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Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Matt Shoemaker, whose new book, Gathering of Gamers: Dungeons & Dragons and Other Games Through Gen Con, is available now through Play Story Press (https://playstorypress.org/books/gathering-of-gamers/). If you're interested in the history of North America's largest gaming convention or the history of Dungeons & Dragons, this is the book for you!
Matt joins us for the conclusion of our look at Patricia Pulling and her personal war on Dungeons & Dragons during the 1980s. We look at the impact of her message on the news media as well as the growing body of critics who made the radical suggestion that maybe there wasn't a vast network of satanists operated undetected in the United States (shocking, I know) and that maybe Pat was less than up front about her claims.
Topics discussed include: how does Geraldo Rivera keep getting work, Richmond's Satanist-Methodist ratio, the question of whether Pat knew her son was turning into a werewolf, and the salacious indiscretions of one of Pat's closest allies.
Read Michael Stackpole's Pulling Report here: https://rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html.
If you're looking for another well-researched epic takedown of the 1980s Satanic Panic, check out: Robert D. Hicks, In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult (Prometheus Books, 1991). You can borrow it from the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/inpursuitofsatan0000hick.
Audio clips used under fair use from the 1988 "news" special "Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground." You can watch the full special here: "Geraldo Rivera Devil Worship Exposing Satan's Underground," Enter the Dark, https://youtu.be/S_X-1age21E?si=ut_kPtl2FDYBYUWT. (Content warning: discussions of violent crime, suicide, sexual assault).
Content Warning: Discussion of suicide. (15:18-20:20)
If you or someone you know is struggling, please check out these resources provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/resources/index.html) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (https://afsp.org/suicide-prevention-resources/). You are not alone.
More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.
By Scandalous Games5
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Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Matt Shoemaker, whose new book, Gathering of Gamers: Dungeons & Dragons and Other Games Through Gen Con, is available now through Play Story Press (https://playstorypress.org/books/gathering-of-gamers/). If you're interested in the history of North America's largest gaming convention or the history of Dungeons & Dragons, this is the book for you!
Matt joins us for the conclusion of our look at Patricia Pulling and her personal war on Dungeons & Dragons during the 1980s. We look at the impact of her message on the news media as well as the growing body of critics who made the radical suggestion that maybe there wasn't a vast network of satanists operated undetected in the United States (shocking, I know) and that maybe Pat was less than up front about her claims.
Topics discussed include: how does Geraldo Rivera keep getting work, Richmond's Satanist-Methodist ratio, the question of whether Pat knew her son was turning into a werewolf, and the salacious indiscretions of one of Pat's closest allies.
Read Michael Stackpole's Pulling Report here: https://rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html.
If you're looking for another well-researched epic takedown of the 1980s Satanic Panic, check out: Robert D. Hicks, In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult (Prometheus Books, 1991). You can borrow it from the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/inpursuitofsatan0000hick.
Audio clips used under fair use from the 1988 "news" special "Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground." You can watch the full special here: "Geraldo Rivera Devil Worship Exposing Satan's Underground," Enter the Dark, https://youtu.be/S_X-1age21E?si=ut_kPtl2FDYBYUWT. (Content warning: discussions of violent crime, suicide, sexual assault).
Content Warning: Discussion of suicide. (15:18-20:20)
If you or someone you know is struggling, please check out these resources provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/resources/index.html) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (https://afsp.org/suicide-prevention-resources/). You are not alone.
More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.