Return of the Satanic Panic
The 1980s and early 1990s moral panic comes back - with a vengeance.
A. Earlier this year, I wrote to Disinformation alumnus Jason Louv and the Temple of Set’s Don Webb about the Satanic Panic’s return. I have dealt with its 1980s and early 1990s manifestation in various life domains for 35 years. Jay Daniel Thompson provides an overview of recent catalyst events. Here is Louv:
The Tibetan Buddhist teacher (Kagyu lineage) Nikolas Schreck (formerly a Magister in the Temple of Set, an honorary member of the Church of Satan, and primarily with his former partner Zeena Schreck of Radio Werewolf / The Werewolf Order) - who has written a great, recently updated book on the Satanic film genre - provides his critical view.
B. Victoria’s inquiry into cults and fringe organised groups has heard from victim-survivors of the Church of Scientology and Children of God. The inquiry has struggled with definitional issues about what constitutes a cult versus a religion. Part of this is the knowledge base that the inquiry has scoped its work around. There are a range of perspectives - anticult, new religious movement, mental health, and practitioner-based - that are unlikely to be explored in their full epistemological and methodological context.
C. A useful 2015 memorandum on the United States based security clearance process.
D. In a dialogue today with Disinformation alumnus Nick Mamatas, I referenced two books on the psychogenic hysteria / trauma nature of some sightings of apparitions and ghosts. The first is Monica Black’s A Demon-Haunted Land: Witches, Wonder Doctors, and the Ghosts of the Past in Post-WWII Germany (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2020). The second is Franziska Exeler’s Ghosts of War: Nazi Occupation and Its Aftermath in Soviet Belarus (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2022). Mamatas has a new book out that is highly recommended: Kalivas! Or, Another Tempest (Troy, NY: Clash Books, 2025).
E. Poker expert Brandon Adams (Broke: A Poker Novel) interviews risk manager Aaron C. Brown (Red-Blooded Risk: The Secret History of Wall Street and The Poker Face of Wall Street).
F. Radiohead’s complete first concert on 4th November 2025 from Madrid, Spain.
G. Arthur C. Brooks on how to have a happy lasting marriage.
H. Economist Branko Milanovic on neoliberalism’s decay.
I. On the new George Orwell documentary 2+2=5.
The documentary 2+2=5’s trailer.
J. Today’s MIT OCW free course is System Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World created by Professor James E. Paine (Google Scholar profile).