The Spell Breaks

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Christianity Today

Christianity, Documentary, History, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 717 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As we approach the end of the series, we learn that the Satanic Panic didn’t end with a bang. It was more of a slow fade-out. The Religious Right had secured major political and cultural victories. Evangelicals no longer needed Satan to galvanize their movement—their influence was cemented. Fear of the Devil simply became less useful. Today’s episode marks a turning point in the series. Join us as we revisit the concept of memory—this time with two experts who spent their careers trying to properly understand it. Retired FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, one of the earliest skeptics inside law enforcement during the Satanic Panic, reveals how disturbing allegations collapsed under the weight of their own implausibility. Elizabeth Loftus, renowned cognitive psychologist and professor, has shown how easily false memories can be implanted, reshaped, and believed with unwavering conviction. Together, these two experts help us begin to answer a central question of this season: How did the Satanic Panic end? And what are the consequences of believing, prosecuting, and punishing based on memory alone? Resources: Kenneth Lanning, retired FBI agent Elizabeth Loftus, PhD, psychologist and educator Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page. Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.1	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at Apologeticsguyen.com.
0:29.3	This is CT Media.
0:40.8	A note to listeners. This story contains sensitive content including sexual abuse, child murder, and dark spiritual themes.
0:42.4	It may not be suitable for all listeners.
0:47.9	So we left things off in the last episode, more or less, in the early 1990s.
0:52.8	And when you look back on this period, you can see that the world is changing, really fast.
0:58.5	Go back to 1976.
1:00.3	Evangelicals elected one of their own to the White House, and he was a Democrat.
1:04.4	By 1988, they'd all but married the GOP.
1:08.6	They backed Reagan, and the Reagan years had ended with maybe a little
1:12.7	less triumph than his biggest fans wished. Reagan seemed diminished, and George H.W. Bush
1:18.3	didn't share his staunch conservatism, nor his charisma. There was some question as to whether
1:23.3	not evangelicals would show up to support him. And they did. Bush won the 1988 election, and in the minds of many evangelicals, that victory sealed
1:31.8	the deal.
1:32.8	The GOP could count on them to show up at the polls.
1:36.5	Jerry Falwell actually closed down his political action group, the moral majority at that time,
1:41.1	though he continued to be active in politics and media for years to come.
1:47.9	Fast forward to about a year later, November 9, 1989.
1:53.2	In one of the oddest twists of fate in history, an official from Communist East Germany named Gunter Shabowski was walking into a press conference when he was handed a policy memo
1:58.0	about changes to travel restrictions for East Germans.
	...

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