Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – Details, episodes & analysis

They say the Devil’s in the details, but when conspiracies captivate our imaginations, we often overlook the real devils walking among us. From the creators of the hit podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill comes a new show, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which takes you back to the Satanic Panic that gripped America in the 1980s and 90s. This limited series explores how hysteria gripped parents and teens through cautionary tales like Go Ask Alice, influenced notorious criminal cases like the West Memphis Three, and catapulted the political agenda of the Moral Majority. Join as we seek to understand how this wave of panic devastated innocent lives and diverted the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews. Episodes drop January 2025 but you can join our show discussion page on Facebook right now. Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Host and Creator - Mike Cosper Producer - Rebekah Sebastian Sound Design and Engineering - T.J. Hester Motion - Steven Scheidler Production Assistant - Dawn Adams Theme music by Dirt Poor Robins Cover art by Nim Ben-Reuven Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the Executive Producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our Senior Producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1960s promised a revolution—civil rights, moon landings, peace, love, and rock and roll. But it also brought riots, rising drug use, and missing kids. By decade’s end, American parents weren’t just worried—they were terrified. This episode follows Art Linkletter, America’s beloved TV host, whose daughter Diane fell to her death in 1969. The official ruling? Suicide. But Linkletter blamed LSD and the counterculture, launching an anti-drug crusade that aligned him with President Nixon and fueled the War on Drugs. We’ll trace the growing panic over runaway girls, the Manson murders, and the impact of Go Ask Alice—a shocking bestseller that warned parents of the horrors awaiting their children. But was Alice a window into reality, or the invention of an author manipulating the fears of a generation? Finally, we’ll land in the early 1970s when a different movement was rising. The Jesus People Movement pulled young hippies into a rock-fueled Christian revival, culminating in Explo ‘72, a massive Dallas event dubbed the “Christian Woodstock.” Was this a spiritual awakening—or another front in the culture war? With guests Rick Emerson and Daniel Silliman, we unpack the fears that shaped the era—and what happens when paranoia and politics collide. Resources: Rick Emerson, Unmask Alice Daniel Silliman, One Lost Soul Nixon Library Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. Special thanks to Hephzibah House for use of their recording studio   If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.   Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind the scenes content.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the face of it, TLC’s show about the Duggar family and Damien Echols, one of the infamous West Memphis Three, seem to have little in common. But what if we told you that both stories, which begin and end in Arkansas, are the perfect launching points for our new limited series on the Satanic Panic? Welcome to Season 1 of Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, where we explore the strange and troubling era of the 1980s and ’90s when America—especially the evangelical church—became convinced that satanic ritual abuse and occult activity hid around every corner. From local news reports warning of dark rituals to churches hosting “record burnings” to purge secular music, fear of a hidden, demonic conspiracy dominated the cultural landscape. If you grew up during this era, you might even remember being warned by Sunday school teachers to avoid Halloween because of its “satanic” roots. Maybe you were forbidden from playing Dungeons & Dragons or using an Ouija board at sleepovers because they were considered direct portals to Satan. But beyond these odd and, at times, laughable memories lie a darker reality—with real-world consequences. False accusations, wrongful imprisonments, and abuse of power by religious and political leaders left lasting scars and a wake of destruction. The Satanic Panic is a cautionary tale about how fear and misinformation can spiral into real danger—something still relevant today, as conspiracy theories continue to shape our world in new and troubling ways. In today’s pilot episode, we begin in Arkansas, examining two stories that seem worlds apart—the Duggar family, a symbol of conservative Christian values, and The West Memphis Three, a tragic case driven by hysteria and misinformation. Join as we ask; How did this wave of panic devastate innocent lives and divert the church’s attention from the evil lurking in its own pews? Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben-Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins   Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the Executive Producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our Senior Producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind the scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today’s episode, we’re exploring how fear and false memories motivated us to believe stories that were horrific yet too compelling to check. It started with Jay’s Journal, where Beatrice Sparks transformed teenage angst into a cautionary tale of demonic possession. Then, Michelle Remembers, the book that introduced the idea that buried trauma could be unlocked through recovered memory therapy—if only you had the right guide. But the idea that memories—especially traumatic ones—could be buried and later uncovered wasn’t new. In the late 19th century, Sigmund Freud’s patient, known as Fräulein Anna O., became the foundation for his theories on female hysteria, repression, and recovered memory. Her case set the stage for a century of psychological experiments that blurred the line between therapy and suggestion. And then came McMartin Preschool. In 1983, a single accusation spiraled into the most expensive criminal trial in US history. With no physical evidence, only the increasingly elaborate claims of children, the nation still believed in secret tunnels and Satanic abuse. So who were the real victims? The children, coached into giving adults the stories they wanted? The daycare workers, whose lives were destroyed? The terrified parents who surely only wanted justice for their children? Or the storytellers—Beatrice Sparks, Lawrence Pazder—who sold fear as truth, convincing the world that the Devil was lurking behind every door? Resources: Rick Emerson, Unmask Alice Hannah Anderson, author Satan Wants You, Prime Video Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page.  Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

August 8, 1974—Richard Nixon resigns. The country watches as the law-and-order president falls under the weight of his own corruption, leaving behind a legacy of paranoia, scandal, and a crisis of trust in American institutions. But as one political era collapsed, another movement began to take shape. In this episode, we track the shifting tides of the 1970s—from Watergate’s unraveling to the unlikely rise of Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist reformer who captured the White House and disrupted the evangelical vote. But not everyone in the church was ready to embrace Carter’s vision. While the culture wars simmered, a new battle was brewing. Jerry Falwell and his allies were setting the stage for a moral revolution—one that would define the next era of American politics. And as they sharpened their message, they found inspiration in some unlikely places: a doomsday preacher from San Francisco, an infamous diary that would stoke America’s growing fears about Satanism, and a Christian comedian with a dark secret and an unforgettable mode of transportation. Resources: Rick Emerson, Unmask Alice Nixon library Jonestown Institute, SDSU Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join Host Mike Cosper for a live stream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea Facebook Page.  Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations, behind-the-scenes content, and the chance to submit your questions ahead of our live stream! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea team is on spring break, so we’re taking this opportunity to bring you something a little different. In this interview with show creator and host Mike Cosper, we explore how the ripple effects of the Satanic Panic still echo today. You’ll also learn the story behind the series title—and Mike answers a burning question: Has the church ever truly reckoned with its role in the panic?  Then, stick around for a special bonus: some of our favorite moments from the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea livestreams, where we go off-script and deeper into the story with special guests and listeners like you. Join the DDBS Facebook group to be part of the group and catch our next livestream. We will be back in one week with an all-new episode.  Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page.  Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you hear what I hear? Backmasking.  From the Beatles to Led Zeppelin, rumors of hidden, subversive messages in popular music sent Christians into a frenzy. Backmasking wasn’t just a recording trick—it was seen as proof that rock musicians weren’t just after album sales but after the very souls of our children. Today, we’re unpacking the hysteria around backmasking, but first let’s explore the conservative resurgence and the world events that set the stage for a full-blown moral panic. We’ll begin at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where megachurches mobilized thousands of evangelists to the spiritual frontlines of the world games, then we’ll head south to the buried secrets within the Southern Baptist Convention. At the center of this resurgence were two men with unchecked power—Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson. Their legacy was once seen as the North Star of conservative values but would later be tainted by allegations of abuse and cover-ups that exposed the very evil they claimed to stand against. Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page.  Resources: Matthew D. Taylor, scholar and author, The Violent Take it By Force Robert Downen, reporter, The Texas Tribune Sarah Pulliam Bailey, religion reporter Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we approach the end of the series, we learn that the Satanic Panic didn’t end with a bang. It was more of a slow fade-out. The Religious Right had secured major political and cultural victories. Evangelicals no longer needed Satan to galvanize their movement—their influence was cemented. Fear of the Devil simply became less useful.  Today’s episode marks a turning point in the series. Join us as we revisit the concept of memory—this time with two experts who spent their careers trying to properly understand it.  Retired FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, one of the earliest skeptics inside law enforcement during the Satanic Panic, reveals how disturbing allegations collapsed under the weight of their own implausibility.  Elizabeth Loftus, renowned cognitive psychologist and professor, has shown how easily false memories can be implanted, reshaped, and believed with unwavering conviction. Together, these two experts help us begin to answer a central question of this season: How did the Satanic Panic end? And what are the consequences of believing, prosecuting, and punishing based on memory alone? Resources: Kenneth Lanning, retired FBI agent Elizabeth Loftus, PhD, psychologist and educator Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page.  Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember Mike Warnke, the world’s #1 Christian comedian from Episode 3? We’ll revisit his story with a little fact-checking, but first, we introduce you to another infamous figure of the Satanic Panic: Lauren Stratford. Her memoir, Satan’s Underground, recounted her harrowing experience with satanic ritual abuse in vivid, gruesome detail—capturing the imagination of millions. However, years after her book became a bestseller, her story was thoroughly debunked as a complete fabrication. But Lauren wasn't done. She resurfaced with a new name and a whole new grift. As we unpack her rise and fall, we’ll also explore the broader cultural forces at play during the Satanic Panic. From the rise of daycare culture sparking anxieties around working mothers to the growing awareness of child sexual abuse, we examine how these societal fears were manipulated by the media to create and spread exaggerated, harmful narratives. Resources: Dr. Laura Robinson, New Testament Scholar, Butler University Satan’s Sideshow: The True Lauren Stratford Story by By Bob & Gretchen Passantino and Jon Trott Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stay tuned to the end for news from Mike Cosper and Rebekah Sebastian on upcoming Bonus episodes! In the finale of Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, we try to do the impossible: tie the threads together. From criminal cases to political crusades, we retrace the lines between fear, faith, and power that shaped the Satanic Panic—and continue influencing our world today. Mike Cosper and Rebekah Sebastian open with a game that highlights just how absurd things got, then dive into the deeper questions: Why did the Satanic Panic take hold? And how does it compare to modern conspiracies like Pizzagate, QAnon, and the January 6 insurrection? Spoiler: The panic didn’t entirely vanish—it morphed into a tool for grievance, repurposed by conspiracy theorists to target their perceived enemies. Bonus episodes are still to come, so stay subscribed. And if this series made you think, feel, or question, share it with a friend. Resources: The Roys Report: “James Robison Under Fire for Discrepancies Regarding Involvement with Robert Morris in 1980s” by Julie Roys Mike Rothschild, author, Jewish Space Lasers Matthew D. Taylor, senior Christian scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies Mike Warnke Tribunal Board hearing West Memphis Three case Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today Hosted and written by Mike Cosper Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design, Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven Music by Dirt Poor Robins Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts, and Matt Stevens is our senior producer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening. Can’t wait for the next episode? Join host Mike Cosper for a livestream every other Monday on the CT YouTube channel or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Facebook page.  Join our Facebook group for deeper conversations and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices