101. Introducing Worldwide Panic

Worldwide Panic is a weekly conversation about the stories, anxieties, myths, and cultural flashpoints that shape how we understand the world. Each week, journalist Joseph L. Flatley and The Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves examine how fear spreads, how belief takes hold, and why certain narratives return again and again—long after they’ve been debunked.In this debut episode, we dig into a wave of recent media stories that echo the classic Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s. From the revival of recovered memory therapy and “parts work,” to new legislative pushes against imaginary ritual abuse cults, it appears that the cultural machinery for moral panic is still very much intact.Why are discredited conspiracy frameworks resurfacing in mainstream reporting, clinical therapy, and state legislation? What does this say about political polarization, memory, trauma culture, and the collapse of shared reality? And what happens when influencers, journalists, and policymakers all start telling a story that feels true—even when the evidence isn’t there?This episode explores:Seasonal media cycles of demons, possession, and exorcism storiesThe return of recovered memory / multiple personality disorder narrativesThe role of therapy models such as IFS (Internal Family Systems) in shaping beliefThe Utah “ritual abuse” bill and governance as spectacleHow Epstein, UFOs, and DID TikTok fit into a wider secular religious maniaTheme Music: “Satanic Planet” by Satanic PlanetStories discussed include:“The Therapy That Can Break You” by Rachel Corbett (New York Magazine / The Cut) https://www.thecut.com/article/truth-about-ifs-therapy-internal-family-systems-trauma-treatment.html“Utah advances bill to criminalize ‘ritual abuse of a child,’ in echo of 1980s satanic panic” by Brandy Zadrozny (NBC News) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/utah-advances-bill-criminalize-ritual-child-abuse-rcna140025Be sure to check out The Satanic Temple's streaming platform: https://thesatanictemple.tv/And subscribe to the newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/