CLASSIC: The Bizarre Clown Panic of 2016

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.3 • 10.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It began in August -- five photographs of what appeared to be a sinister figure dressed as a clown loitering in a Green Bay, Wisconsin parking lot went viral. Eight days later, a local filmmaker admitted this was just an attempt to garner PR for an upcoming indie film... but the clowns kept coming. In the space of just a few months numerous people around the world reported being attacked or stalked by clowns. So what exactly was going on?

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So, conspiracy realist, welcome to tonight's classic episode.
0:05.2	We talked, I think, in a couple of shows over these many years about something called
0:10.8	coraphobia, which is a huge fear in the post-gacy environment of the Western world,
0:18.7	the fear of clowns.
0:20.7	Those clowns are scary, the fear of clowns.
0:22.9	Those clowns are scary, y'all.
0:24.2	Yeah.
0:28.6	Yeah, and like, you know, pop culture sure hasn't really given them a break. At least the clowning profession, which once was a reputable field.
0:34.3	And now, you know, folks that are clowning for a living have all this
0:38.6	chlorophobia stuff to deal with with movies like It. And then, of course, the hugely
0:42.9	popular remake of It. Oh, yeah. And this particular incident that we are going to be
0:49.2	discussing, or I guess maybe time frame, time period, where there were just, there seemed to be clowns everywhere.
0:56.4	I think it's a great exploration of our previous discussions.
0:59.1	Well, I guess they're post this happening, but previous to this moment in time right now,
1:04.2	about how social media really was changing everything, right?
1:09.8	This is 2019 October right at the end, right around Halloween, actually.
1:14.7	Hmm.
1:16.0	And there were so many videos of clowns just hanging out,
1:19.9	purported to be just wandering around.
1:23.3	Yeah, not doing professional clowning,
1:25.9	just sort of lingering at the edge of a roadside or a forest
1:29.9	or a copse of trees. It all began in August in 2016 when five photographs of what appeared to be
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -34 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.