Season 2, Episode 6
Satan Shoes
The Devil and American Moral Panics
June 11th, 2024
When the art collective MSCHF released their Satan Shoes in collaboration with artist and rapper Lil Nas X in 2021, all hell broke loose. According to the company, each of the 666 pairs of shoes contained 60cc of ink, including 1 drop of human blood from members of MSCHF, a bronze pentagram, and the Bible verse Luke 10:18 written on one side. The shoes were instantly condemned by social and religious conservatives, and a lawsuit from Nike resulted in MSCHF being required to give refunds for purchased shoes. Lil Nas X asserts he’s not a Satanist. But how do self-described Satanists navigate moral panics? And what does the Church of Satan have to do with this? In this episode, we’ll learn about Anton LaVey, the Church of Satan, the great diversity of actual Satanists through time. We’ll also explore why Satanic Panics might have more to do with pushing cultural norms—like normalizing being young, queer, Black, and a successful — and less to do with the Devil.
Featuring Cimminnee Holt, Tyler McKenzie, and Ethan Doyle White.
FEATURING
Former lecturer at Concordia University, PhD in Religions and Cultures from Concordia University
Dr. Holt is an academic specializing in alternative and emergent new religions, looking at popular culture and esotericism. Her dissertation was a digital ethnography of members of the Church of Satan. She now works in administration, and is passionate about improving equitable access to higher education.
Practitioner, author, artist, and social media performer.
Tyler was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a family with a very broad range of religious views and backgrounds. Today, he is a Deistic Omnist and practices and studies everything from Christianity to Theistic Satanism to Jewish beliefs to Buddhism. He finds truth and light in all faiths. He is also the author of SHXT HAPPENS A Chansity High Skool Story, a book about bullying and cyberbullying, as well as antibullying strategies for at home, work, and school.
Tutor at City Lit, London.
Ethan Doyle White is a historian and scholar of religion with a PhD from University College London (UCL). Much of his work focuses on modern religious witchcraft and related forms of esotericism and modern Paganism. He teaches courses on witchcraft and Paganism at City Lit, London, and is the Lead Director of Interviews for the World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP). His books include Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Sussex Academic Press, 2016), Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals (Thames and Hudson, 2023), and The New Witches of the West: Tradition, Liberation, and Power (Cambridge University Press, 2024). His forthcoming book is Pale Hecate’s Offerings: Witchcraft in British Film and Television.
CREDITS
Host: Heather Freeman; Producer: Amber Walker; Editor: Lucy Perkins; Associate Producer: Noor Gill; Sound Design: Jennie Cataldo; Fact Checker: Dania Suleman; Executive Producer for PRX Productions: Jocelyn Gonzales; Music: APM Music and Epidemic Sound; Project Managers: Edwin Ochoa and Morgan Church; Advisors: Daniel Harms, Cory Hutchison, Sabina Magliocco, and Sean McCloud; Guests: Cimminnee Holt, Tyler McKenzie, and Ethan Doyle White; Funding and Support: The National Endowment for the Humanities and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
TRANSCRIPT
LEARN MORE
Dyrendal, A., Lewis, J. R., & Petersen, J. A. (2016). The Invention of Satanism. Oxford University Press.
Faxneld, P. (2017) Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture. Oxford University Press.
Introvigne, M. (2016) Satan: A Social History. Brill.
Lane, P. (Director) (2019) Hail Satan? Magnolia Films.
This is a documentary film about The Satanic Temple, which is a very different organization from The Church of Satan. But The Satanic Temple is another example of aa atheistic Satanic organization.
Terry, J. (2021, March 29). “Lil Nas X isn’t the first pop star to spark a satanic panic.” Vice.
Van Luijik, R. (2016) Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern Religious Satanism. Oxford University Press.
Additional audio clips from:
YouTube:
COMPLEX. “Lil Nas X Shows Off His "Satan Shoe", Self-Lacing Sneakers, and Current Rotation.” (29 March, 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQZv6N6XKk
HBO. “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero | Official Trailer | HBO.” (2024) "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dzoB-tC8Bo
CNN.com:
Moos, Jeanne. “Lil Nas X's shoes sell out instantly for over $1K per pair” (2021) https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/03/29/satan-shoes-lil-nas-moos-vpx.cnn (Includes excerpts from MONTERO (call me by your name) music video.)
TikTok:
DopePastor (TikTok) https://www.tiktok.com/@dopepastor/video/6945478147303361798