Debbie Nathan

Strange Country Ep. 87: Satanic Panic

"We believe the children" became the rallying cry of the Satanic Panic even as stories tottered on the ridiculous. Bones being replaced by Satan's bones; kids being flown to Mexico to be raped by soldiers; shot than brought back to life. The 1980s and early 1990s were rife with stories of abuse at day care centers throughout the country. Over 80 people were falsely convicted and it sometimes took decades to overturn. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly have chosen the best guitar riff to accentuate all this craziness.

Theme music: Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:

Beck, Richard. We Believe the Children: a Moral Panic in the 1980s. Perseus Books Group, 2015.

Gayle Dove - National Registry of Exonerations, www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3947.

Nathan, Debbie, and Michael Snedeker. Satans Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt. Authors Choice Press, 2001.

Selk, Avi. “Falsely Accused of Satanic Horrors, a Couple Spent 21 Years in Prison. Now They're Owed Millions.” The Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/08/24/accused-of-satanism-they-spent-21-years-in-prison-they-were-just-declared-innocent-and-were-paid-millions/?utm_term=.80d8ad1925f1.

Smith, Jordan. “Believing the Chldren.” The Austin Chronicle, 27 Mar. 2009, www.austinchronicle.com/news/2009-03-27/believing-the-children/.

Zirpolo, Kyle. “I'm Sorry.” The Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2005, articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/30/magazine/tm-mcmartin44.

Strange Country Ep. 41: Shirley Mason

Before the book Sybil, there were only a handful of cases of Multiple Personality Disorder. After the book, the number exploded. But was Sybil's story all it was said to be? Her mother's orgies in the woods with teenage girls, her mother defecating on the lawns of neighbors, giving Sybil ice-water enemas? Or was it all suggested by a therapist while the patient was hopped up on a variety of barbiturates and methamphetamine? In Strange Country Ep. 41, co-hosts Beth and Kelly look into the debunking the story of Sybil whose real name was Shirley Mason and the behavior of her beloved therapist Dr. Cornelia Wilbur.

Make Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case by Debbie Nathan your book club selection and then meet Beth at Cazenovia Bagels to talk about

As always, give credit where credit is due:

Inglis-Arkell, Esther. “What Truths Does ‘Truth Serum’ Sodium Pentothal Actually Reveal?” io9, io9.Gizmodo.com, 19 Apr. 2012, io9.gizmodo.com/5902559/what-truths-does-truth-serum-actually-reveal.

Nathan, Debbie. Sybil Exposed: the Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case. Free Press, 2012.

RetroReport. Sybil: A Brilliant Hysteric? The New York Times, 24 Nov. 2014, www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000003250377/sybil-a-brilliant-hysteric.html.

“Tapes Raise New Doubts About 'Sybil' Personalities.” The New York Times, 19 Aug. 1998, www.nytimes.com/1998/08/19/us/tapes-raise-new-doubts-about-sybil-personalities.html?action=click&contentCollection=Magazine&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article.

“Vitamin Deficiency Anemia.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 9 Nov. 2016, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vitamin-deficiency-anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355025.