Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Podcast Description
They say the Devil’s in the details, but when conspiracies captivate our imaginations, we often overlook the real devils walking among us.
From the creators of the hit podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill comes a new show, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which takes you back to the Satanic Panic that gripped America in the 1980s and 90s.
This limited series explores how hysteria gripped parents and teens through cautionary tales like Go Ask Alice, influenced notorious criminal cases like the West Memphis Three, and catapulted the political agenda of the Moral Majority.
Join as we seek to understand how this wave of panic devastated innocent lives and diverted the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes such as societal hysteria, cultural influences, and the intersection of politics and religion, with episodes that dive into issues like the anti-drug movement spurred by Art Linkletter's grief in Runaway Girls, Runaway Fears, and the examination of the West Memphis Three case in The Devil Went Down To Arkansas. Each episode provides context around pivotal moments, discussing how misinformation and paranoia reshaped community narratives.
They say the Devil’s in the details, but when conspiracies captivate our imaginations, we often overlook the real devils walking among us.
From the creators of the hit podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill comes a new show, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which takes you back to the Satanic Panic that gripped America in the 1980s and 90s.
This limited series explores how hysteria gripped parents and teens through cautionary tales like Go Ask Alice, influenced notorious criminal cases like the West Memphis Three, and catapulted the political agenda of the Moral Majority.
Join as we seek to understand how this wave of panic devastated innocent lives and diverted the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews.
Remember Mike Warnke, the world’s #1 Christian comedian from Episode 3? We’ll revisit his story with a little fact-checking, but first, we introduce you to another infamous figure of the Satanic Panic: Lauren Stratford. Her memoir, Satan’s Underground, recounted her harrowing experience with satanic ritual abuse in vivid, gruesome detail—capturing the imagination of millions. However, years after her book became a bestseller, her story was thoroughly debunked as a complete fabrication. But Lauren wasn’t done. She resurfaced with a new name and a whole new grift.
As we unpack her rise and fall, we’ll also explore the broader cultural forces at play during the Satanic Panic. From the rise of daycare culture sparking anxieties around working mothers to the growing awareness of child sexual abuse, we examine how these societal fears were manipulated by the media to create and spread exaggerated, harmful narratives.
Resources:
- Dr. Laura Robinson, New Testament Scholar, Butler University
- Satan’s Sideshow: The True Lauren Stratford Story by By Bob & Gretchen Passantino and Jon Trott
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.
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