55. Jon Ronson: The Satanic Panic

Bad People

BBC

True Crime

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When day-care employee, Kelly Michaels, is accused of playing the piano naked in front of children, she is speechless. The case escalates and soon Kelly Michaels is faced with charges of outlandish crimes. The trial changes her life forever. She spends years in prison before being exonerated. On this episode of Bad People, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen are joined by writer Jon Ronson, who interviewed Kelly Michaels for the podcast “Things Fell Apart”. They discuss how her case was part of a the Satanic Panic in the US, a wave of conspiracy theories that told tall tales of child-abusing Satanists. This episode contain clips from the New York Times and BBC Radio 4, Things Fell Apart. Warning: This episode includes descriptions of child abuse. CREDITS Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen Producer: Louisa Field Assistant Producer: Simona Rata Editor: Rami Tzabar Music: Matt Chandler Academic Consultants from The Open University: Dr James Munro Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland #BadPeople_BBC Bad People is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you why I love podcasting.
0:04.5	I'm Sasha Johansson, I'm an Assistant Commissioner for the BBC and I work on making podcasts.
0:11.1	My real passion is discovering unbelievable unheard stories and working with the biggest
0:16.9	stars who can really bring those stories to life.
0:20.1	I love the whole process of making podcasts from the spark of an idea to hearing the final
0:26.0	edit.
0:27.0	There's nothing like it.
0:28.0	What makes BBC podcast special is that we're working for you, so whatever we commission
0:32.6	has to reflect the things that you care about and love, wherever you are in the UK.
0:37.0	So if you like this BBC podcast, there's so much more to discover.
0:40.6	Have a listen on BBC Sounds.
0:42.6	Three, two, one.
0:45.8	Sophie, have you ever been accused of something that you didn't do?
0:48.8	Oh, yeah.
0:49.8	It has happened.
0:50.8	I think about six years ago I saw a tweet that just said, just saw Sophie Hagen drive a brand
0:56.0	new Lamborghini down the road at six in the morning, wow, someone's doing well.
1:01.3	And at the time, I was living in a flat chair with like six other people in a nice and
1:06.2	vested house in Stradham, common and I didn't have a driver's license and I also would
1:10.2	never get up at six a.m., so it was very, very strange.
1:15.1	What about you, John?
1:16.1	Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do?
	...

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