Host Dan Taberski opens by describing a 2011 outbreak at a high school in upstate New York where a group of girls began developing neurological symptoms — tics, twitches, and strange outbursts — with no clear cause. He describes a YouTube video posted in December 2011 by a 16-year-old girl with red hair and an Avenged Sevenfold poster, who was seeking help after passing out at a concert and a homecoming dance and developing involuntary tics and sounds. Taberski notes that the girl was not trying to monetize or influence — she simply wanted to find others who understood. He then riffs on the difficulty of diagnosing unexplained symptoms, noting that an eye twitch alone could indicate dehydration, glaucoma, acanthamoeba keratitis, or Isaac syndrome, and that over 30 million Americans have a rare disease. He reveals that the YouTube girl was not alone: at least a dozen girls at the same school developed the same symptoms. Other students speak in brief clips describing their inability to stop ticking for days at a time. The preview raises the question of contagion — whether the illness spread from person to person, through the environment, or through some other mechanism. Erin Brockovich and Dr. Drew are named as figures who became involved in investigating the outbreak. Taberski notes that the community fractured over the event, with some accusing the girls of faking for attention and some of the girls themselves questioning whether their symptoms were real. The preview closes with an audio clip of someone angrily confronting a doctor, and a teaser for Episode 1, titled Outbreak. Listeners are directed to Wondery+ for early and ad-free access.
