What's Really Going On Inside a Mosh Pit?

Decoder Ring

Slate Podcasts

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 July 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The mosh pit has a reputation as a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression. There’s some truth to that, but it’s also a place bound by camaraderie and—believe it or not—etiquette. In this episode, we explore the unwritten rules of this 50-year-old, live-music phenomenon with punks, concertgoers and a heavy metal physicist. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin with Katie Shepherd. This episode was written by Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin and Andrea Bruce, with help from Joel Meyer. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Thank you to Vivien Goldman, Paolo Ragusa, and Philip Moriarty whose insights and research on moshing were crucial to this episode. You can create your own mosh pit using this simulator developed by Jesse Silverberg and his colleagues. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you’re a fan of the show and want to support us, consider signing up for Slate Plus. As a member, you’ll get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads—and your support is crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're looking for a new podcast, might I recommend our podcast?
0:09.4	Hi, I'm Gabe Dunn, and I'm Allison Raskin.
0:12.5	We have a weekly show called Just Between Us where we explore every kind of topic out
0:17.4	there, from mental health to sexuality, to animal behavior, to science.
0:24.7	We love to interview fascinating people about their various expertise.
0:29.0	We also answer listener questions and play a very silly game called hypotheticals.
0:34.4	You're not going to want to miss it, it's unhinged.
0:37.3	And if you don't want to trust our word for it because it's our show, you should know
0:40.7	that the IHAR podcast awards nominated us for Best Ensemble for 2023.
0:47.0	That means that we are good at our jobs.
0:49.6	Or we have good chemistry, so check out Just Between Us every Wednesday.
0:58.1	Before we begin, this episode contains adult language.
1:09.7	In 1991, when Joel Meyer, a senior editor and producer at Flate, was 14 years old, he went
1:15.2	to the very first Lala Paloza concert tour when it stopped in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1:20.6	It might have even been my first concert without a parent involved.
1:24.7	There were so many bands he and his friends loved playing.
1:28.5	Jane's addiction, living color, and especially Henry Rollins from the hardcore band Black
1:34.7	Flag.
1:35.7	We thought he was kind of the coolest guy that we had ever seen.
1:42.7	As Joel and his buddies watched Henry Rollins sweating and shirtless and caught up in the
1:47.2	moment, they got caught up in the moment too, full of energy and fearlessness and adolescent
1:52.6	boy oomph.
	...

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