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The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

FromAmerican Hysteria


The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

FromAmerican Hysteria

ratings:
Length:
15 minutes
Released:
Aug 5, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

AFTER SHOCK: In the summer of 1944, Americans saw terrifying headlines about a possible Nazi chemical weapons strike in the form of an invisible poison gas. Underneath those headlines, a small town in Illinois began experiencing apparent “anesthetic attacks” by a mysterious figure that would come to be known as the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. Could it have been an escaped Nazi hellbent on the town's destruction? An urban legend leading to a mass hysteria? Or a sadistic homosexual trying to poison his intolerant neighbors with invisible gas? 

American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith
Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios
Research and co-writing assisted by Riley Smith

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Twitter: @AmerHysteria
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Released:
Aug 5, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

American Hysteria is a podcast exploring the fantastical thinking and irrational fears of Americans through the lens of moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories, how they shape our psychology and culture, and why we end up believing them. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith explores the sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrifying stories of historical and modern American freak-outs, and the real social issues they act to cover up. An in-depth alternative history, the show also analyzes how issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class have informed our beliefs from the Puritans to the present. Subscribe now on Apple, Google, Spotify, or where ever you get your podcasts.