Returning to the Bonus Room

Maybe a deep dive into Joan Rivers, another maligned woman (and older bimbo) from recent history. I remember her being so loathed.

Don't know if I'm too late to the party but the west Memphis three!

hey idk if you’re still taking suggestions! Sinead O’Connor might be a good episode :)

Love your guys work!! Seriously obsessed with this podcast. You guys make me laugh. I would be interested to see if there was enough material to cover Robin Williams suicide. I’ve heard mention of it that he didn’t kill himself because he was depressed but because he was on the wrong medication. Might be a good topic in talking about how depression looks and is treated!

Long time listener, first time commenter. The show really shines when it comes to maligned women. You had me at Tonya... I would love another guilty pleasures book club, like when y'all did Jessica Simpson's auto-biography. That got my partner and I happily through some long days of driving. Perhaps a show discussing the sub-genre of revenge thriller wherein the heroine has the upper hand on the male antagonist(s). Death Proof, Revenge, and Promising Young Woman come to mind. As a female existing in this world, those movies bring me so much gleeful pleasure. I genuinely enjoy your conversations and am amazed by how much work goes into each episode. Keep it up!

Also never change. Your ways of speaking are great

YES this episode validates my constant use of like. It DOES serve loads of functions. I'm going to more rigorously defend myself on this in future

I absolutely love the show. I am almost finished with all the episodes. I hope you read this and do an episode on the moral panic surrounding terrorism and how it is becoming increasingly apparent that counterterrorism measures mirror terrorism itself. I am currently doing a PhD at the Max Planck on this very subject and would love to hear your take and fun quips about stuff that I do at the office. There is actually a text that conceptualizes terrorism/counterterrorism as a moral panic and I bumped into it after I got obsessed with you guys so that might be a fun read. The first two chapters of Lessons and Legacies of the War on Terror: From Moral Panic to Permanent War edited by by Gershon Shafir, Everard Meade, and William J. Aceves is awesome and Routledge Handbook on Critical Terrorism Studies edited by an absolute genius/god/legend Richard Jackson is also an amazing resource. Can't wait to hear back on this. Have a lovely and thank you for being there and thinking the way you do. Makes me feel less alone. xx

Do an episode on Amanda Knox!!!!

Madeline McCann and the way the media treated the story 🙌 Love the show !

For the record - I loved the Tonya Harding ep. Also the Jessica Simpson one too - no-one more surprised than me. I really like the mix of all topics.

You're Wrong About Anarchy would be cool 🤓

I've been driving more than I'd like these days and I've been loving your podcast. It's a pleasure to hear smart, progressive people talking to each other. Thank you! In terms of ideas: I'm really drawn to the heavier / historic episodes, like Stonewall, Jonestown, Homelessness, and Tuskegee. Can we get more of that? Like, I'm sure Tonya Harding got a bad rap, but do I care? eh. Last night, we were discussing how folks use the term "bolshevik" and the differences between Soviet and Chinese communism. Maybe You're Wrong About communism? Oh and anarchy? People seem to think anarchy is about blowing everything up, when at least one aspect of it is about personal responsibility.... Thanks again for all that you do!

Sorry one more the Oklahoma bomber?? Seems like a lot of lessons learned there... you both are absolutely amazing. Don’t change a thing. 🤘

Literally obsessed with your podcast. The Gary Hart episode triggered a throw back for me to John Edwards. There is a lot to unpack there with a secret child and wife with cancer...yikes. Also can’t think about the 2000s with out thinking about John and Kate plus 8!

Please do one on the "ROGD" moral panic, and the anti-trans journalists of the UK.

Please do an ep about Charles Manson!!

Hi Mike and Sarah! I share your interest in music videos of the 1980s and 1990s, and in what they can tell us about the culture of the time. Have you considered doing a deep dive into the Tom Petty video for Mary Jane’s Last Dance? It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1994. How I saw that video as a 12-year-old girl is a lot different from how I see it now as a 38-year-old woman. Anyway, thank you so much for your amazing show!!

Th

New patron and yikes, I'm not going to read over 500 comments to see if this was already suggested, but it literally came up tonight in a Zoom chat with my best friend (I'm in Portland, OR, he's in DC-adjacent Virginia): Marion Barry.

Britney Spears would be fun. But after there are zero new things to say about OJ. You could look at the saga of the Barry Sherman murder, there’s very good book about it. His son killed him for sure!

Infanticide. [I'm so fun at parties]

re: mcdonalds hot coffee incident (a great idea for an episode!!) it might be interesting to connect that to the broader idea people have of the U.S. being a particularly litigious society and, relatedly, TORT REFORM! i'm a law student, and my civil procedure professor, Elizabeth Burch, debunked the litigiousness myth super effectively, in addition to connecting it to tort reform and the shifting balance of power from consumers to corporations--making it harder for people injured by corporations to hold them accountable

I'm late to the party, but I would love to hear an episode about the 2001 Anthrax scare and the number of hoax anthrax attacks that happened afterward

PLEASE do a bonus room on the 20/20 Dannielynn episode and Anna Nicole Smith revisit. You guys are great thank you for your work! ❤️

about what it’s like to live with it and experience the world and life in that way. It reminds me of the autism/anti-vac episode: when the focus of discussion of a neurodivergent condition is coming from people without the condition, it’s a hell of a lot different than when people who actually have the condition are leading the discussion.

With the true ADHD spirit of do it now or never and struggling to research, without checking to see if anyone has said this before or even quite finishing the episode, I want to tell Sarah that I am totally right there with her about the emotional components of ADHD!! I was diagnosed at 23, but it wasn’t until this year (7 years later) that I started to discover anything about the non-focus aspects of ADHD, like Rejection Sensitive Disphoria. I think a big part of that is that before, I was only engaging with or thinking about my ADHD from the perspective of the neurotypical people around me who wanted me to engage with the world like they do and perform like they do. Now, however, I’ve started learning from other people with ADHD, who actually talk

I'm going to piggy back o. The abortion episode and add Margaret Sanger in

I would also love a full episode about ADHD! There are so many myths about it too - similar to myths about increasing rates of ASD diagnosis. Plus lots of fun stuff like myths about red dye #40! I also really appreciate everything that you said about voices and speech. As a transgender person who often has to record my voice for work projects, I am hyperaware of my voice and how it is perceived by others. Cis people often have an understanding of what they think a trans person sounds like, and it's always interesting to me where they are right and where they are wrong. Thanks y'all :)

Sarah - Thank you for talking about ADHD openly. Sari Solden has written several books on the unique challenges of being a woman with ADHD. Her book Woman with Attention Deficit Discorder is life changing.

Arab Spring episode!

Oh crap, I forgot some ideas, sorry. MLMs please, I would love to hear y'all's take on those. Introverts/extroverts/personality types (MBTI etc).

Also a few questions: How often do you start researching with one angle in mind only to end up changing your opinion? What's your "white whale" story - the story you're dying to write but, for whatever reason, you haven't been able to? What are your biggest journalistic pet peeves? Also research pet peeves? What has surprised you about YWA? What have you learned through making the podcast?

Eating disorders? Fanfiction? Direct-to-consumer drug marketing and how fucked up that is? Exploring the phenomenon of "false flag" conspiracies, especially re: school shootings? Violence and video games/media? Also I know you've teased an HIV/AIDS episode before and I'd love to see that sometime soon.

Would you be opposed to people from other countries taking your show format for their own country's moral panicks?

What about Henrietta Lacks? Her cells are still used today (even to make the polio vaccine) , but not many know about how her and her family were treated by Johns Hopkins!

Another prison-related suggestion: Attica.

I just listened to the Stanford Prison Experiment episode, in which you mentioned the broken windows policing theory. I looked to see if you’ve done an episode on broken windows but I didn’t see one. That would be a great topic. I’d love to hear your take on broken windows policing.

I would love to hear an episode about abortion and also I find very interesting the whole football college scholarships 😱

I’m curious, do you ever record together in the same space or is it always remote?

I had terrible insomnia last night and ended up in an internet hole reading about Everest tourism and how it endangers Sherpa - and how the role of Sherpa has been excised from most media and film regarding Everest... and i thought it would make a great You’re Wrong About.

Courtney Love

Any way you ever talked about the movie Regression?

I really want a YWA on AA/12 Steps, but that is a beast of a topic. For a lighter, bonus room question, what is your advice for someone telling their story to a journalist? You hinted that it rarely goes as planned, but what can/should someone talking to the press expect?

Some ideas: Oscar Pistorius. The free love movement. JFK Jr and Carolyn Besette. Egyptair Flight 990. Christine Chubuck. No Child Left Behind. Patty Hearst. Pyramid schemes. The Black Panthers. Lisa Nowack. Oprah. DB Cooper. Go Ask Alice.

I would love to hear Sarah's thoughts on Killing Eve!

I second the excellent Belle Gibson and Sinead O’Connor suggestions, and would also love a long form version of probably my all-time favourite transgression - Judging Amy. I yelped when Sarah mentioned it. So underserved, that text.

Duuuude is anybody talking about Sinead O’Connor? She was publicly decimated for calling out the Catholic Church just a bit before we all knew the truth. Her career never recovered, and the last I heard she was suicidal and living in different motels. She never got a public redemption and she’s gone on to be all but forgotten, but for a moment she was the bravest woman in all of pop culture.

Sarah, what is your favorite Its Always Sunny Episode?

The CJD / Mad Cow Disease ‘scandal’ in Britain in the 1990s...what were the politics behind it, actual danger.

I'd be interested in an episode on the 2008 YFZ raid, or maybe "You're Wrong About Mormonism." I remember watching the raid play out when I was in high school, and it was what made me realize that there was a difference between modern Mormonism and FLDS, but I'm surprised by how many people still believe the outdated stereotypes.

I say go for the gold and go for the big one: Judy Garland. There are so many biographies, and different "factions" fighting over her history/legacy, plus there's two - yes, two -- "day-by-day" in the life of books, because they keep fighting over her history.

Me too. I was living in England during all the coverage, and Knox was portrayed as just another one of those hollow selfish,, etc. American girls.

I'd love to hear your take on Amanda Knox. As a self confessed True Crime lover BUT also very aware of how popular true crime documentaries/films/podcasts present cases and those involved, it would be great to have the Amanda Knox case discussed - after watching the Netflix documentary a while back I noticed how there was a huge emphasis placed on how Amanda reacted and acted, and how this led her to being portrayed in the media

I want an episode about Fiona Apple! Her new album carried me through the turmoil of 2020. I was born in ‘96 so I was not aware of the media’s treatment of Apple until recently, and it is horrifying.

My suggestion topic is "Welfare Queens" and the idea of large numbers of people who just use food stamps, Social Security, disability, etc benefits to scam the system. I literally could not work for almost a decade and the number of times people said "Must be nice," as if I was just using an excuse to stay home made me so angry. I can only imagine how people who need assistance to buy food or get electricity must feel. Remember the argument that increasing unemployment benefits would encourage people not to work?

When you all do a topic surrounding famous individuals, do you try to get (or would you even be interested in) contact with them? I’m not sure if that would be in keeping with your approach of correcting the public narrative.

britney spears conservatorship!!

"The Fairness Doctrine" People misunderstand this all the darn time.

Belle Gibson Australian 'wellness' influencer - a fascinating train wreck.

suicide... many misconceptions. Who does it, how much time they do or dint put into it, how they do it, how some types of suicide methods are gendered, whether or not a note is left, the notion that there are "signs" someone is suicidal

This is kind of a dark one but maybe Conrad Roy and his girlfriend Michelle Carter? I don't know the real story on the underbelly of this one, but the way their relationship functioned, according to the news coverage, seems comparable to the impending impeachment.

I’m having trouble loading comments so apologies if these have been suggested: 1 - leprosy. People were banished for life! Some of the banished stayed at the colony once they were allowed (allowed! Omg!) to leave. It’s fascinating! 2 - Marie Laveau. For so many reasons.

Was re-listening to the Anna Nichole Smith episode today, and started to think a Honey Boo Boo episode might be interesting down the line.

I’m sure this has already been mentioned but the anti-drug propaganda book Go Ask Alice both traumatized and FASCINATED me as a child. I was in my 40s when it occurred to me that “Hey....that doesn’t seem like a true story.”

Would love to hear your take on Aimee Semple McPherson (bad Kathie Lee Gifford musical and all). Very much the precursor to Tammy Faye in the maligned women of mega churches!

johnny carson! you’ve mentioned wanting to do that in previous episodes and i would love to hear more.

how do we save britney spears?

YWA Universal Healthcare. The central YWA being that it's better than we imagine. (I've lived in Canada and the USA both for reference; also Americans don't have any concept of extended medical, which is the top-up employer plans we have here in BC. Reference the CUPE 2950 plan for UBC staff, it's outlined online, it's extremely generous.)

I was talking about Orson Welles with my husband (we watched Mank) and we realized the true story of the radio broadcast of The War of The Worlds would probably make a fantastic YWA episode.

Sherri papini

As a starter for the origins of the TERF ideology I highly recommend checking out Janice Raymond's 1979 book "The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male" (or at least extracts from it if you don't want to go through the whole thing)

First off - I’ve been obsessed with this podcast and have been listening every day until I hear them all! I respect your journalism and integrity and love how you shed light on so many important subjects! The topics I would LOVE to hear about at some point are : Michael Jackson Britney Spears conservatorship *as a Massachusetts girl* the good and bad of the Kennedy family I’d also love for you in some way to talk about JK Rowling - as someone who has always loved Harry Potter (as a series that focuses on doing what’s right, equality and to never giving up on fighting against (a Trump- like figure ) Voldemort - I have been really struggling with JK’s anti-trans statements, and what that means for my relationship with the series that has been such a light in my life and a crutch for me when growing up battling depression. I’m also interested if either of you understand the origins for her trans-women take away from women’s rights- because I am trying to understand how someone who created something that preaches about equality can then go and change their stance to be something very discriminatory towards a group that is already being terribly violently attacked. Thanks for your consideration!!

I read the Culture Study Newsletter from Ann Helen Peterson, and she had a lovely edition of "you're wrong about" - videogames. https://annehelen.substack.com/p/parents-deserve-so-much-more-when So if you're looking for a special guest the interviewee here might be interesting?

Pocahontas!

I want to hear You're Wrong About Wallis Simpson. From what I know I think we were right about her to an extent, but "the woman who brought down the monarchy" seems unfair and I want to hear your takes on it.

I would love to hear a John Bennett Ramsey episode like Sarah hinted at!

I feel like he was formative in my youth and to many others but a You’re Wrong About Dr Drew would allow you touch on a lot of sexual assault/sex misconceptions without doing a super heavy episode.

I would love to hear Sarah’s view on how the role/myth making of psychiatry/psychology in Michelle Remembers, Sybil, and Hannibal effected the Satanic Panic and how these texts changed our view on these fields!

I know this was referenced on twitter but I would love to hear Sarah’s thoughts on the Supernatural finale/Destiel fiasco (bonus: and associated conspiracy theories)

Ok sorry last one- I want to hear your takes on chain email panics like Bonsai Kittens. You briefly talked about this kind of misinformation in one episode when you mentioned emails that warn you about "traffickers" but an episode just about these bizarre fake warnings and where they come from would be amazing. Thank you so much for the show!!!!!

Also, it might not be super popular but I would love to hear an episode on the Howard Dean scream

You've teased it a few times but when are we getting the Menendez Brothers episode???

The brief pop culture obsession with Rumspringa aka Amish Gone Wild that occurred in the early 2000s via sensational new reporting and reality TV. I grew up in Amish country and when I went to college in 2002, I spent those years being the tedious person at parties railing about what pop culture got wrong about it.

Pleeeease talk to us about astrology and your thoughts on it, and if you feel like it, maybe your sun, ascendant, and moon? Or just sun I’m fine with that too 😜 I realize that some astrologers are problematic, but I think a lot of the anger and judgment directed at that community has a lot to do with the fact that it’s group primarily made up of women, femmes, and queer folk.

I would love to hear your breakdown of what is going on with Brittney Spears and her conservatorship. And maybe tangentially, what went on when Ke$ha and her legal case with the producer Dr. Luke.

I would love to hear a breakdown on No Child Left Behind. It is understandable that people are so stilted in the immediacy of TrumpLand, they forget the shameless policies of the previous Republican administration. No Child Left Behind may be dead in name, but its effects are certainly left steeped in our culture, and as a high school teacher who is now old enough to have watched schools change a generation (or so), I think the topic fits in with the podcast's recurring theme of people not re-thinking things because that's how it's always been. Newer generations of teachers now simply accept the testing culture as the status quo, and...omg so much to explore

Can you help me understand the financial crisis in New York City in late 60s/70s?? I need y'all to break it down

I’d really like to hear what you two have to say about the Obama Administration title IX guidelines regarding sexual assault on college campuses. I feel like what I’ve read on both sides of the argument has been a lot of handwringing and it seems like there is probably a lot that we’re wrong about

Pleeease do "you're wrong about anarchism" because journalists almost always are

I just listened to the Obesity episode and it just keeps hitting me as we watch overwhelmed ERs and people dying of Covid that there is this narrative tied to the societal beliefs you outlined that they “deserved it”. It’s heart-breaking. I here more surprise that someone died young and “healthy,” as though the others are “explainable”. Also just how callous we are on the deaths from covid - the total life years lost is remarkable. I almost wonder if it’s worth a follow up.

Ruby Ridge, Idaho- 1992. Timely based on our current homegrown “patriots” 👎🏼

Hey!!!!! I would love to hear you guys break down Phil Spector

I’m sure I’ve seen people ask for this before, but Hurricane Katrina would make a great topic. It’s really got all the pieces: rage inducing institutional failures, shocking racial injustices, widely held misconceptions partially fuelled by someone lying on Oprah... I read A Paradise Built in Hell a few years ago and I’m still pretty mad about how the media presented it vs reality.

I would love to hear about pros and cons of commercial sponsorship for podcasts. I’m assuming you guys have chosen not to go that route. Although part of me wants you to cash in some so you can have easier lives and do more episodes.

Teal Swan! I listened to The Gateway podcast and REALLY want to hear you talk more about this... Satanic Panic new age spirituality connection. Also very interested to hear you speak about restorative justice and organizations that are doing good work to interrupt a punitive carceral system of justice. Thank you.

Atlanta Child Murders!

I just sent you a message on this! Hehe! I would *love* if you made an episode around people of color in period dramas: https://www.scribd.com/read/433020511/Black-Tudors-The-Untold-Story#

As a fan of horror, and an advocate for teen girls interests, I am interested in Sarah’s thoughts on the Twilight series.

The Central Park five!

Can you explore Rosemary Kennedy, the forgotten and hidden Kennedy sibling. There is so much to unpack about her life and societies attitudes to mental health, definitions of intelligence and expectations of women.

Please do a show on Patsy Ramsey.

I think I've seen an old post that recommends this but Mother Teresa!!!

If you could give 3 bits of advice to your 20 year old selves, what would they be? Love the show - since Sarah is a dog sitter extraordinaire, maybe an episode on PETA? Or perhaps boutique breed dogs a la The Labradoodle?

Where can I read about Sarah's book on the Satanic Panic?

A breakdown from Sarah of the clinical labels/ diagnoses she considers total BS (including but not limited to psychiatry), where that thinking comes from and if there is a more global approach she takes on popular diagnoses and contemporary medicine/ psychology/ psychiatry.

Is there a bird squawking in the background of some episodes?

Aaliyah deep dive? Feel like there’s some YWA potential there with RKelly, the plane crash and family drama about music rights and albums on streaming services. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I keep hoping you two will talk about Israel announcing contact with an alien "galactic federation" this past year. Is that a thing?? XD lol

The Memory War article from The Cut on 1/6. Criticizing thr False Memory Syndrome Foundation and Elizabeth Loftus.

Lead, as in lead paint & lead pipes, Flint water crisis, the decades long battle with landlords in Cleveland, why countries in Europe outlawed lead decades before the United States did, etc. My mom ran the Lead Clinic at MetroHealth in Cleveland before she retired, and from what I’ve learned from her, I personally believe that lead poisoning was the precursor to mass incarceration of people of color and alleged “gang activity” etc...

I hear Sarah’s hatred for the word psychopath and it makes me sit back and think about it in different ways. Sarah, what are your feelings and thoughts on the word narcissist? My mother has NPD and I often feel the word narcissist is both underused and over used.

I would be interested to hear your views on Amanda Knox and the work she has been doing since her acquittal, I know she's somewhat local to you guys too.

Also plus 1 for book clubs, Dixie Chicks, and Meghan Markle

Would love to hear about a typical work week for both of you since you have other podcasts and projects in the works... how do you do it?!

Anti-Semitism and it really seems like something up y’all’s alley. Just thought I would throw it out there cause I would love to hear all y’all’s hot takes about it.

Hi Sarah and Michael! Thanks for keeping quarantine interesting for me. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the intersection of conspiracy theories, Oanon and

Hi Sarah and Michael! I have mentioned this to Sarah before, but I think doing an episode on the Chicks (then Dixie Chicks)-Iraq war comments controversy from the early 2000s, especially in light of recent events in terms of extremist conservatism, would be really fascinating. Not sure there is a "you're wrong about" hook here, but I think it would be very interesting!

I have a question for Sarah: How you read Twenty Two Faces by Judy Byington? It's in that genre of MPD Satanic Panic "memoirs." I read it when I was younger (and was deeply traumatized by it), so I'd love to hear your take on it. It's pretty wild. I think it is where the Greenbaum Programming conspiracy might come from, but I'm not sure.

Hi, I recently joined the Patreon, thank you so much for all your work :) Jumping on the topic suggestions bandwagon, I know we're back on the OJ track (and I love it!) but if you ever feel like doing book club episodes again, I would be very curious to know what's in the Mariah biography. And I also second a few of the people who suggested a Paris Hilton (and Nicole Ritchie, I feel it's necessary?) episode! Would also love to hear your takes on TV and film archetypes and what they reflect back to us. Specifically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Classic American Teen Sitcom (Saved By The Bell, Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, The O.C, Gossip Girl...) because I feel like the world of TV has truly done a 180 on how teens/young people are portrayed. Maybe that's not quite the right show for it, but I feel there's an interesting connection to make between those characters/archetypes and the media narratives of the time. Anyway, I'm rambling now, thanks again for everything you do!

Ooo ooo ooo!! How about an episode on the various trends in parenting over the past 75 years or so? Also, I love hearing your perspectives on things! Sarah, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on “gifted” children. Being labeled “gifted” as a child F’ed me up big time in lots of ways. Now, as a school counselor, I feel strongly that every child is different, gifted, with wonderfully unique gifts to share with the world.

I’m currently reading Blood in the Water about the Attica uprising. It’s rough and engrossing and reminding me a lot of how I felt with the DC Sniper episodes.

I liked Sarah's idea of a series where she just tells Michael the plot of Saw. I similarly can't watch scary movies and just read the plots on Wikipedia...

Have either of you watched Killing Eve? I want Sarah to yell about their obsession with calling people psychopaths!!

As a fellow Lenny Briscoe lover, I’d like to give Sarah space to extol classic Law & Order 😉

Jane Fonda.

I just listened to the Disco Demolition episode and it sparked a Gloria Gaynor marathon with my 5yo - more music genre-type episodes please! Wish I had something more specific but that’s really it. That episode slapped.

JonBonet Ramsey!

Bodies donated to “science” that are then sold for profit, Reuters article piqued my interest!

Please please PLEASE do an episode on Paris Hilton!

Have you ever heard from Tonya Harding or any of the other famous people featured on your episodes?

I teach junior English and we are talking about how murderers have been glorified in the media! White men, entitlement, etc. I was able to pull in the DC sniper! And I shared your podcast! It was so great. Just wanted to share.

It's strange to me that this post has more comments than likes, butt I don't know what that could indicate. I've worked in tech and ones of the strange bits of analytical alchemy out there is the particular methods and math behind Facebook usage stats, and web stats all together -- is a mystery and has under-powered to non-existent oversight. Meanwhile big decisions and money is being decided based on those numbers supplied by an opaque source. It's "you've sold away your privacy already" lament-adjecent.

I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on whether going to an undergraduate and/or graduate program is worth the money, especially for those who want to pursue creative careers like writing, illustration, fashion, music, etc.

Brexit please :)

It’s a heady topic, so I understand if you don’t want to tackle it. But it would be interesting if you could go into the roots of the legal definition of rape and how it began as a property crime and how that informs how we think, talk about, and prosecute it to this day. Love the show and am down to listen to whatever you two want to talk about.

The politics surrounding getting an organ transplant

Were Michael and Christian Siriano separated at birth?

Is mad cow disease debunkable? Why don’t we worry about it any more?

Now that you've done Diana, I need a Fergie episode.

What happened to Sarah’s vampire novel? Will it ever see the light of day?

Also would love a gag reel of puns that have been edited out, because I will never get over "Codpast" and "Citizen's Orestes" and I'm dying to know what we're missing out on.

I just stumbled across a Facebook post by Kat Von D from Oct 5 where she shares trauma she experienced as a teen when her parents sent her to this atrocious “school” in Utah for troubled teens. She was sharing because she was inspired by the documentary Paris Hilton released just three months ago, This Is Paris (which I am watching tonight) Paris was sent to the same place when she was a kid! It’s a bit contemporary for Youre Wrong About but I thought both Sarah and Michael and other fans of the podcast would be interested. It throws me back to the reality that days of The Simple Life with Paris in the 2000’s and this image she carefully curated for herself, the insane media attention, the sex tape... and beneath of all that this extremely traumatic experience that she has kept close all these years.

Have either of you ever been wrong about something/someone that was inconvenient or challenged a core belief?

If you want to talk about GMOs and how they’ve been unfairly lumped in with other things like “organic” and what’s really wrong with them (Monsanto), I’d love to hear Michael get into it and hear Sarah ask questions nobody thought of.

Obviously disinformation and conspiracy theories abound at the moment. Any particularly familiar/ infuriating ones right now that you would like to see a real big deep dive on someday?

I would like to know if Sarah likes Chris Fleming because they have similar vibes

I’d like to hear what really happened with Kony

The latest episode about Paula has been SO healing. It’s hard I express what it felt like hearing Michael and Sarah, intelligent funny people, allowing me to not judge myself anymore for being the Paula way too many times in my life. The idea of conspiracy theories about how someone feels about you ... YEAH!!! Jesus Christ have I been there. One of my favorite episodes and my first YWA was the one where Michael quipped “oh yeah I’ve been the Julia Roberts lady before”. I knew he would be my imaginary BFF from now on.

Excuse me if this has already been asked... Have you ever reached to any of the subjects of YRA? I’d be curious to hear a conversation with Tonya Harding or Fawn Hall or Paula Barbieri. You really show the utmost respect and empathy to your subjects, and I would love to hear what they have to say in reviewing the events in which they found themselves entangled. Cheers!

Are there any specific things you would like to see us as individuals do to consume media more responsibly and to hold it accountable. Are there particular "red flags" that you see in media/news reports that alert you to potential biases/leaning into moral panics/etc and what steps to do you then take as a critical reader.

When it’s possible again, would you guys consider doing live events?

Thank you!! I’ll see listen

I’d really love to hear more depth about the Black Panthers, and the way the media portrays them. I feel like it’s so similar to BLM

I’d like to hear your tales on the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard court cases.

Journalism has completely changed with the internet and social media. I would love to know your opinion on who exactly can be considered a journalist in 2021 and who should be obligated to follow traditional journalistic ethics. What even are those ethics anymore?

I need to think a bit more on what I personally would be interested in but I think a good overall topic would be breast cancer and breast cancer fundraising. I think there have been good articles written on this and the Susan G Komen Foundation but now that we don’t see pink everywhere anymore, it’d be a good thing to look back on.

(Edit: OK well never mind. He’s been accused of sexual assault by a few women so... Crap!) . In keeping with the 90’s and Sarah’s endearing love for satanists, how about some clarity regarding Marilyn Manson. I always felt like he got a bad rap. And LOVE YOU GUYS!

I would love to know more about how you do your research! Could Michael explain Lexus Nexus a little bit? (...I tried to use it a while back and couldn't figure it out at all but I suspect that's because I don't have a journalistic background and so wasn't even sure what I was looking at/for on the main website). Could Sarah talk about how she organizes all the research she's been doing? As an aspiring methodology queen, my inquiring mind wants to know.

Did you consider doing an episode on Gamer Gate? is it too recent? It def has several maligned women. (also hi from the czech republic)

If y'all ever did an episode about "The Lost Cause of the Confederacy" I would share it with every person I know.

I recently learned that “prolific serial killer” Samuel Little just died.... but why have I never heard of him??? Convicted in 2012 for murders that happened in prior decades... too soon to talk about, Sarah? Also, I would really love to hear what yall's go-to/fave/religiously-listened-to podcasts are!

What are your thoughts about the mindset of those involved in the Capitol incursion, many of whom genuinely believe that Trump won the election in a landslide.

Apropos nothing, I just woke up from a dream about Michael and Sarah, who were driving around in an ancient Subaru doing research. They stopped to chat, and with the car door open they noticed that there were plants growing out of parts of the interior. First it was some strawberry plants coming out of the console between the seats, then plants were everywhere. At one point Sarah pointed out that a huge clump of moss between the gear shifter and the radio looked kind of like the back end of a puppy. Investigating further, it turned out that the head looked more like a cat's. Then the head turned and the moss cat opened its eyes!

Sorry for spamming this post (that’s a lie, I’m not) but I feel like an episode on Dahmer wound also be fascinating. Everyone thinks he was a rampaging cannibal but I think the real story is more heartbreaking/interesting. I had coffee once with a high school friend of his and it was so fascinating to discuss him.

What was one of your proudest moments

Borrowed from the game We're Not Really Strangers (a great conversation / connection builder): What's a compliment strangers give you that makes you feel good? What are you proudest of yourself for saying "no" to recently?

I just finished up the Michelle Remembers book club episodes and I was curious to get Sarah’s hot take on any possible threads between the satanic panic and today’s QAnon. It seems like they share so many key tenants and I was curious if there are any actual links where perhaps QAnon is an evolution. Thank you! I am legit obsessed and share the podcast with everyone who will listen to me, so much they are annoyed but I don’t care! :)

First I want to say that I really love you both and I love this podcast, which has brought me great comfort during an immensely difficult time. I share the following feedback in a spirit of kindness and recognize that others may disagree. But I just listened to today's episode (I think the third one on Paula Barbieri) and I have to say I think the OJ series has "jumped the shark." This episode in particular didn't tell us anything we were "wrong" about. And listening to Paula (who I know Sarah loves but who I frankly find bewilderingly naive) ramble on about sex with OJ Simpson just gave me the willies. At the end of the episode, Sarah acknowledged that some of us may be fed up with this series -- or at least with its extended duration. I am squarely in this camp. A good editor often strengthens a piece of writing (essay/book). The same mechanism would serve you, and your listeners, on the OJ series. At this point, I am leaning toward just skipping any future episodes in the series, which is a shame because I am sure there is SOME really great info to be learned. But no one needs to listen to this much background on someone like Paula Barbieri.

Love you both

So much of this podcast is an exercise in extending empathy to many problematic figures in history, whether we have learned about them as “good” or “evil”. In light of recent events I’m having a hard time extending empathy to many in the US Government. Do you feel like these irresponsible leaders are evil? So cynical they don’t care about anyone but themselves? Truly think they are doing the right things? Dumb? Something in between? Maybe we can get it right not instead of learning how we are wrong about it in 2054.

Oh! And furtherestmore, when are we getting more episodes of Maintenance Phase? A Patreon? Anything? Pleeeeease?

Also, I don’t know how to phrase this as a question but I have kind of a theory about what’s happening right now in the world that I’d like Sarah’s thoughts about. I don’t know if I’m reaching, but I feel like there are a lot of similarities between the Qanon crew and the satanic panic. There’s this fear of an insidious force controlling our lives (satanists, media), a demonization (sometimes literal) of the other, a vocal minority destroying people’s lives, and a blatant refusal to engage with objective reality. Is there a chance this is our generations moral panic? And if so, how can we handle it/what can we learn? Or is this all a ridiculous theory fueled by too much feminist reading and red wine? And furthermore, can we hear more about Sarah’s satanic panic book??

Are we going to get any info about Ron Goldman in the OJ series? I feel like he’s the forgotten victim in so much of this.

I miss the old theme song :/

CHRONIC LYME DISEASE! Fake doctors are literally killing people.

What's your signature dish?

Michael remarked on how a lot of times people don’t realize what speaking to a journalist really means when talking about Paula’s interview with Diane Sawyer, and having now seen clips of that horrible Miya Ponsetto interview with Gayle King I’m definitely interested in your thoughts on it. Watching her lawyer just sit there and awkwardly grimace sure was something.

I'd love to hear more on Mary Kay Letourneau! For some reason, she popped into my google search for something unrelated, and I thought, "I know very little about this, but I want Sarah and Michael to talk about this!!!" <3

Do you have any non-fiction book recommendations? I'm locked down and looking to fill some time!

Tall order, but I would like a tiny segment each week just debunking the current top Fox News headlines so I know what the hell my father is rambling about this time.

How about man overview show that talks common behavior observed eg cognitive dissonance? Bet theres good examples in each thread

Missed u both best digital friends eva ❤️

some more! How are you doing today? What are some of the things you’re most looking forward to (either for the podcast or general life, or both)

Are there any subjects you’d love to cover but you’re worried about the reception or don’t think listeners will care?

I would love to hear Sarah just talk about houseplants for a little while. Especially any advice she might have for anyone who is interested in getting some houseplants but doesn't know where to start!

The female orgasm

Oh, the Boeing 737 max issues?

UFO's, Dangers (or not) of playing football (CTE, etc. or possibly an episode on Aaron Hernandez?), artificial intelligence or something related, Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos

Have you heard of the Prince Philip movement? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_Movement

I'd love to hear talk about the gender binary. I think we were all wrong about that one

sarah what's your favorite seinfeld episode and why?

Question: did you make the conscious decision to keep the podcast completely free of current events? I'm curious as to how you navigate, particularly as so many episodes rhyme with contemporary issues. That said, please keep it that way - I absolutely adore that it is doesn't have the many things going on seep into it. It's very soothing to listen to scary crises from decades ago :) rather than ones from last week. I'd love an episode on white flight, basically the mother of all moral panics. debunking particularly how a) it was driven mostly by government policy and b) the impact was sort of economically ambiguous as it was the first time a lot of african americans got to be homeowners. source: not in my neighbourhood by Antero Pietila

What are your thoughts on Waco and how it relates not only to religious fundamentalism but also to what we've seen in the US this past week (i.e. the coup)?

Beanie babies, Susan B. Anthony and why white feminists should maybe not be idolizing her, lularoe and other mlms which utilize fake feminism to sell their schemes!

I would love to know if you think that any of your prior episodes would be helpful in understanding how we got here, politically and culturally (minus the Fox News one, obviously), and if so, which ones? And would you ever do an episode about Donald Trump? He has (had?) this reputation as this great businessman and even as a liberal I think at one time, but that seems to have all been a sham.

Not my idea, saw it on the fb page and checked with the author. She had the idea of clearing up the history of Jane Fonda & Hanoi Jane. Thanks

Typhoid Mary-perfect for pandemic!

The Great Chicago Fire! Specifically, how everyone heaped the blame on an Irish immigrant whose fault it definitively wasn’t!

I’d still like a deep dive into homeschooling and Evangelical Christianity being so intrinsically linked. Also the Kobe Bryant sexual assault scandal in the early or mid 2000’s.

Can we have a rough preview of what topics to look forward to this year?

If you were both on Desert Island Discs, what would you take as your book (you're automatically given the Bible and Shakespeare) and your luxury item?

What is something that has brought you joy in the last week? Also, Michael, since Sarah posted her Diana sweater pic on Twitter, if you’re comfortable, would you share a photo of your Diana sweater? If not pls disregard 😊

I'd also love an episode on the first amendment. People often use it as a catch-all justification to say whatever they want with no accountability, but it's actually just a protection against government censorship. Completely irrelevant in cases of college campus "language policing," or in cases of people getting fired for racist episodes that go viral, etc. I'd be so interested to learn more about the history of the first amendment and how it's been applied in the past and weaponized. Could be an interesting timely episode in light of the Twitter-Trump-Parler debate as well!

I would love an episode I can share with formerly Republican friends who still like Ronald Reagan. You mention Reagan in approximately 80% of your episodes so I'd love a consolidated episode on why they're wrong about Reagan being a great president!

Given the events of the last week, I think a “you’re wrong about Chiquita bananas” episode would be enlightening

I'd love an episode on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or as we all came to know it in the 90s, 'mad cow disease'. As a child living in Ireland at the peak of it, I can remember there was a lot of panic about traceability of beef and a lot of people avoided beef altogether due to vCJD fears.

As a fellow Pacific Northwesterner, I would love an entire AMA epsiode about how the two of you feel about the region. So many of the topics you've discussed over the years circle around the experiences and changes that have taken place there. To name just a few: Curt Cobain and grunge, the serial killer explosion in the 1970s (that certainly haunted my childhood, having been born in 1967 and raised in Bellingham, WA). It's such a complicated place with the political extremes of hippie progressivism and alt right conservatism (the Redoubt movement, former WA state rep Matt Schea...). Not to mention the Portland-Seattle rivalry, and the sudden rise of the PNW to American consciousness in the early 1990s (Twin Peaks, grunge, Frazier, Sleepless in Seattle) after years of languishing in the same category of, like, Omaha... Please? Much love from an ex-pat PNW-er living in socialist "hell" (aka Norway).

How did you two meet and how did you decide to make a podcast together? I'd love to see an episode on charter schools and/or homeschooling.

-

First off thank you so much for making this podcast! Really appreciate all the hard work and diligence that you put into it and THANK YOU for keeping it off the podcast industrial complex so it can be just an hour and a half of what I would like to think would be the best conversation to have with a couple of friends. I would love to hear your thoughts on:

I would love an episode on the infamous McDonald's coffee lawsuit. It's quite the package - it's a story "everybody knows" that's based on a distorted media narrative, with ties to the larger (also misleading) narrative lawsuits generally, and in the end, the villain is/was "Captialism, all along!"

What do you both watch/listen to in your free time? I know ya'll love to stay educated and up to date but I'm wondering if you ever have time to just chill and watch things without needing to research lol!

I started listening to you two because of the prom mom episode. Melissa Drexler and I attended the same high school about 20 years apart. Do you guys have a "hometown" you're wrong about? Also, I love you both, you're perfect and amazing and thank you so much for all the amazing work you do!!!!

I'm thinking about topics that I'd like to hear you talk about and I'd really like a Mike explanation of just what is neoliberalism and/or Sarah taking down Ayn Rand with literary analysis. I think those play to your strengths but would happily hear either of you talk about either one! I also have a bit of a personal obsession with the Hero's Journey and how that shapes all or many of our narratives. Cat related chat is also always welcome!

If you're in the mood to talk about something light for a few minutes, I'd like to hear about your hobbies.

I have a question for Mike (and also for Sarah if she has had this experience but it has not yet come up on the podcast): Did living in another country change your perspective on anything? Like maybe public health, America generally, or anything else?

How to spot trustworthy news sources (to be able to educate my Fox News family)

Anything about conversion therapy, if that’s even something debunkable... I have been on this awful downward spiral of reading about conversion therapy in Canada and how some Christian denominations have rebranded it to appear seemingly welcoming of LGBTQ+ community. But it’s all lies. You folks have really changed my life and made me rethink most of my education — in a good way! You’re like the modern day Fact or Fiction and I love it.

I would love to hear more about how you manage your reading/sources on the big episodes. I swear I would absolutely love a patreon tier that got folks access to your reading lists/bibliographies (I've already bought at least a couple of books you've mentioned along the way, and am currently reading the history of babysitting one you talked about a while ago)!

Any good book recommendations?

Love the podcast btw! Amazing work. I think a look back at the 2001 Anthrax attacks. it is mentioned that would be a good topic during the Washington sniper episodes. Seems odd to me they never caught the people responsible? How many people can actually get access to this stuff and how tightly controlled is access? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks Thanks

What would you tell journalism students about avoiding the problems you’ve seen in past news coverage?

I'd love to explore the fake "nature is healing" posts on social media in 2020 and how the pandemic has restructured the climate crisis discussion

Do you have any tips on interviewing people effectively and empathetically?

A lot of your episodes are really relatable in Australia, I think the moral panic melts from there over to Aus. I wonder if there's something in that.

And Michael - I would love to listen to you talking about Zimbabwe

I would love to hear you look into the Lockerbie bombing. There is so much to unpick

First, thank you both for making this show <3 I'm curious to know: who have been your most important mentors? Or who in your life would you consider a mentor? How do you feel about the concept of mentors? Separately, do each of you consider yourself fundamentally optimistic people? If yes, how do you maintain this optimism? Do you think it's important to look reality in the face and remain optimistic? Personally I think it is, but also find it incredibly difficult. Since everyone is also making show requests, I'll add those too. You've talked about both these topics in the past in interesting ways, but would love to hear what you would find if you devoted entire episodes to them. Gifted children/GATE/ honors tracks and impact on both the kids who are sorted in and those who are sorted out. And the DSM.

The aftermath of high school/campus sexual assaults that make national news for a short time but then disappear. How have communities changed? Aside from court cases, what other repercussions were there? (Steubenville, Vanderbilit, Baylor, Duke etc). How and why do convictions for sport players seem to differ from non sport players who commit similar crimes.

Given the popularity of the show, have you been approached to do a "Netflix-esque" docuseries version of it? Would you do it?

Have you ever thought about doing an episode about pit bulls (the dogs, not the rapper)? Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey is a great book on their history ❤️.

Can you guys have Dana from Noble Blood back again and do a deep dive about Mary Queen of Scots??

The Munich Olympics! And Octomom

Have you ever met in person? Is your chemistry and banter as great as it is in the virtual world?

I want to know if you ever get recognized from the podcast! Probably less than you would in not a pandemic, but I want to hear your celebrity moments!

Also, Sarah has the best analogies ever. They literally make me LOL.

I've always hoped for a McDonald's hot coffee episode. Maybe that's basic, but it's an interesting one!

Is your wild success going to your head?

what are some good non-bummer documentaries that you recommend

I feel like the Amanda Knox case is BEGGING for your guys' insight. She was falsely accused of murder, but there's so much more than that. Media all around the world were accusing her of being in a satanic cult, performing a devil-worshipping sex ritual, etc. For a time, she was in the eye of this moral-panic hurricane, but if you really look at that story and the evidence, it's beyond obvious she didn't do it. She's been completely vindicated, and they even arrested the actual murderer, but half the people I talk to still think she was guilty. Her bounce-back from all of that is still very much in the making, and I couldn't think of anyone more in need of a You're Wrong About redemption.

Not sure if you’ve talked about this before but id love to know more about how you choose topics and decide which ones to do first. Also would love to hear about your research process and where you get started. I have to write a ton of research papers for college so I find that fascinating. Also, do you have a favorite topic to cover like episodes about certain people vs events vs phenomenons or more political stories.

I want to hear Mike and or Sarah treat us listeners like a we're at a get-together of friends pre-pandemic and tell us their favourite story to tell about themselves.

What's your favorite type of cheese? For all the shit that was 2020, I discovered Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery and it made my life way better. https://cowgirlcreamery.com/pages/mt-tam I do most of shopping at Aldi (sometimes Wegmans) and most of Aldi specialty cheddars are good.

i would love one about mk ultra because it’s something that is INSANE and TRUE and everyone just accepts that it’s real but it’s like ?????????????? anyways i feel like sarah will have thoughts about this.

Can you do one about who benefits from the conspiracy theories? Like how much money Alex Jones makes and what kind of commission he gets on his weird merch? Or how ZeroHedge benefits? IDK how Zero Hedge benefits but I think it must. Someone I care for consumes this stuff. The relatives and Fox episode wasn't so helpful as he doesn't even watch television or use Facebook or Twitter. He is much more internet fringe, going into ever crazier websites with outrageous claims. One even had this in the heading of their home page "Everything you've been taught is a lie." When I read the articles he sends me and check their sources (if they have sources) they sometimes even have the exact opposite claim in their copy than is in their source. Honestly, it's insane and maddening, but he's 76 and doesn't have many friends, which the pandemic has worsened. But he just heard a couple of your podcasts and he's very impressed with y'all. If you could do something about the victims of these sites, the people who end up alienating their grandchildren or wasting all their money or actually holding people at a pizza joint at gunpoint because they ahve believed this crap... I don't know. But I'm always impressed by how much you both understand that everyone is human.

1) Which (if any) politicians (not limited to USA) do you see as good leaders and public servants? 2) When will we get Sarah’s book? 3) As a Canadian, I feel like it’s a long shot to ask you to talk about this, but: I would love to hear your thoughts on Justin Trudeau (specifically in light of the SNC-Lavalin/Jody Wilson-Raybould, blackface, and most recent WE Charity scandals).

I'd like to hear an episode about Woody Allen. I love his movies, but struggle with his reputation. Is he worthy of 'separating the art from the artist'?

Has Mike read Mariah Carey’s book yet? Thoughts/impressions?

I know the UK TERF situation is already in the hopper, but I'd also love a look at their whole 'grooming gang' panic and the racial undertones of it. It's like the perfect melange of racism, nationalism, moral panic, historical parallels...yadda yadda yadda, it'd make a good one, I think.

I want to hear about Sarah's sled dog past

I would like to know the story behind Sarah's Twitter avatar which appears to be of her singing Part of Your World at karaoke. Why this particular picture? What is it's resonance? PS I saw LMM when I was 10 yo, 4 times in the theater by scamming different relatives/family friends

What are your favorite podcasts to listen to besides the show? I've almost made my way through the archive and I'd love to find some other great podcasts to help me stay busy in the quarantimes!

I would also like to know about Sarah's plants and/or the various animals in her life

I would love to hear you talk about the 2020 Paris Hilton documentary (and Hilton in general)

Dolly the sheep, Jack Kevorkian

More 90s:Waco seige, NAFTA

Any approximate release date for the book about the satanic panic?! (No pressure, just v excited to read it)

Britney Spears, Timothy Leary, Lewis Carroll

Have there been any subjects which you researched for an episode but then it turned out no, we were actually right about it all along? Or does anything like that not make it past a cursory inspection?

I am embarrassed to admit that I enjoy shows from the TLC channel. Anyway, they have a show of Romani (fka gypsies) people and it is just fascinating. Are they really like that????

would you be inclined to do a podcast about Herbert and Garner Ted Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God?

I just want to comment that I relistened to the Satanic Panic episodes, and note that at the end, Michael asks if another similar panic could happen now. Oh what horrors the near future would bring with the rise of Qanon.

Liberachi (and Scott Thorson)

What are some behind-the-scenes of the podcast world you didn't know about before you started the podcast? And has it lead to any new opportunities that you didn't expect?

Also if I get a second question have either of you seen the episode of Brass Eye called Pedogeddon? It was a whole phenomenon over here back in the day and I feel like you both would enjoy it

I'd really like to hear your take on the recent transgender moral panic and how it compares and has evolved from previous ones (though my understanding is very UK focused which I know is very different from in the US)

I have a question for Sarah, what is your favorite fiber art and do you have any projects you are proud of? And for Michael, what's your favorite tv show? I feel like we know so much about Sarah's entertainment viewing habits and preferences but very little about Michael's.

Michael Jackson pleaseeeee

So, as someone in my mid-20s, I feel constant pressure to be doing more/have achieved more/be conforming to certain societal expectations. Not a YWA, I’m just interested in what you guys would consider your most formative experience of your 20s, and what you think is the most underrated aspect of peoples’ 20s, or what expectation society has of young adults that drives you particularly nuts?

I know it has been mentioned, doing episodes on the Scott Peterson trial. Looking forward to those ! Also, the continuation of the OJ trial 🤗

No time like the present to do a YWA on vaccines! Other ideas are the relatively new phenomenon of Genetic Genealogy (Cece Moore, how EARONS was caught, etc.) or Georgia Tann and the whole idea of pre/post-war Black Market baby adoptions. A YWA on ADD/ADHD would also be great as I feel like it’s very misunderstood, especially in adults. Finally a YWA on the increasing maternal mortality rate, especially in non-white women. It’s such an expansive issue and I often find myself at a loss for what policy changes and legislation to advocate for other than, “please listen to women more!” How do you regulate and police empathy and listening, especially in medicine? I would also LOVE an episode about The Troubles in Ireland, because lord knows I don’t understand it at all.

Wondering how freelance writing is going for both of you, in "these times" and generally. I have never done that kind of work, and it seems like it could be very empowering and freeing but stressful and exploitative too.

I just loved how sarah and Mike discussed the British way of life in the Diana episodes. I’m Irish so it’s all old news to me, but Sarah’s delight hearing Diana ate baked beans was very funny! Discuss some other British scandal ?!

1- would love to have a series of the worst portrayals of Black America and black history. And the yellow journalism that went with it. 2- a trio of the strangest cults. And maybe cult deprogramming. 3- Beau Brummell aka the man that made men’s fashion modern and boring. With maybe Dana Schwartz guesting.

I'd love an episode exploring South Park's relationship to politics, if any. I was in middle school when it started, and I felt like it was something that parents were Very Worried about. It also seems to me (maybe unfairly) that it's tied to/a progenitor of edge-lording and the modern usage of "lighten up, it's just a joke, we make fun of EVERYONE, don't be so sensitive" to cover some really shitty stuff that got normalized for older Millennials in particular. IDK. I may be way off-base here.

This is a TALL order, but I really want to know your hot takes on teen dramas from mid-90s to early-2000s and their impact on teen panics. Like, as the opposite of after-school specials. The top thing that comes to mind is Degrassi and the “rubber-band party panic” (you know the one). Also, the first episode is literally about online predators and child trafficking. How do these shows contribute to worries our fears of our teens “getting up to no-good?” Especially when that “no-good” they’re getting up to is disproportionately centered on a fault of the teen’s and not on the systems that should protect them? (Here’s looking at Paige dating the high school teacher that literally gives her drugs later)

Does it drive you absolutely crazy that all of the responses to these posts is suggestions for episode topics? 🤣 What are your thoughts about putting ads into the show? Y'all do a to of work for it and are quickly becoming the podcast I see recommended most on the internet, I'm surprised you don't have ads at this point.

Def interested to hear what it's like to juggle co-hosting more than one podcast, appearing as a guest on others, etc. Seems like a LOT. (You are both doing a good job.)

Harvey Milk and Moscone assassinations.

The episode where you all read the creepy encounters subreddit was a surprisingly rich text, would love another one or some variation on that theme for a bonus ep!

I'd love to hear Sarah tell Mike the plots to the Saw movies. I'm too scared to watch them but her interest in them intrigues me.

are you able to predict just how many more oj episodes are coming before we reach the acquittal?

How has doing this podcast changed how you approach media and historical events? Do you have any topics you might come across in casual research or every day life, like about some historical event or figure that you'd want to do an episode on, that you end up avoiding because you know it's total Michael or Sarah Bait and you want to go in to the eventual episode as fresh as can be?

What about extreme couponers? My sister was one & had a garage full of antiperspirant! It was fascinating.

What other things about Britishness interest/confound you? Michael talks about his time in London. Where did he like to hang out? Any good anecdotes?

Dyatlov Pass ?? which is kind of left field and lesser known but such an enthralling mystery

I loved the Diana series. It was so interesting to understand something so intrinsic to the English national consciousness from across the pond.

Have you ever thought you had a great topic for an episode but the research didn't bear any fruit? If so what was it? Did that experience teach you anything about making the show?

PLEASE do something on the black panthers!

(1) Has anyone made either of you guys realise something you were wrong about before? (2) What were your top podcasts of 2020? (3) If you guys could be another dynamo duo (other than podcaster extraordinaires), what would it be? Fantastical answers are acceptable =P

I’d love to know how Sarah Marshall’s book on the satanic panic is going!

Your y2k episode was great. Doing something else about the evolution of the internet/tech landscape we are in now. Maybe have Corry Doctorow, Richard Stallman or one of the other reasonable folks to talk about tech myths and misunderstandings.

Has Sarah watched krampas? Thoughts?

I've seen some people saying we've been through crazier times than this as a country, and that things will get better and become more stable eventually. Do you think that's actually true/are you optimistic about the future?

I think this one would be up your alley. How about a deep dive about adding fluoride to drinking water. Here's why it would be fun: First, there was a push to add it to the water based on some questionable research Second, a mass hysteria in some areas where it was proposed to add the element to the water Then all was quite for decades to be followed by a wave to remove it from the water Lots of points to sink your teeth.

You both talked earlier about the kind of mood-setting music you listen to as your work. What bands/artists do you listen to when you're in the mood for lyrics? As far as topics go, I know this isn't a whole episode, but what's with the urban legend (appropriate term? maybe cultural myth?) that if your college roommate dies (usually cited as by suicide) that you receive an "A" or pass for the semester? It pops up all the time in media and is just understood. Any idea where it came from? If it's true?

I'd like you hear your opinions about Hilary Clinton. She has this reputation of being unlikeable and I have a strong suspicion that a lot of that has to do with her being a woman and maybe not "doing woman" properly, but I'm also fully aware that I might not have a very informed opinion.

A deep dive on Walt Disney could be fun. He was both an inspired visionary and a truly awful person!

This isn't a question. I just want to hear about Sarah's kittens, please.

Pre-pandemic, I was curious if you both have ever met up in person to work or chat. Also, I too am from the Northwest and was curious about your favorite places in or around Portland and Seattle.

Sorry I don’t know how clear this was, I am very interested in the feminist media that has been made recently about the Manson girls and how they have perhaps been romanticized, or used as an example of how women were mis treated during during the “Summer of Love” but how in actuality they were different than they are perhaps portrayed now.

Kent State. Holocaust deniers (like WHERE did that come from?), Impeachments and that bs about pop rocks and coke killing you.

Just wondering how you are both doing during this crazy time. There are so many things we can’t do right now in the interest of everyone’s safety. What will be the first thing you do when it’s safe? I’m a huge Broadway fan and miss live theater. How about you guys?

also! I would love to hear more about Sarah’s thoughts about the Manson girls. The line between how Charles Manson was especially apt at manipulating women, but also how he was essentially a white supremacist who used a lot of hallucinogenics to manipulate his followers.

I would love to hear more about both of your personal stories, how you discovered writing, how got to where you are now? :)

I’d also love to hear more about Sarah’s history working with dogs (and a McDonalds hot coffee case episode, if either of you are so inclined).

1) Would love to see a series on Reconstruction with a guest like Adam Serwer or Jelani Cobb. 2) Classic rock myths: Led Zeppelin/shark, etc.

I'm curious about how Sarah learned so much about taking care of dogs. And I'm curious what Mike's commuter bike set up is. Topic wise my partner wants me to ask "what was the deal with killer bees"? He grew up in Seattle and remembers everyone being scared of them one summer. I grew up in California and don't remember this.

The passing of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 which essentially criminalized undocumented immigration and transformed immigration into a law enforcement agency. Interesting to hear you break down how we started looking at immigration through a lens of criminality because it didn’t start in 9/11. This is not something that we have appropriately revisited like other legislation of its time (ie crime bill). Someone brought up generational trauma. I second that. I think about this a lot having young children of my own and thinking about the collective trauma myself, my parents and ancestors have experienced. Something else along those lines the concept of weathering amongst black women has finally caught the attention of the media (not a lot) but would love to hear your break down of this.

I would love to hear your thoughts on Reeva Steenkamp and how the press talked about her murder in comparison with Nicole Brown. Has anything improved in the 20 years between the trials?

I'm sure this will be better saved for the OJ series, but do either of you give any credibility to the claims that OJs son Jason killed Nicole?

Britney Spears? Gamergate? Brangelina?

Have you ever thought about female celebrities over the years such as: Marilyn Monroe, Britney Spears, etc etc. Women who may have a certain image to the world, but with a lot of unknowns in their past.

QAnon or any sub sectors/factions, The founding fathers, Fetal Alcohol syndrome ( I feel like the crack babies touched on this), Teen Pregnancy, Virus spread and just debunking some illness wives tales in general, the salem witch trials.

I'm curious to hear you return to your theory on why John Allen Muhammad is less infamous than other notorious serial killers in American culture. Why is there so little literature and discussion about JAM? It blew my mind when I heard it and I agree with you but I don't fully understand why it is the way that it is. I would think that in a media culture that criminalizes Black and Muslim identities that his story would be repeated in awful vitriolic ways. Yet during the height of post 9/11 Islamaphobic panic the story died away from the news cycle. Do you believe that if the shooters had been a white man and a white teenager that the story would be in the canon of notorious serial killers we know so well? I hadn't even noticed that the most iconic serial killers are all white until you pointed that out. The answer to me seems to be related to what circumstances create a moral panic (something I've been thinking about all year thanks to you two) and it seems to be the fear of something hidden and sinister lurking in what we code as "wholesome" like clowns, the daycare centre, halloween candy, aka the premise of Twin Peaks. So was JAM so othered, so maligned as a Black Muslim man, that he doesn't provide the compelling narrative to remind people to be afraid of what they're already afraid of? Those episodes were so expertly told. I'm a YWA obsessive but Mildred's story stuck with me more than any other.

The rise and fall of video arcades., Console wars, Video games and violence among teens. Love the show!

Would love a You're Wrong About on George Orwell! Been thinking a lot these last few days about how he was a socialist and how his critiques of totalitarianism/censorship were also informed by his disillusionment as a police officer in colonial Burma.

How can individuals encourage or educate adults and teenagers on media literacy or critical thinking when it comes to media?

The Koch family (not the onion towel lady) and other billionaire political influencers.

Do you have any tips on fact-checking? How far down the rabbit hole do you go before you decide its too much, do you favour government statistics or university/education generated ones, do you have any advice on traps for 'factoids' not to fall in to or any resources we could look at to learn more about checking your own facts?

Are we ever going to get the 'Mike's thoughts on brexit' episode?

Hi friends, I am a huge fan of your show , which has been a security blanket during a hectic and lonely year. I am a journalist who covers health and lately have seen a lot of critics online telling me I'm "instilling panic" about COVID-19 with my reporting. As a fervent listener of your show, I am aware of how easily social groups can slip into hysteria. My question: Has studying the history of social panics changed how you view the public's response to the coronavirus pandemic?

Sarah, what three horror movies would you make Michael watch to make him like horror movies?

Thoughts on fat liberation movement, Health at Every Size, and the co-opting of fat spaces?

I'm having a hard time as an undergraduate choosing what to pursue. I am not all that in love with my current path. I know there are other options that would make me happy and employable. Could you give advice or testimony on how to make smart educational choices?

Adolescence violence and video games? I seem to remember this being a crusade for Tipper Gore, who seems like a nice lady who was misinformed.

Thoughts on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Genetically inherited trauma. I am a child and a grandchild of holocaust survivors and I have always had a sense of my dad's trauma, but the idea that it potentially changed my genes is very fascinating

I’d love hearing more from Jamelle Bouie and historical context around recent events and inaugurations (also why do we have almost three months of lame duck admin after an election). Also an ep or series about Britney!

So many things on my mind! I've been thinking lots about cigarette companies and their insider smuggling.

I’d love an episode on thalidomide

what's your favourite drink; hot, cold, and alcoholic, with company and alone?

Marilyn Monroe, her suicide/murder/accidental death, the Kennedys, and her knowledge of the UFO COVER up. 😊

I'd love to have a special episode where we get to find about more about you two! I loved the one early on where you gave a bit of a life journey.... Also.... Grease 2!

I would love an episode on recycling!!! seems straight forward until you realize that, like littering, recycling was pushed by companies to put the onus on the consumer instead of dealing with a problem they themselves created.

I'm kinda hoping you will read the Mariah Carey memoir and just tell me the best parts.

I loved when you both talked about the influential movies from your childhood (and it’s always a delight to pick up your movie references during the eps—so much so that I want a spreadsheet so I can do the Sarah media treatment. I’m already watching along with you in Why Are Dads). I’d love for you to talk about movies that influenced your current ideology, sense of justice, and/or political beliefs!

I’d be really curious to learn about secret societies / any specific secret society / the Illuminati

I remember being fascinated by the death of Diane Whipple in San Francisco. It always felt like there was more to the story.

I'd love an episode about Thomas Edison. As a kid I was taught he was this brilliant inventor and as an adult I learned he electrocuted elephants for laughs.

Is there a topic that you wouldn’t do?

As a British person living in the UK I would love to understand more about the second amendment (think it’s that one...) and all the gun laws. Why didn’t the shooting of small children at Sandy Hook inspire change the way the Dunblane Massacre did in Scotland. Why do people in the states thing the answer to gun crime is more guns?

I'd love an episode about one of my favorite things - widely believed but incorrect scientific facts, like the whole "the Great Wall is the only manmade thing you can see from the moon" and "glass is really a slow-moving liquid" thing. I'm a Science Person and this stuff bugs me. I'm also available for consultation, heheh.

My random question: Have you ever been recognized IRL because of your voices? I ask because I definitely once recognized some podcast hosts in the wild based on their voices (I was going to see a live show later in the day and ran into them at a museum near the venue) and am 99% sure I also once was in line at the grocery store behind an Atlanta DJ with a very distinctive voice.

If you could pick one episode which everyone in the USA would magically have listened to, which would it be?

the space race.

Which of your episodes (maybe apart from The Satanic Panic) do you think about the most?

What was your favourite or most memorable university course, and why?

I agree with so many of the other suggestions on here! (Britney Spears, I’ve been thinking about especially.) But like perhaps some other British listeners, one day I’d love to hear your take on the Madeleine McCann disappearance story. But given that it’s *still*! ongoing, that might be one we need to wait a few years for. (By the way, part of the reason I want to hear your take on it is that my best friend and fellow YWA-nut is totally sensible in every way, except that she’s a dyed-in-the-wool MM conspiracy theorist. And, given that she’s usually right about things, I’d love to hear you debunk this. She recently admitted that there was almost no evidence which could make her change her mind about the “it was her parents all along” conspiracy. Aw I still love her.)

I'm curious if the way you research or plan future shows has changed with the (awesome and well-deserved) success of the podcast. Do you think you've changed in tone or content knowing that you're reaching a broader audience?

I love your guys show!!

1. Does the research you do take an emotional toll on you and how do manage that? 2. What did you worry about in your twenties that now seems irrelevant? What aspect of ethics most needs to return to journalism given the decline of broadsheet and established journalism vs reality/clickbait driven journalism?

I appreciate you both so much. Maybe y’all could get a little local and talk about evergreen, the media misrepresentation (has political correctness culture gone too far??) and Bret Weinstein being seduced by the dark side of the force.

Your thoughts on what, if anything came out of the Occupy Wall Street movement

The history of the Fairness Doctrine and the aftermath. JFK Jr.. The 2000 election, ETA- my none functioning brain 🤦🏻‍♀️

Would love a topic on what people say will be needed to "deprogram" those who bought into QAnon and election fraud misinformation. What is it going to take to convince them, the election wasn't rigged? And, do experts think people who have taken action are now too far gone to reconsider?

Do You're Wrong About Pit Bulls! And the bad laws around the hysteria around supposedly dangerous dog breeds.

Hello! Love you both! I would love to hear about researching + ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2020 and as a “high functioning” academic lady, I have imposter syndrome about it. I find it hard to research and spent my college years quickly pooping out what the professor wanted at the last minute. Sarah has tweeted about ADHD before, how does she focus on research? Many thanks!!!!

I would like to see a 1970s style You’re Wrong About Variety Hour with special guests from other podcasts and you sing and dance and talk about things we were super worried about in the 70s like killer bees.

Also: Julia Butterfly Hill!

What do you each miss most about the pre-COVID times? What do you not miss?

would really love to hear about the McDonald's Hot Coffee Case from you two!

Hello! I've been reading about Method acting and the misconceptions surrounding it (mostly when people refer to it it's with a very nebulous definition and, often, an incorrect label) and have been dying for a YWA look at the history of that and how it's shaped by HUAC, etc. Also, who are your favourite actors!

I would love to hear an episode on how the current environment enabled alt right movements like Q to even exist 🤯

What's the old theme song? I love it and if you're sticking with surf rock I at least want to be able to find it!

Oh one more! The Battle of the Sexes and the life of Billy Jean King ✌🏻

Hello! The disco episode features a lot of music, and I would assume that you didn't have to pay for the rights to use it. I know some platforms use algorithms to scan podcasts for unlicensed music, did you guys have any trouble with that episode. What advice would you offer to podcasters who want to use recording from other media?

Do you ever look at a current event (ie attack on the capitol building, covid) and think about how it’s going to be remembered or what will need to be debunked about it?

I'd love to hear you guys discuss how you interact with friends who are susceptible to/frequently espouse cultural myths and conspiracy theories.

In the last part of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina there is a metal band named ‘Satanic panic’ 🤣 What’s the actual origin of the name?

What is going on with Brittany Spears? It’s so creepy, and feels a tiny bit like slavery. If the woman couldn’t make any money being a headliner in Vegas, would she be free?

Responding to right wing family who say all media is equally biased, like the left is just as biased as the right.

I would love an episode on the VW Beatle! I read a fantastic book second year in graduate school on the history from WWII to the sale of cars in the Americas 60s-80s. “The People’s Car” it’s a super readable Harvard Press and blew my mind in “YWA” style with all its stories. Perhaps as well a bomb shelter / luxury bomb shelters episode or a Worlds Fair’s series.

Why do millennials like house plants so much? Why am I the way I am??

Hi Mike & Sarah! I just watched the FX/Hulu show "A Teacher" and it reminded me of the Mary Kay Letourneau case from the 90s- an episode on her would be amazing! I would love to hear your take. Thank you so much, love the podcast!

Hello. I love how you provide references and links to source material. I’ve read or ordered some of the research texts because they sound so interesting. How would you compare the research process for the show to the research you might do for a written journalistic piece?

For each of you: what’s your favorite episode(s) and which ones do you wish you could redo? (If any?)

“Girl Boss” and white feminism

Are there any episodes you want a do-over on?

And Jane Fonda!

I've fantasized about you both doing a road trip style investigative series (in a Covid-free world, natch). What would you cover on such a show? And what kinds of things would you learn about each other cooped up in a car and in motel rooms for days on end?

I would love to hear you two delve into the Black Panthers.

Do you guys meet up a lot in real life? (Covid 19 pending). Please do a live show in the U.K. 😍

Hey friends! This may feel a little boilerplate but I’m a musician making a career shift to journalism, and am inspired by both of your careers and work. Any advice for starting out reporting on societal trends, as far as research and any other practical concerns I should think about? Thanks a lot, huge fan.

I would love to hear about Sarah's work with dogs! Or what Mike's favourite piece he's written recently is

Is there anything we have been RIGHT about?? My guess is no but would love to hear y'alls thoughts.

Have also seen you tweet about the odd review for the podcast that criticises up-speak / vocal fry / ‘like’ and how you feel about that? And what feels like the misogynistic undertones of those critiques

What books were formative to you as children?

Would love to hear how each of you approaches a new topic, journalistically — maybe Mike in particular. You often mention interviewing dozens of people for an episode/article, including some kinds of people who seem like they'd be hard to track down. (E.g., convicted sex offenders for your episode on that topic.) Which kinds of people do you reach out to first when approaching a new subject? Academics? Activists? Other journalists? How do you know when you've interviewed "enough" people to have a firm grasp on a topic?

Oooh I would love an episode on louise Woodward. British nanny convicted of manslaughter in the US while working for EF AU PAIR (basically a company who farm out young unqualified inexperienced people to families paying peanuts to be a live-in nanny/skivvy). Huge media circus, she was treated as an absolute villain.

I recently listened to the Koko the gorilla episode and was wondering what your thoughts on dogs using button boards were. Specifically hunger4words vs what_about_bunny

You ever thought about doing a dive into Michael Jackson?

Are there any addendums or changes to any previous episodes that you would like to go back to and talk about them differently now?

Megan and Harry pls I loved the princess di series and never put together just how many parallels there are here between mother and son and just general themes that come up again (horrible tabloid treatment, Harry married a divorced woman - is Charles salty bc he wished he could have married a divorced Camilla when he was younger??)

Would love to know if you’ve ever had a response from the subject of an episode after you’ve released it? And if so, how they felt about it?

I’d love an episode about the madness & rise of the antivaxxer movement...

Not a question but I just listened to the Obesity Epidemic episode and I was again overwhelmed by the warmth and empathy of you both. Thank you so much for this.

Yes! Zimbardo is a total sleaze. Saw him at a conference a few years ago and he was taking pictures with people like he was a rockstar.

Hi Mike and Sarah! I’d love to hear your thoughts about Titanic (the movie) and some of the wild stuff that happened during its filming.

Have you discovered that you've been wrong about anything you have discussed? Or wish you could go back and clarify anything?

There’s a strange rumor going around that Gen Z doesn’t believe in Helen Keller (or they don’t believe she was actually deaf and blind). Have you come across this at all?

who would your dream guests be?

IQ tests! And have mentioned this before, but in the interest of consolidation: the US eugenics movement.

Can you please talk about how Zimbardo dated and later married his grad student

i was wondering if you would be willing/interested in talking to high schoolers about your research process. i think that your episodes are a great demonstration of the value of research and would love you to talk to my students (for pay, obv.)

Favourite fact or story that you couldn't manage to include in an episode but really want to share anyways

And Natalie Wood

First Amendment

The Jessica Savitch story please