Conspiracy Month: Aja Romano & The Satanic Panic

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

True Crime, Talk Radio, Comedy, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2022

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Don't panic! Writer Aja Romano shares how they became interested in the history of the Satanic Panic in the US, how it ramped up in the 60s and 70s, the societal impact of horror films like The Exorcist, books like Satan Seller and Michelle Remembers, rising fear and trials that arose in the 80s, its impact on the LGBTQ community, and how these kinds of ideas persist today! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp! Learn more and save 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/trust Join the EXHIBIT C online community by following WONDERY-EXHIBIT-C on Facebook or find them on the web at WonderyExhibitC.com and listen to True Crime podcasts on Wondery and Amazon Music! Got your own story about cults, extreme belief, or abuse of power? Leave a voicemail or text us at 347-86-TRUST (347-868-7878) OR shoot us an email at Trust Me Pod @gmail.com INSTAGRAM: @TrustMePodcast @oohlalola @meaganelizabeth11 TWITTER: @TrustMeCultPod @ohlalola @baberahamhicks TIKTOK: @TrustMeCultPodcast

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you have your own story of being in a cult or a high control group or if you've had
0:04.1	experience with manipulation or abuse the power that you'd like to share, leave us a message
0:08.4	on our hotline number at 347-86 trust. That's 347-868-7878 or shoot us an e-mail at TrustMePod
0:18.2	at gmail.com. Trust me, do you trust me? Trust me, I'm like a smart person. Yeah, I've never
0:25.6	lied to you. I'll never have lied. If you think that one person has all the answers, don't!
0:32.5	Hello, welcome to TrustMe. The podcast about cults, extreme belief, and manipulation from two
0:38.0	sweet birthday babies who've actually experienced it. I low-blank the real sweet birthday baby.
0:42.8	And I'm Megan Elizabeth. Happy birthday, Lella. Thank you. By the time this comes out, my birthday
0:48.0	will happen yesterday, but on the day of recording, it is today, and I am 35 and it's fucking weird.
0:54.1	It's weird, right? Well, welcome. It's a crazy age. I used to think that adults who said
1:00.5	that they still felt like teenagers were dorks, such dorks. I was like, why? No, you don't.
1:07.5	Like, stop talking. Yeah, I know. And now I'm like, no, but I really do. I mean, I think if you
1:14.7	don't have kids, you kind of don't change a lot or like anything deep traumatic, one of my best
1:21.6	friends is a 24-year-old boy. I'm like, how is this possible? I mean, one of my best friends is
1:28.4	in her mid-twenties, too. It doesn't feel like there's a difference between us. It feels right,
1:32.9	you know? I don't know. That's just my theory. Or maybe I'm just really immature, but it's strange.
1:38.6	I do think having kids changes. I do think that makes people grow up in a different way. And I'm like,
1:43.2	I'm still here in LA. I'm still the baby. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy.
1:49.6	Today, our guest is Asia Romano. I guess we should have said that. Culture writer at Vox,
1:54.4	who has written on online extremism and moral panics, among many, many other things, they are
1:58.4	going to tell us about their own experience with the Coltie Church, which led them to become
2:02.4	interested in how similar Coltie dynamics exist throughout our culture and how those experiences
	...

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