Many of you will remember the 1993 best-selling book of inspirational stories, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its bite-sized, sappy triumphs of the human spirit. But shining a modern light on this book today, the collection hits a little bit differently. For part one of this two-part series, I tell podcaster Sarah Marshall of You’re Wrong About the history of this iconic text and read her some of its most batshit stories, and together we discuss their confusing and downright damaging messages. In part two, I’ll tell Sarah about the two motivational wealth coaches behind Chicken Soup for the Soul and the shocking controversies facing the company today. Throughout, we’ll discuss neoliberal mysticism and the prosperity gospel manifestation mindset of not only Chicken Soup for the Soul, but our longterm American culture as well.

Resources for LA residents affected by the fires

Places to Donate and Ways to Help:

LA Mutual Aid

California Fire Foundation

California Community Foundation

Dream Center

Canine Rescue Center

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Since the 1970s, Loretta J. Ross has been an instrumental activist in the fight for 'Reproductive Justice', a framework she and her colleagues created in 1994 that went beyond the pro-choice and pro-life debate. She has worked as the Director of the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women, the program director of the Black Women's Health Imperative the director of projects for the National Anti-Klan Network, and is an author and professor as well. Today Loretta will share some of her prolific personal and political journey and what it has taught her about the importance of solidarity, about how we create a strong movement genuinely dedicated to working together even when it's difficult to do.

Take a class, buy a book, and learn more about Loretta J. Ross at lorettajross.com

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Shannon Lynch is the host of the podcast The Alley: DC’s 8th and H Case, a detailed look at the 1984 murder of DC resident Catherine Fuller and the eight young Black men who were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a crime they did not commit. In this episode, Shannon will take us through the crime, the flawed investigation and trial, as well as the suppression of evidence that could have exonerated these men decades ago in hopes that the more their story is heard, the more likely it is that they will be granted a presidential pardon.

Get Involved:

Donate to the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

Sign a Letter of Support

Listen to 'The Alley: DC's 8th and H Case' from New America wherever you get your podcasts

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Because so many Hallmark writers and directors also make horror movies, I called in podcasters Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed of 'You're Wrong About' and 'You Are Good' to discuss the similarities between these two seemingly polar opposite genres.

Subscribe to You Are Good and You're Wrong About

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Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

Produced by Miranda Zickler

Assistant Produced by Riley Swedelius-Smith

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Remember the late '90s mystery show Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? where you had to figure out which stories were true and which were fake? For this episode I tell the wild life story of the mysterious man who provided the "true" stories which were certainly beyond belief. I'm joined by wonder-siblings Will Rogers (our voice actor!) and Kristen Rogers-Anderson of Guide to the Unknown, a podcast that explores urban legends, the paranormal, horror movies, haunted places, and creepy pop culture. We take a trip down memory lane to discuss this cheesy gem which was also an early inspiration for what would one day become American Hysteria.

Listen to or watch Guide to the Unknown

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Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Patrick Scalisi and Valerie Ruby-Omen are the creators of the 2023 book Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird and Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State. Together they have documented Connecticut's most important cryptids, those elusive, folkloric creatures that have not been proven to actually exist but that pop up in different forms throughout time and all over the world. For this episode, Pat and Val tell me the wild story of the Glawackus, a 1966 hoax that got totally out of hand.

Get a copy of Connecticut Cryptids

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Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast

Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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This is a special episode I did for the podcast 'You're Wrong About' in 2022, and I wanted to finally bring it to you directly since the deep snowfalls of winter are looming on the ever-distant horizon. This is the harrowing tale of a wagon train trapped in the Sierra Nevadas in the harsh winter of 1864-1865, famously forced to cannibalize one another to stay alive, but that is only a small fraction of an almost unbelievable story. This is probably the piece of American history that fascinates me more than any other, so I'm excited to share it with you.

Over the next couple months we will be real busy on tour with You're Wrong About for 'A Massive Seance' west coast live show tour, so we will be putting out some fun interview episodes before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming!

GET TICKETS FOR A MASSIVE SEANCE HERE

Dec 3 + 4 in Portland

Dec 11 in Seattle

Jan 11 in San Francisco

Jan 24 in Los Angeles

Thank you to You're Wrong About for allowing us to use this episode! Make sure you listen to their show if you don't already <3

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For the 100th anniversary of the Macy's Parade, we are looking at the chaos energy that has always animated this cultural institution, from its explosive balloon disasters to its surprisingly unruly origins.

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Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com

Sound Designer and Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Voice Actor: Will Rogers

Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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This episode will give some context for our upcoming episode about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, its unbelievable chaotic origins and its totally out of control early days. Excerpts will be included from our War on Christmas Special, Haunted Attractions, Early Drag Queens pt. 1, and Toy Riots.

Get tickets for A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show with You're Wrong About:

linktr.ee/amassiveseance

Full episodes to check out:

War on Christmas Special (2019)

Haunted Attractions (2021)

Early Drag Queens pt. 1 (2023)

Toy Riots (2019)

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Thank you to our sponsor OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code AMERICAN at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod

Sound design and Production by Riley Swedelius-Smith

Edited by Miranda Zickler

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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Perry Carpenter is the author of the new book FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. For this episode, we are discussing what it means to live in a world where artificial intelligence is altering our reality more and more, how we can navigate a deeply uncertain digital future, and what it all has to do with human nature and the nature of folklore.

Check out Perry book FAIK here

Find The FAIK Files podcast on Apple and Spotify

Find the Digital Folklore Podcast here

Find Perry Carpenter on LinkedIn, Twitter, and 8th Layer Media

Check out Perry's new op-ed with The Hill about our post-truth era

Get tickets to our live show called A Massive Seance with You're Wrong About

Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content

Or subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts

Find us on Instagram @americanhysteriapodcast

Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline or get your mitts on some merch at americanhysteria.com

Producer and Editor: Miranda Zickler

Associate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith

Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

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This episode was originally released right before the 2020 presidential election and is even more relevant as we face the 2024 election. Political philosopher Jason Stanley, author of the book How Fascism Works, helps us understand how countries slide into authoritarian systems through conspiracy theories, demonization of others, the systematic erosion of truth, and the manipulation of anxieties around race and gender.

Check out How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley as well as his new book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

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