{"podcast":{"title":"American Hysteria","slug":"american-hysteria-830600","podcast_index_feed_id":830600,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/WIZD3928139307","website_url":"http://www.americanhysteria.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/dd283f36-bc4d-11ec-ba9c-4b3957402114/image/54d8b146fe8a810cecc27923d5b482ab.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"W!ZARD Studios","episode_count":305,"summary":"American Hysteria explores how fantastical thinking has shaped our culture – moral panics, urban legends, hoaxes, crazes, fringe beliefs, and national misunderstandings. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith tells the strangest stories from American history and examines the forces that create the reality we share, and sometimes, the reality we don't.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-08T16:18:02.851094+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-hysteria-830600"},"episode":{"title":"The Voyager Golden Record with Riley Swedelius-Smith and Miranda Zickler","slug":"the-voyager-golden-record-with-riley-swedelius-smith-and-miranda-zickler","published_at":"2026-05-18T07:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-hysteria-830600/the-voyager-golden-record-with-riley-swedelius-smith-and-miranda-zickler","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-hysteria-830600","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/AIL3047841405.mp3","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/AIL3047841405.mp3","summary":"During the 1970s, a ragtag group led by American astronomer Carl Sagan set out to create and then launch into deep space an audio time capsule of sounds, songs, and messages that would represent the Earth to any intelligent alien life that might come in contact with the crafts they called Voyager I and Voyager 2. For this American Hysteria team episode, assistant producer and sound designer (and my brother) Riley Swedelius-Smith tells producer Miranda Zickler and I about the fascinating process of creating the Voyager Golden Record, how they made the choices they did, and what they felt was important enough, understandable enough to share with hypothetical beings we probably cannot even comprehend. Become a Patron⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content Or subscribe to American Hysteria on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get some of our new merch at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠americanhysteria.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, all profits go to The Sameer Project, a Palestinian-led mutual aid group who are on the ground in Gaza delivering food and supplies to displaced families. Leave us a message on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Urban Legends Hotline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Producer and Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Miranda Zickler⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Associate Producer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riley Swedelius-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Additional editing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylee Jasperson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"During the 1970s, a ragtag group led by American astronomer Carl Sagan set out to create and then launch into deep space an audio time capsule of sounds,…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5134,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/american-hysteria-830600/episodes/the-voyager-golden-record-with-riley-swedelius-smith-and-miranda-zickler/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/american-hysteria-830600/the-voyager-golden-record-with-riley-swedelius-smith-and-miranda-zickler.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}