Dan Taberski's newest show: Hysterical. Listen now.
Hey, it's me, Dan Taburski.
You're back in your feed and I'm here to tell you that I've got another one for you.
It's the newest podcast from Wondery and Pineapple street studios and me, and it's called hysterical.
It all starts in 2011 when a group of girls at a high school in upstate New York began experiencing bizarre neurological symptoms, tics and twitches and strange outbursts, all with no clear source.
It starts with one girl and then spreads to another and another as desperate parents and school administrators look for an is it mold in the school buildings thats causing the symptoms?
Is it a contaminated water source?
Or is the cause not coming from their physical environment at all?
Hysterical is about one of the most confounding illness outbreaks in american history, a real medical mystery that had ripple effects well beyond the tight knit community where it began.
And soon enough, the entire nation was trying to solve it.
From doctor Drew to Erin Brockovich, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem witch trials.
Hysterical is about the desire to be believed and what happens when the world tells you its all in your head.
Im going to play a clip from hysterical now just a little from the beginning to see if I cant get you hooked.
You can follow hysterical on the wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
In December of 2011, a young woman posted a video on YouTube.
Hi everyone.
My name's and this is my first video.
She's got shiny red hair with side bangs, and she's wearing a white graphic hoodie.
A poster for the metal band avenged Sevenfold is tacked to her bedroom wall behind her.
So I'll start off by telling you a little bit about myself.
I'm 16, I am in 11th grade, and I play softball like all the time.