma could be unlocked through recovered memory therapy—if only you had the right guide.

But the idea that memories—especially traumatic ones—could be buried and later uncovered wasn’t new. In the late 19th century, Sigmund Freud’s patient, known as Fräulein Anna O., became the foundation for his theories on female hysteria, repression, and recovered memory. Her case set the stage for a century of psychological experiments that blurred the line between therapy and suggestion.

And then came McMartin Preschool. In 1983, a single accusation spiraled into the most expensive criminal trial in US history. With no physical evidence, only the increasingly elaborate claims of children, the nation still believed in secret tunnels and Satanic abuse.

So who were the real victims? The children, coached into giving adults the stories they wanted? The daycare workers, whose lives were destroyed? The terrified parents who surely only wanted justice for their children? Or the storytellers—Beatrice Sparks, Lawrence Pazder—who sold fear as truth, convincing the world that the Devil was lurking behind every door?

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Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester

Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page. 

Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content.

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August 8, 1974—Richard Nixon resigns. The country watches as the law-and-order president falls under the weight of his own corruption, leaving behind a legacy of paranoia, scandal, and a crisis of trust in American institutions. But as one political era collapsed, another movement began to take shape.

In this episode, we track the shifting tides of the 1970s—from Watergate’s unraveling to the unlikely rise of Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist reformer who captured the White House and disrupted the evangelical vote. But not everyone in the church was ready to embrace Carter’s vision.

While the culture wars simmered, a new battle was brewing. Jerry Falwell and his allies were setting the stage for a moral revolution—one that would define the next era of American politics. And as they sharpened their message, they found inspiration in some unlikely places: a doomsday preacher from San Francisco, an infamous diary that would stoke America’s growing fears about Satanism, and a Christian comedian with a dark secret and an unforgettable mode of transportation.

Resources:

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester

Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

Can’t wait for the next episode? Join Host Mike Cosper for a live stream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea Facebook Page. 

Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations, behind-the-scenes content, and the chance to submit your questions ahead of our live stream!

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The 1960s promised a revolution—civil rights, moon landings, peace, love, and rock and roll. But it also brought riots, rising drug use, and missing kids. By decade’s end, American parents weren’t just worried—they were terrified.

This episode follows Art Linkletter, America’s beloved TV host, whose daughter Diane fell to her death in 1969. The official ruling? Suicide. But Linkletter blamed LSD and the counterculture, launching an anti-drug crusade that aligned him with President Nixon and fueled the War on Drugs.

We’ll trace the growing panic over runaway girls, the Manson murders, and the impact of Go Ask Alice—a shocking bestseller that warned parents of the horrors awaiting their children. But was Alice a window into reality, or the invention of an author manipulating the fears of a generation?

Finally, we’ll land in the early 1970s when a different movement was rising. The Jesus People Movement pulled young hippies into a rock-fueled Christian revival, culminating in Explo ‘72, a massive Dallas event dubbed the “Christian Woodstock.” Was this a spiritual awakening—or another front in the culture war?

With guests Rick Emerson and Daniel Silliman, we unpack the fears that shaped the era—and what happens when paranoia and politics collide.

Resources:

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester

Sound Design, Animation and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer.

Special thanks to Hephzibah House for use of their recording studio

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind the scenes content.

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On the face of it, TLC’s show about the Duggar family and Damien Echols, one of the infamous West Memphis Three, seem to have little in common. But what if we told you that both stories, which begin and end in Arkansas, are the perfect launching points for our new limited series on the Satanic Panic?

Welcome to Season 1 of Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, where we explore the strange and troubling era of the 1980s and ’90s when America—especially the evangelical church—became convinced that satanic ritual abuse and occult activity hid around every corner. From local news reports warning of dark rituals to churches hosting “record burnings” to purge secular music, fear of a hidden, demonic conspiracy dominated the cultural landscape.

If you grew up during this era, you might even remember being warned by Sunday school teachers to avoid Halloween because of its “satanic” roots. Maybe you were forbidden from playing Dungeons & Dragons or using an Ouija board at sleepovers because they were considered direct portals to Satan.

But beyond these odd and, at times, laughable memories lie a darker reality—with real-world consequences. False accusations, wrongful imprisonments, and abuse of power by religious and political leaders left lasting scars and a wake of destruction. The Satanic Panic is a cautionary tale about how fear and misinformation can spiral into real danger—something still relevant today, as conspiracy theories continue to shape our world in new and troubling ways.

In today’s pilot episode, we begin in Arkansas, examining two stories that seem worlds apart—the Duggar family, a symbol of conservative Christian values, and The West Memphis Three, a tragic case driven by hysteria and misinformation.

Join as we ask; How did this wave of panic devastate innocent lives and divert the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews?

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester

Sound Design, Animation and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben-Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the Executive Producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our Senior Producer.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind the scenes content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They say the Devil’s in the details, but when conspiracies captivate our imaginations, we often overlook the real devils walking among us.

From the creators of the hit podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill comes a new show, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which takes you back to the Satanic Panic that gripped America in the 1980s and 90s.

This limited series explores how hysteria gripped parents and teens through cautionary tales like Go Ask Alice, influenced notorious criminal cases like the West Memphis Three, and catapulted the political agenda of the Moral Majority.

Join as we seek to understand how this wave of panic devastated innocent lives and diverted the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews.

Episodes drop January 2025 but you can join our show discussion page on Facebook right now.

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today

Host and Creator - Mike Cosper

Producer - Rebekah Sebastian

Sound Design and Engineering - T.J. Hester

Motion - Steven Scheidler

Production Assistant - Dawn Adams

Theme music by Dirt Poor Robins

Cover art by Nim Ben-Reuven

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the Executive Producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our Senior Producer.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices