POST-FESTIVAL EVENT: Madison Nerd Nite #108: Satanic Panic, Deviance, and Adult ADHD

Welcome to another Nerd Nite, ghouls and goblins! We have three great talks scheduled, as well as a costume contest! Wear your favorite nerdy costume for a chance to win prizes!

Our first presenter is Lynn Hyland with “The Real Hyper-Drive: Understanding the ADHD Brain”: What happens when you mix an ADHD diagnosis and a degree in Clinical Psychology? You get Lynn Hyland, a psychologist specializing in ADHD with a deep personal understanding of the experience, issues, and strengths of having ADHD. If you’ve wondered if you or someone in your life might have it, this presentation will give you the facts about what it’s really like to have this particular flavor of neurospice.

Second is Dr. William Koebe, sharing “The Normalization of Deviance: How Silence Will Kill Us All”. A culture of silence about unsafe practices has killed a ton of people. From the Challenger disaster to the COVID pandemic, we’ll see how this process makes tragedies inevitable.

Last for the evening is Matt Daley with his talk “Planeshift to Hell: Satanic Panic, Demons, and how they shaped Dungeons & Dragons”. Paranoid parents conflating D&D and Satanism is an old joke which has permeated pop culture, but how did this originate and what impact has it made on the World’s Oldest Roleplaying Game? Game Designer Matt Daley shares the history of Dungeons & Dragons’ Satanic Panic episode of the 80s, the game’s handling of demonic elements across different eras, and how these shape the D&D of today.