What was the Satanic Panic?
Episode Date: November 20, 2025Why were more than 12 thousand cases of satanic abuse brought in the 1980s? Was the Prince of Darkness walking among us then? Or did something else ca...
Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today. We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park. From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the space race, join Don as he speaks to leading experts to delve into America’s past. New episodes every Monday and Thursday. Brought to you by History Hit, the award-winning podcast network and world’s best history channel on demand, featuring shows like Dan Snow’s History Hit, Not Just The Tudors and Betwixt the Sheets.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
397 episodes transcribedWhy were more than 12 thousand cases of satanic abuse brought in the 1980s? Was the Prince of Darkness walking among us then? Or did something else ca...
In 1845, the Republic of Texas stood at a crossroads. In our history, they chose to join the USA… but what if they chose another path? Was this even p...
Did New Orleans' officials bomb the levees protecting the Lower Ninth Ward in 1965?When Hurricane Betsy swept through the Atlantic Basin, it killed at...
A Supreme Court decision that sent shockwaves across America. Dred Scott v Sandford, 1857. Who was the Chief Justice responsible for the decision? On...
Why not have a go at understanding one of the most famous conspiracies of the 20th Century?We will probably never get an answer for what really happen...
Was 'Bleeding Kansas' a dress rehearsal for the Civil War to come? During the 1850s pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed in the newly created...
How did the pre-Christian commemoration of Samhain travel across the seas from Ancient Ireland to America? And how did it evolve into the Halloween we...
What makes a war a World War? If it's the involvement of multiple major world powers, will France, Spain and the Netherlands do?If it's battles fought...
‘No occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations.' This was George Washington's response when the idea of his becoming 'Ki...
On October 22 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles has been discovered in Cuba. Over the following days, the fate of the Ame...
The Agency. The Company. Langley.Without the Central Intelligence Agency, would we talk about conspiracy theories as much as we do? Who would be in po...
Happy 250th Birthday to the US Navy! Today Don asks, who was John Paul Jones and did he really father the US Navy? Our guest is historian James L. Nel...
What should we look for in a great President? Who was the greatest of all time? And is it harder for modern Presidents to make the top of the list? Do...
'Canada ought to be the 14th colony' was a view held by many American revolutionaries. In the winter of 1775, Benedict Arnold led an incredible (if do...
What makes a bad President? Who was the worst of all time? Don is joined by Professor Jeremi Suri, author of The Impossible Presidency and co-host of...
'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'The...
In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s election, Southern leaders made a fateful choice: to break from the Union. Yet instead of plunging the country into w...
From being within its sphere of influence to acting as a thorn in its side, Cuba has always been seen as strategically important to the USA. What has...
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry helped cause the Civil War. His is a magnetic persona that's hard to take your eyes away from. But who were the peo...
How did California become the Golden State? It's a story that includes conquistadors, missionaries, gold miners, railroad builders and tourists, to na...