Episodes

  • Ep. 1: Film, Nuns and Deathly Dances
    Jul 24 2019

    Cinema thrives on hysterical characters, especially when they inhabit closed environments such as convents or girls schools. But what can we make of the dozens of people who died during a dancing epidemic in medieval France?

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    34 mins
  • Ep. 2: Witches, Wombs and Women
    Jul 24 2019

    Hysteria shares its etymological roots with the ancient Greek word for womb. Does that explain why women are still more likely than men to be accused of hysterical behaviour?

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    25 mins
  • Ep. 3: Spirits, Angels and Seances
    Jul 24 2019

    Death – or being in close proximity to death – encourages unusual social behaviour. From the birth of Spiritualism to WW1 and beyond, how are our beliefs shaped by the people we lose?

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    28 mins
  • Ep. 4: Fear of the Unknown
    Jul 24 2019

    For us to truly understand hysteria, we need to adequately document and remember events where extraordinary behaviour occurs – but that’s easier said than done. Why do our minds allow us to remember (or forget) the things it can’t cleanly process?

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    30 mins
  • Ep. 5: Corporate Hysteria
    Jul 24 2019

    It’s one thing for individuals to experience moments of panic or delusion. But can corporations or even countries display hysterical behaviour?

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    32 mins
  • Ep. 6: Viral Panic
    Jul 24 2019

    The internet and social media give us the tools to not only spread panic, but to invent new causes for alarm. Are we entering a period in which global outbreaks of Mass Psychogenic Illness could occur?

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    31 mins