Podcasts History This Day in Esoteric Political History The Steam Tunnel Incident and the D&D Panic (1979)

The Steam Tunnel Incident and the D&D Panic (1979)

Published: Aug. 17, 2023, 8:30 a.m.

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It\\u2019s August 17th. This day in 1979, a young college student by the name of James Dallas Egber III disappeared into a steam tunnel below his university, intending to commit suicide. But the story of his disappearance became a media - and moral - panic because of his affinity for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

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Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what we know and don\\u2019t know about Egber\\u2019s troubled life, and why the D&D narrative was so pervasive.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

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