The Devils (1971): The True Story of Witch Hunts, Mass Hysteria, and Moral Panic in the Catholic Church

from Morally Offensive · host Morally Offensive

On this episode of Morally Offensive, Cisco takes a break, so Bill is joined by frequent guest and film presenter Stephanie Sack along with television producer and writer Ken Melvoin-Berg to dive headfirst into The Devils (1971), Ken Russell’s blasphemous, banned, and still shocking masterpiece. Based on Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, this true story of sex, power, witch hunts, and moral panic in the Catholic Church proves that real life is often stranger, and in this case even more offensive, than fiction. The crew breaks down the history behind the Loudun possessions, digs into the background of filmmaker Ken Russell, and reads scathing “Condemned” reviews from outraged Catholic news sources. Tune in to find out why some are calling Morally Offensive the "podcast equivalent of a forced enema exorcism". Support us through Libro.fm here. Check out our new Merch Store! We've got t-shirts, hats, tote bags and branded denim jackets! Follow us on our socials at Instagram and Tiktok.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 11, 2025

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

Ready to play

The Devils (1971): The True Story of Witch Hunts, Mass Hysteria, and Moral Panic in the Catholic Church

0:00 2:30:53

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

Lax Historical Context Sasha and Sean Welcome to Lax Historical Context! Sasha and Sean are two jovial nerds who decided to take their love of whiskey and history and see if anyone wanted to listen to them drink the former and talk about the latter. Each episode features them reviewing a different drink accompanying a random, usually unrelated topic that is at least vaguely historical in nature. Sometimes full of hot air, sometimes offensive, and often both at the same time, Lax Historical Context is the history podcast for people who don’t take life too seriously.Twitter (@LaxHistContext) and Instagram (@laxhistoricalcontext) Explicit Off The Shelf Reviews Podcast offtheshelfreviews Off the Shelf Reviews is a review/chat show hosted on YouTube producing new content on a weekly basis. The show aims to provide a unique and entertaining viewpoint on many classic films, some you may have seen and some you may not have heard of!Parental Warning: Some of the content on this site is unsuitable for children due to offensive language and scenes of a sexual or violent nature. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Explicit Morally Indefensible truth.media From Marc Smerling, the creator behind The Jinx and Crimetown, comes a story of murder, friendship and betrayal. In 1979, Ex-Green Beret Doctor Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted of the murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters. When he meets a famous young journalist named Joe McGinniss, the two become fast friends. Joe agrees to write a book about Jeff’s case to finally reveal the truth. The book, Fatal Vision, became a smash bestseller and a TV limited series watched by millions of people. But the story it told wasn’t the story Jeff expected…And that sets off a series of events that ruins both their lives.Morally Indefensible is a companion to the FX docuseries, A Wilderness of Error coming to FX September 25, and streaming next day on Hulu. Explicit

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Morally Offensive?

This episode is 2 hours and 30 minutes long.

When was this Morally Offensive episode published?

This episode was published on July 11, 2025.

Can I download this Morally Offensive episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!