Halloween Panics

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the history of panics over contaminated Halloween candy.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:

• Panics over “Halloween sadism” have resurged yearly for decades. Niki referred to historian Paul M. Renfro’s book Stranger Danger: Family Values, Childhood, and the American Carceral State, and Natalia cited this Wall Street Journal article about fentanyl abuse. All of us drew on the research of Joel Best. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia shared Geoffrey Mak’s essay for The Nation, “I Wanted a Boyfriend. My Life Coach Told Me to Become a Commodity.”
• Neil commented on the Netflix show, “UNTOLD: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.”
• Niki discussed Kaarima Moyer-Nocchi and Adrien Miller’s Epicurious article, “Who Invented Mac and Cheese? This American Favorite Has Ancient Roman Roots.”