Popular Culture

The ‘Satanic Panic’ Is Back: How a Bygone Moral Crisis Returned With Queer Artists In Its Crosshairs
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The ‘Satanic Panic’ Is Back: How a Bygone Moral Crisis Returned With Queer Artists In Its Crosshairs

Editor’s note: this look at American culture is here for your research into “Satanic Panic.”  On Feb. 6, 2023, certain corners of the internet could not stop talking about Sam Smith and Kim Petras. The night prior (Sunday, Feb. 5), the pair took home a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance, marking the first-ever…

'Nowhere to be found': Everything we know about missing Scientology leader David Miscavige
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'Nowhere to be found': Everything we know about missing Scientology leader David Miscavige

Scientology leader David Miscavige is “nowhere to be found”.  Named as a defendant in a federal child trafficking lawsuit, Mr Miscavige has repeatedly dodged prosecutors who have tried to serve the 62-year-old 27 times in four months at Scientology properties in Clearwater, Florida, and California, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Every time, security guards refused…

How Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons brought ‘satanic panic’ into the suburbs
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How Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons brought ‘satanic panic’ into the suburbs

Growing up in Warragal, Victoria, in the 1980s, David Waldron’s after-school hobby — playing Dungeons and Dragons — was raising eyebrows. “It was a fringe hobby,” he recalls. “I was quite an introvert and having a few mates around to play these games with their elaborate rules was a fun thing to do on a Friday night. It…

From satanic panic to billion-dollar business: how Dungeons & Dragons conquered the world
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From satanic panic to billion-dollar business: how Dungeons & Dragons conquered the world

A role-playing game born half a century ago in a Wisconsin basement has spawned an empire spanning film, TV and YouTube. How did it leave its mark on Stranger Things, ET and everyone from Stephen King to Elon Musk? by Stuart Jeffries  ‘We didn’t mean to unleash the greatest evil the world has ever known,”…

Satanic panic is making a comeback, fueled by QAnon believers and GOP influencers
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Satanic panic is making a comeback, fueled by QAnon believers and GOP influencers

Editor’s note: this is a look into American news as well as culture. PROVO, Utah — On June 1, David Leavitt, the prosecuting attorney for Utah County, stood behind a lectern in his windowless Provo office before a gaggle of reporters. Wearing a gray suit and an exasperated look, he wanted to make something categorically…

Boosted by QAnon and mainstream conservatives, satanic panic spreads online and through local communities
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Boosted by QAnon and mainstream conservatives, satanic panic spreads online and through local communities

PROVO, Utah — On June 1, David Leavitt, the prosecuting attorney for Utah County, stood behind a lectern in his windowless Provo office before a gaggle of reporters. Wearing a gray suit and an exasperated look, he wanted to make something categorically clear: Neither he nor his wife were guilty of murdering or cannibalizing young…

Gillette human trafficking sting brings training and awareness | News | buffalobulletin.com
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Gillette human trafficking sting brings training and awareness | News | buffalobulletin.com

GILLETTE — A shrill whistle cut through the air. “There’s a white pickup pulling up,” said Natalie Perkins, from her post looking out of the hotel room’s window. The room full of people went still. The air conditioner hummed and traffic was heard from the road outside the Gillette hotel. Then a few moments later…

Why unions can’t ignore incarcerated workers
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Why unions can’t ignore incarcerated workers

An estimated two thirds of the more than one million prisoners in the United States today are incarcerated workers. With many prisoners earning less than a dollar an hour, and those who refuse to work often facing vicious retaliation in the form of punitive solitary confinement, labor exploitation is an important part of what makes…

The True Story Behind Stranger Things’ Satanic Panic
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The True Story Behind Stranger Things’ Satanic Panic

© Provided by CBR The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1, now available to stream on Netflix. The fourth season of Stranger Things introduced a new key member of the main group: Eddie Munson, a new friend of Mike, Dustin and Lucas and president of Hawkins High’s Dungeons & Dragons group,…

Human Trafficking Myths Exploded: Women Offend Too, and It’s Happening in Our Own Back Yard – Newswise
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Human Trafficking Myths Exploded: Women Offend Too, and It’s Happening in Our Own Back Yard – Newswise

Newswise — A new study has exploded four common myths around human trafficking in Australia, debunking the perception that offenders are exclusively male, foreigners, unknown to their victims and use physical force to control them. The stereotypes, perpetuated in the media, popular culture and by governments, couldn’t be further off the mark, according to University…