Listen Now: Hysterical

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize. From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, this 7-part series forces us to grapple with the mysteries of our own minds, and reckon with a contagion that we thought was long dead, but may be the defining disorder of our time. Follow Hysterical on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+ at Wondery.fm/Hysterical_WWTL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 2011, a group of high school cheerleaders began exhibiting a bizarre mix of neurological symptoms,
0:07.0	ticks, twitches, and strange outbursts.
0:11.0	Desperate parents and school administrators looked to material factors.
0:16.0	Was it mold in the school buildings?
0:18.0	A contaminated water source? But what if the cause of the contagion wasn't coming from their physical environment at all?
0:27.5	In Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios' newest podcast, hysterical, host Dan Tiberski,
0:34.6	dives into one of the most shocking outbreaks in American history,
0:38.8	a medical mystery that had ripple effects well beyond the tight-knit community where it began.
0:45.1	As their symptoms got worse and began to spread,
0:48.6	the girls and their families took matters into their own hands,
0:52.7	and their search for answers brought a media firestorm
0:56.2	down upon their small town. Soon enough, the entire nation was trying to solve the medical mystery
1:02.9	from Dr. Drew to Aaron Brockovich. Believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem witch trials,
1:14.0	Hysterical is a podcast about the desire to be believed, and what happens when the world tells you it's all in your head?
1:23.2	I'm about to play you a clip from Hysterical.
1:26.9	Follow Hysterical on the Wondry app or wherever you get your
1:30.5	podcasts. In December of 2011, a young woman posted a video on YouTube. Hi, everyone. My name's
1:40.1	and this is my first video. She's got shiny red hair with side bangs, and she's wearing a white graphic hoodie.
1:48.1	A poster for the metal band, Avenged Sevenfold, is tacked to her bedroom while behind her.
1:53.2	So I'll start off by telling you a little bit about myself.
1:57.9	I'm 16. I'm an 11th grade, And I play softball, like all the time. When she made this video,
2:06.7	there was no TikTok. There was barely an Instagram. She's not looking to monetize, not trying to
	...

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