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Happy Halloween!!! In this episode, I am going to take you deep into one of the most bizarre and destructive moral panics in modern history — the Satanic Panic.

From daycare witch hunts to heavy metal hysteria, the 1980s saw ordinary Americans convinced that the Devil had moved into their suburbs. Police were trained to spot pentagrams and candles as signs of ritual murder, therapists “recovered” memories of occult abuse, and media outlets like Geraldo Rivera and Oprah fueled the flames. Innocent people were imprisoned, reputations destroyed, and entire communities torn apart — all in the name of protecting children from imaginary cults.

Lets explore how this hysteria culminated in the West Memphis Three case — three teenagers convicted largely for wearing black and listening to Metallica. Nearly two decades later, DNA evidence revealed what fear had obscured all along: there was no cult, no ritual, and no Satanic conspiracy — just a community so terrified of darkness that it created its own.

But the story doesn’t end there. The same architecture of fear — hidden elites, child-trafficking conspiracies, and divine warfare — has found new life online through Pizzagate and QAnon. Monte connects the dots between the witch hunts of the 1980s and the algorithmic hysteria of the digital age, revealing how the Satanic Panic never really died — it just went viral.

Through history, psychology, and media analysis, this episode asks a haunting question:

Why do we keep needing a devil to blame?

Sources & References:

• Pazder, Lawrence & Michelle Smith. Michelle Remembers (1980)

• Loftus, Elizabeth. “Creating False Memories.” Scientific American (1997)

• Victor, Jeffrey. Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend (1993)

• Lanning, Kenneth. “Investigator’s Guide to Allegations of ‘Ritual’ Child Abuse.” FBI Behavioral Science Unit (1992)

• Nathan, Debbie & Snedeker, Michael. Satan’s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt (1995)

• Richardson, James T., Joel Best, & David Bromley. The Satanism Scare (1991)

• Barkun, Michael. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America (2003)

• Argentino, Marc-André. “The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making.” The Conversation (2020)

• Zuckerman, Phil. “From Satanic Panic to QAnon.” Skeptical Inquirer (2021)

• Swami, V., Malpass, F., Havard, D., et al. “Metalheads: The Influence of Personality and Individual Differences on Preference for Heavy Metal.”

• “Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing.” PubMed Central (PMC)

• “The Psychology of Scapegoating.” Psychology Today

• “The Cult Psychology of the Satanic Panic.” Get Therapy Birmingham

• “Moral Panics…” Southern Connecticut LibGuide

• “Lame Blame: Forgive the Scapegoat to Forgive Yourself.” Ernest Becker Institute

• “The Oldest Trick in the Book: Panic-Driven Scapegoating in History and Recurring Patterns of Persecution*

Danny Collins once had everything lined up — talent, ambition, and a fast track toward the major leagues. Danny signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2002 but his life began to unravel. Addiction took hold, leading to 14 felony convictions and years behind bars. In prison, desperate for protection and belonging, Danny joined a white supremacist group — a decision that would define his beliefs, his future MAGA support, but also become a key insight into leaving MAGA and becoming an advocate for prison reform.

But inside those walls, something began to change. He started confronting his own pain, his past, and the hate he had inherited and embraced. Through education, introspection, and the influence of other inmates who faced the racial discrimination of the justice system, Danny began dismantling the ideology that had shaped him.

Today, he stands as an outspoken advocate for racial justice, prison reform, and personal transformation, using his story to expose how fear and indoctrination breed hate — and how courage and empathy can break the cycle.

In this powerful and deeply honest episode, Monte sits down with Danny Collins to talk about addiction, ideology, accountability, and the hard work of redemption.

This week on Flipping Tables, Monte sits down with Amy Duggar—the outspoken cousin who dared to step outside the Duggar machine and call it what it is. Known to millions from 19 Kids and Counting, Amy has spent years reclaiming her voice and redefining her faith after growing up in the shadow of one of America’s most controlling religious families.

In this raw and unapologetic conversation, Amy opens up about her upcoming book, Holy Disruptor, and the cost of breaking the silence. From toxic purity culture to spiritual manipulation, family loyalty, and the aftermath of scandal, she exposes the systems that weaponized religion—and shares how she found redemption in honesty, not obedience.

This isn’t just a story about the Duggars. It’s about the courage to burn down false altars and build something truer from the ashes.

Check out her book "Holy Disruptor" out now

I've been guilty in the past of talking about historical figures doing really awful things and making comments like "they were a reflection of their time" meanwhile, other men and women of their time- knew it was wrong and fought against it.
A great example of this is John Brown. John was a devout Christian, and a staunch abolitionist. In fact, he was an abolitionist who so firmly believed that slavery was a violent sin against humanity that he was willing to use any means necessary to end it. Even now, we live in an era where white washers of history want to act, and teach kids that slavery "wasn't that bad". That human trafficking, rape, kidnapping, beating, torture, forced labor, medical experimentation on an entire community because of their skin tone "wasn't that bad".

He famously said, "The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with Blood". And he was right.
How much do we believe in the things we say we do? Are we willing to let it cost us? Are we brave enough to stand for human rights no matter what?
I hope I am. John's story inspires me and calls me to account. How dare I be afraid or tempted to cower when others have sacrificed so much. Excited to share this story with you !

I know things over the last two weeks have been extremely heavy. I found myself more fatigued than I ever remember being. After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, getting doxxed and looking at the world burn it really brings up the question "Is there hope left?" Is there room to bridge the ever widening gap happening across America?
Caroline Stout, like me, was part of that faction once, including working at Turning Point USA. Today we discuss our journey's about how we left, because here's the thing- if two people that were as entrenched as we were can leave- anyone can leave. As we watch Christian Nationalism spin into a frenzy and we watch the America we thought we had fall into rubble...
People will wake up
People can wake up
People will leave
I hope this conversation gives you hope. Hope for change, hope for the future, hope for a better tomorrow. Because we can change. And at the end of the day we are being pushed into a rhetoric of right vs. left, christian vs. heathen, good vs. evil when that is NOT the battle.
The battle is and always will be top vs. bottom. The people pitting us against each other are picking our pockets, lining their mansions with money they don't need and could never spend.
My neighbor is not my enemy

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One of my favorite people alive, and my favorite public scholar. I've been considering graduate school and this conversation has me deeply considering going back to school. There's so much to know.

Dr. Dan McClellan is a public scholar of the Bible and religion. He has a PhD in theology and religilon from the University of Exeter where he wrote his dissertation on the the conceptualization of deity and divine images in the Hebrew Bible through methodological lenses of cognitive linguistics and cognitive science of religion. Translation: REAL SMART and knows his shit.

Since 2021, he has been making scholarship more accessible and confronting misinformation on social media related to the study of the Bible and Religion. He also has an incredible podcast with Dan Beecher called Data over Dogma. He now even offers online classes like Biblical Hebrew.

In this conversation we really approach cultural issues and arguments being made about the Bible, especially about biblical history, and the ways in recent years its been used to ostracize and demonize groups of people and the burning question- is that what the Bible really teaches?? Check out his bestselling book "The Bible Says So!"

This was a dream conversation for me- hope you enjoy!

I am SO SORRY. In the wake of traveling and working in DC I completely forgot to post last weeks episode. I'm a human and I apologize sincerely. It means a lot to me to stay on top of this work and education the best I can.

That said, YOU GET TWO EPISODES THIS WEEK

The first is the most comprehensive conversation I've had to date. Dr. Randall Balmer is a prize winning historian and Emmy Award nominee and holds the John Phillips Chair in religion at Dartmouth which is the oldest endowed professorship at the school. He is an expert in Religion in North America and Evangelicalism in America and his recent book "America's Best Idea: The Separation of Church & Hate" is the best top to bottom explanation on why 1. Separation is so important and 2. NO we are not a "Christian Nation" but one founded on religious liberty.

For early and ad free releases please subscribe at patreon.com/montemader

September 11th was the day where I learned as a girl that America was not impervious. I'll never forget the people standing in the windows and the smoke. Little did I know I would grow up to live in New York City and it wasn't until then I understood the scale of the disaster. It's not until you realize just how big those buildings are, how close everything is, the people trapped in the subways, people walking home to NEW JERSEY because they didn't have cash for a cab and the ATMs were down. Meeting friends and clients who survived it...

It's incomprehensible

As a girl I remember fear, I remember everyone wanting to go to war, and to war we went. A war that wouldn't end until after I had graduated high school. The claims I remember were to defend democracy and to end Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program.

Weapons that were never there

Weapons that were searched for for months

And in our wake we started an onslaught on a country we had no business being in, and our recklessness paved the way for the domination of ISIS and the re-insurgence of the Taliban.
The first amendment is the single most important amendment we have. We HAVE to be able to question and condemn our government, we HAVE to be able to demand answers, we HAVE to be able to protest.

9/11 and the Iraqi War are a great example of real tragedy, real heroes, real courage, and the very real and all too common instance of the powerful using it to their advantage. I hope that we can use this conversation to honor the innocent and the brave and remember to ask questions to the powers behind the machine and demand accountability when they lie or cover things up.
The story and article of NYC resident Christina Stanton shared at her request and with her full permission**

See her article here: https://thedispatch.com/article/september-11-victims-memorial-health-trump-cuts/

Sources:

• Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (2006) – Pulitzer Prize winner, deeply researched account of al-Qaeda’s rise and the events leading to 9/11.

• The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) – Official bipartisan investigation

• Anthony Summers, The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden (2011) – Investigative account with interviews and newly declassified documents.

• Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (2004).

• Mitchell Zuckoff, Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 (2019)

• Garrett M. Graff, The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (2019) – Oral history drawn from transcripts, survivors, responders.

• Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack (2004)

• Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006) – Military-focused critique of the war planning and execution.

• Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (2006) – On occupation mismanagement.

• Charles Duelfer, Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq’s WMD (Duelfer Report) (2004) – Definitive assessment that Iraq did not have stockpiles of WMDs.

• Michael R. Gordon & Bernard E. Trainor, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq (2006).

• Andrew J. Bacevich, The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2005) – Broader critique of U.S. war culture, with Iraq as case study.

• Anthony H. Cordesman, The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics, and Military Lessons (2003).

• Francis Fukuyama, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy (2006) – Explains ideological currents behind Iraq War push.

• Foreign Affairs and International Security articles on U.S. grand strategy post-9/11.

• Middle East Journal and Journal of Military History articles on insurgency and U.S. occupation.

• U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports on 9/11 and Iraq (2001–2010).

• RAND Corporation studies: e.g., Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: Decisive War, Elusive Peace (2004).

TRIGGER WARNING: CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

On August 21, 2025, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family died. A behemoth and kingmaker in the evangelical world who supported vicious corporal punishment of children, the subjugation of women and the demonization of the LGBTQ community.
Today we discuss the life and career of James Dobson. We will open up about his teachings, books, and his evangelical power machine: Focus on the Family. We will discuss how his teachings overlapped with Bill Gothard. The same teachings that allowed Bill Gothard to groom and abuse of teen girls and young women.

Focus on the Family purported to be a wholesome counseling service but was the power arm of an evangelical force affecting policy around marriage, equality, and torture like conversion therapy. They even falsely claimed to be a church to evade taxes because... of course.

We break down destructive teaching by pulling it out of the darkness and into the light. So as we shine a light on these harmful organizations and doctrines, lets destroy them for good.

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Death is the one experience we all share, yet it remains the conversation we avoid most. In this episode, I sit down with death doula Britna Savarese to explore what it truly means to accompany someone at the end of life. We talk about why our culture struggles to face grief, how silence around death isolates the dying and their loved ones, and how reclaiming these conversations can bring healing, connection, and even beauty.

Britna I was raised Southern Baptist in a small town best known for its rodeo. As a skateboarding punk, she pushed against the system and questioned the rigid religion I was handed. That same spirit of questioning and reimagining guides her work as a death doula today. Just as Flipping Tables dismantles harmful narratives, she dismantles fear and silence around death—offering space for authentic reflection and intentional closure.

Britna shares powerful stories of walking alongside families in their most vulnerable moments and offers insight into how death work isn’t just about endings—it’s about presence, love, and honoring the whole of a life. Together, we explore the hesitancy many of us feel when confronting mortality, the lessons death has to teach us about living, and the hope that can be found in embracing this natural transition. And these conversations can help us prepare for ourselves and our loved ones for our next great adventure. 

This is a tender, vulnerable, and deeply human conversation. If you’ve ever felt uncertain about how to grieve, how to support a loved one, or how to face your own mortality with more grace and peace, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The role of a death doula and what it means to provide compassionate presence at the end of life

• Why our culture avoids talking about grief and how that avoidance impacts us

• The sacredness and beauty found in the transition from life to death

• How opening ourselves to conversations about death can actually deepen our appreciation for living

This episode is not about fear—it’s about finding courage, tenderness, and even hope in the face of the universal journey we all share.

Please consider supporting my work at patreon.com/montemader