Satanic Panic of the 1980s Is Happening Again — This Time in Minnesota Daycares (w/ Sarah Marshall)

2026-02-18

Download

A viral video. A smeared daycare worker. A community in panic. Sound familiar? In the 1980s, a wave of hysteria swept the country, accusing daycare workers of abusing children in Satanic rituals — accusations that ruined lives and were entirely false. Now, a dubious video out of Minnesota is sparking the same kind of moral panic all over again. To make sense of the moment, I sat down with Sarah Marshall, host of the new CBC podcast The Devil You Know, to trace the through-line from the Satanic Panic to t...

A viral video. A smeared daycare worker. A community in panic. Sound familiar?

In the 1980s, a wave of hysteria swept the country, accusing daycare workers of abusing children in Satanic rituals — accusations that ruined lives and were entirely false. Now, a dubious video out of Minnesota is sparking the same kind of moral panic all over again.

To make sense of the moment, I sat down with Sarah Marshall, host of the new CBC podcast The Devil You Know, to trace the through-line from the Satanic Panic to today's daycare scandals — and ask what it says about us that we keep falling for this.

Listen to Sarah's podcast The Devil You Know wherever you get your podcasts!

Let us know what you think about this episode by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify!

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! || instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc || youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comments (3)