In the 1980s, America was told Satanism was on the rise. Devil worshipers were responsible for kidnappings and blood sacrifices, and were coming for your children. Soon, police, teachers, and social workers were seeing Satanists everywhere. But why did the “satanic panic" take off in the first place? Were we really afraid of the devil? Or was it a way to explain the rising prevalence of societal ills and cultural shifts some saw as just as corrupting as Lucifer himself?
In CBC’s “The Devil You Know,” host Sarah Marshall hunts for the origins of the 80s satanic panic and why it took hold. She finds that mass media tropes and religious dogma - combined with the public’s growing awareness of sexual abuse, queer-phobia, and changing mores - helped fuel a hysteria in which it was easier to blame the devil for our problems than ourselves.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE DEVIL YOU KNOW" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
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