Chick Tracts pt. 1

American Hysteria

W!ZARD Studios

Society & Culture

4.4 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cartoons of satanic witch cults, Illuminati world domination, demonic homosexuals, and the pressing choice of hell or salvation were the horror hallmarks of Baptist indie comic artist Jack Chick's sensational world, his stories told through small booklets that his fans were instructed to leave anywhere a stranger might stumble across them. With a billion of these (often unintentionally hilarious) melodramatic little comics sold throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and into the present day, Chick Publications has played no small role in the creation of the most famous moral panics, conspiracy theories, and urban legends in American history. For part one, we will totally submerge you in his strange reality using some of the most outrageous examples of his work. Become a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Sound design by Clear Commo Studios Research Assistant: Riley Swedelius-Smith Producer: Miranda Zickler Voice acting by Will Rogers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	On this podcast, we explore fantastical thinking, moral panics, urban legends, conspiracy
0:10.7	theories, hoaxes, and crazes, examine the forces that shape our culture and tell the stories
0:18.5	that create the realities we share and sometimes the realities we don't.
0:25.4	I'm your host, Chelsea Weber-Smith, and this is American hysteria.
0:32.8	Soon we will have a one-world government.
0:36.4	My teacher says these are great for a Halloween sacrifice.
0:40.7	Ha! That show paved the way for all of our cult programming.
0:46.1	Grandma, oh no, my face, it's melting.
0:49.8	Oh God, help me. Help me.
0:52.9	God has forsaken Ashley.
1:08.6	Just because you haven't heard of chick tracks, that doesn't mean you haven't seen them,
1:15.5	haven't thumbed through them, haven't gasped or laughed over their contents, and it certainly
1:23.7	doesn't mean that their freaky little cartoons haven't helped to covertly construct the
1:31.3	fantastical, hysterical America that perhaps you too grew up in.
1:39.0	My introduction to these religious tracks, small black and white 24-page booklets, no
1:45.7	larger than a dollar bill, came when they were left as tips at the restaurant I worked
1:52.5	at in high school.
1:54.3	The multitude of bad kid behaviors I had participated in the night before, no doubt radiating from
2:01.4	my one complexion and suspiciously secular eyes.
2:08.5	In the minds of these customers, bless their hearts, they were giving me something far
2:14.2	more valuable than 20% or even 10% on their check.
2:20.3	They were giving me the singular way to achieve eternal life and avoid the perpetual torture
	...

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