Panic on the streets of Newcastle

The new episode of my all-time No. 1 podcast, "The Grognard Files", is about the so-called Satanic Panic of the 1980s, when religious nutters tried to ban "Dungeons & Dragons" and other RPGs, and blamed them for various tragedies involving mixed-up teenagers.

Thankfully, my parents never cared that I role-played, nor did I cop any grief at school. In junior high, a teacher kindly loaned me a "D&D" module belonging to his son. In senior high, in the weekly P.E. slot, one ran a group of us through an adventure written by her hubby.

I *was* advised against the hobby by my parish priest, but I believe that was just a vague warning to all of us altar boys. By contrast, my guitar teacher freaked out when he saw a "D&D" book I'd left lying around, urging me to stay away from that dangerous game. I'm sure he meant well.