AFTER SHOCK: On this week's show we talk about a disease known as Parrot Fever that frightened the nation in 1929, leading to parrots being abandoned in the streets and thrown overboard from ships. But just as quickly, the hysteria gave way to ridicule as America and the media made Parrot Fever into a joke, a made-up illness, a silly panic. But in reality, sickness and death struck 20% of those who contracted Parrot Fever, and though the concern was overblown, the denial of its existence was too.  American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-SmithProduced and edited by <a href="https://clearcommo.com/">Clear Commo Studios</a>Research assisted by Riley Smith <a href="https://www.patreon.com/americanhysteria">Become a Patron</a> for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly!Follow American Hysteria on social media:Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/amerhysteria">@AmerHysteria</a>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/americanhysteriapodcast/">@AmericanHysteriaPodcast</a> Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

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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.