The Thing About Witch Hunts

Epizodai

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  The Witch Trial History of Exeter, England with Professor Mark Stoyle 22.07.2026 53min

  We head inside Roman-walled Exeter, Devon, with University of Southampton historian Mark Stoyle, author of Witchcraft in Exeter, to trace a century of quarter sessions and church-court records showing a steady trickle of cases rather than explosive mass witch hunts. Stoyle explains how Henry VIII made Exeter a county with its own justices, prison, and gallows just before Elizabeth I’s 1563 Witchcraft Act, yet local magistrates often resisted executions, sometimes banishing the accused, and most defendants were acquitted; about 30 people were formally tried, with only four executed. Stories include toad and animal familiars, harmed livestock and failed butter or beer, William Harvey dissecting a “familiar” to amuse Charles I, a boy haunted by a pig in a hat in the last Exeter case, and the Bideford witches (1682) alongside the mystery of “Alice” vs “Avis” Molland in 1685. The hosts also announce August 2026 appearances at History Camp Boston and Connecticut Witch and Culture Fest.LinksBuy The Western Rising of 1549 by Mark Stoyle: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780300276886Buy Books on English and European Witch Trials: https://bookshop.org/lists/european-witch-huntsCT Witch and Culture Fest: https://ctwitchfest.com/History Camp Boston: https://historycamp.org/events/history-camp-boston/hcb-2026/End Witch Hunts: https://www.endwitchhunts.orgThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.comThe Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comSalem Witch Trials History Youtube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts
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  American Revolution: The Treaty of Watertown, 1776 with Marilynne K. Roach 15.07.2026 29min

  The Treaty of Watertown: Independence, Alliance, and the Fowle House Council ChamberWe step into an upstairs council chamber above a shoemaker’s house in Watertown, Massachusetts—where, on July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to a crowd that included Mi’kmaq and Maliseet representatives, and where the next day the Treaty of Watertown was signed as the first international treaty negotiated by the new United States. With historian Marilynne Roach of the Historical Society of Watertown, we trace how the Edmund Fowle House became Massachusetts’ wartime seat of government, what restoration work revealed about the L-shaped chamber and its preserved details, and how archival minutes illuminate daily Revolutionary governance. We also follow the treaty’s 1980s revival by Mi’kmaq veterans, the renewed collaboration with the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet representatives, and plans for Watertown’s July 18 celebration marking the 250th anniversary.00:00 Watertown Treaty Preview01:52 Fowle House Restored05:43 Council Work In Wartime07:50 Who Led The Council09:43 Edmund Fowle Home Life13:09 Declaration Read Aloud15:51 Treaty Negotiations18:40 Forgotten Then Remembered21:12 Planning The 250th23:42 Friendship Still Binding25:00 Symbols Of Liberty26:18 Witch Trials Echoes27:13 Hidden Shoe Magic28:17 Visit And Support29:26 Closing Thanks And EventLinksThe Thing About Salem websiteEnd Witch HuntsThe Thing About Witch HuntsSalem Witch Trials History YouTube
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  200 Episodes About Witch Hunts: Celebrating a Milestone with a Lesson in Witch Trial History 02.07.2026 1val 6min

  Episode 200: The Long Arc of Witch Hunts—From Connecticut to a Global CrisisThe Thing About Witch Hunts: We mark episode 200 by tracing the full arc of witch hunts from ancient prosecutions to early modern demonology, colonial New England, and today’s escalating global violence. We begin with Connecticut’s executions—starting with Alice Young in 1647—and the 2023 resolution absolving the indicted victims, then widen out through England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Basque country, Sweden, and Salem, emphasizing how courts, texts, and laws shaped prosecutions and how “hysteria” does not accurately describe these bureaucratic trials. We connect historic concepts like the diabolical pact, the sabbath, and “crimen exceptum” to modern accusations, banishment, torture, and killings across at least sixty nations, citing UN-documented violence, Ghana’s Akua Denteh, and contradictory legal responses. We center survivors and the accused as people, invite action, and point listeners to endwitchhunts.org and World Day Against Witch Hunts (August 10).Thank you to the 175 guests who have appeared on the podcast and to all who have viewed or listened to The Thing About Witch Hunts. And we aren't stopping with 200 episodes. Subscribe today and watch the amazing episodes coming up.End Witch Hunts endwitchhunts.orgAbout Witch Hunts aboutwitchhunts.comSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts00:00 Episode 200 Mission02:53 Ancient Roots05:14 Church Turns to Heresy09:58 Malleus and Sexism11:36 England Goes Secular12:23 Pamphlets and Skeptics18:12 Laws Across Colonies25:02 Europe Scale and Stress27:17 England Local Panics31:02 Scotland Burning Regime34:50 Wales and Healing Magic37:25 Ireland Rare Trials40:11 Basque Hunt Split Courts43:16 Sweden Blockula to Salem44:40 Connecticut Before Salem46:20 Massachusetts and Salem51:22 After Trials Vigilantes53:45 Modern Global Crisis58:59 Law Patchwork Today01:01:07 Memorials and World Day01:03:20 What You Can Do01:05:22 Final Call to Action
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  Witches and Familiars with Dr. Holly Bamford 17.06.2026 50min

  What was a witch's familiar, and why did these animal spirits sit at the heart of English witch trials? Returning guest Dr. Holly Bamford joins hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to explain the witch's familiar, the witch's mark, and the overlooked history of male witches in early modern England. Learn what the familiar meant, how the witch's mark was used as evidence, why the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhood, and why men accused of witchcraft were not simply feminized. Featuring Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan, John Bysack and his six snails, and John Palmer's familiar named Jezebel.What a witch's familiar was in English witchcraftWhy the familiar mattered so much in witch trialsHow the witch's mark was used as evidenceWho was accused of being a male witchWhy men accused of witchcraft were not feminizedHow the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhoodWhy Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan became a foundational caseWhat John Palmer's familiar Jezebel reveals about marriage00:00 Familiars in Trials01:01 Meet Dr Bamford02:08 Conference Paper Idea04:14 What Is a Familiar07:51 Pamphlets and Audiences11:47 Counting Trials Limits15:03 Agnes Waterhouse Case19:21 Marks and Teats22:56 Motherhood and Familiars31:52 Male Witches and Snails41:49 Humanoid Familiar Jezebel46:27 Further Reading Wrap48:53 Modern Meaning Outro#WitchTrials #Witchcraft #WitchsFamiliar #WitchesMark #MaleWitches #WitchcraftHistory #EarlyModernEngland #Familiars #Folklore #AgnesWaterhouse #HistoryPodcast #WitchHunts #EndWitchHuntsBuy: Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England by Charlotte-Rose Millar https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780367204549Buy the book Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781845190798Register for the Magic and Witchcraft Conference June 24-25 Online & In Personhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/magic-and-witchcraft-conference-2026-nature-and-the-supernatural-tickets-1989231567166End Witch Hunts: https://www.endwitchhunts.orgThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com
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  Metacom's Resistance: Perspectives on King Philip's War with Sarah Stewart 10.06.2026 53min

  Metacom’s Resistance, Puritan Mythology, and King Philip’s War with Sarah Stewart (Partnership of Historic Bostons)We speak with Sarah Stewart, president of the Partnership of Historic Bostons, a public history organization focused on 17th-century New England, to confront Puritan mythology and widen the lens beyond Salem to Indigenous history, enslaved Africans, and displaced peoples. We dig into why King Philip’s War, which is often skipped in schools and told through colonial monuments, Increase Mather, and captivity narratives, was a turning point that devastated Native sovereignty, reshaped New England, and fed the fear that later influenced the Salem witch trials. Sarah breaks down PHB’s “Metacom’s Resistance” series, the need for reframing the war through Indigenous voices, and the realities of enslavement, land commodification, and legal encroachment on sovereignty. 00:00 Meet Sarah Stewart00:50 Origins of the Partnership01:51 Broadening the 17th Century Lens03:21 Programs and Events04:58 Puritans Beyond the Myths06:51 Building Community Feedback08:06 Why King Philip's War Matters10:53 How the Story Got Distorted13:22 Metacom's Resistance Series17:49 Indigenous Voices Center Stage20:50 Violence and Witch Trial Fear23:59 Captivity and Enslavement25:53 Land Commodification Clash28:50 Land And Equality29:31 Amplifying Indigenous Voices33:08 Powerful Panels And Future Events37:08 Puritans Fear And Ongoing Wars39:11 Courts Sovereignty And Punishment42:23 Thomas Morton And Other Paths45:29 War Choices And Modern Parallels46:55 Audience Reflections And Truth52:01 Keep Learning Stay ConnectedPartnership of Historic Bostons“The Unknown War: King Philip's War, 1675-1678” (video)“The Past is Now: An Inter-Tribal Panel Discussion of King Philp's War” (video)“Surviving Slavery: Indigenous Enslavement in King Philip's War” (video)“Erasure: History, Memory and King Philip's War” (video)“What Really Happened at Turners Falls?” (video)“The Long Legacy: The Cost and Consequences of King Philip's War” (video)“The Slews and Hoars of Beverly: From Witchcraft to Slavery” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GEspMnY9-o“The Other: Understanding Witch Hunts, Part I, with Emerson Baker, Sarah Jack, and Josh Hutchinson” (video)“Resistance: Stopping Witch Hunts, Part II” (video)Jenny Hale Pulsipher, Subjects unto the Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New EnglandJill Lepore, The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American IdentityPeter C. Mancall, The Trials of Thomas Morton
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  Open Mic Night with Guests Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack 03.06.2026 52min

  We turn the mic on each other for a fast, personal Q&A spanning Salem and global witch hunts, from the infamous Salem witch cake to pop-culture “broom” upgrades and the accused people we can’t stop thinking about, including Samuel Wardwell, Katherine Harrison, Mary Esty, and Rebecca Nurse. We dig into why confessions didn’t always save lives, how spectral evidence shaped cases, and how banishment could be a brutal alternative to execution. We break down our three podcast formats—Salem Witch Trials Daily, The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, and The Thing About Witch Hunts—and share what listeners most ask about innocence, “real” witchcraft, and the reality that accusations still occur in at least 60 countries. We close with how End Witch Hunts grows through volunteering, donations, subscriptions, and petitions for exonerations.00:00 Welcome And Guests01:18 Witch Cake Debate02:23 Flying On Appliances03:52 Accused Who Haunt Us08:17 Banishment And Survival09:20 Three Podcasts Explained10:57 Questions We Get Asked13:32 Research Methods Shift15:21 Growing Reach Staying Grounded19:10 What Makes Our Show Different24:15 Devil Nicknames And Laughs26:58 Witch Trials Ice Cream29:38 Descendant Emotions And Ancestors35:31 Understanding Accusers And Fear43:43 Why The Accused Were Innocent45:31 June Trials And Daily Plug46:24 How To Support End Witch Hunts51:36 Final Thanks And Call To Action LinksSupport The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://endwitchhunts.org/donateThe Thing About Witch Hunts Website: https://aboutwitchhunts.comThe Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comSalem Witch Trials Daily: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhuntsSalem Witch Hunt Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/salemwitchhunt
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  The Art and Folklore of Divination with Icy Sedgwick, author of Fate or Fortune 27.05.2026 50min

  Divination folklore, folk magic history, and the practice of reading omens, cards, and natural signs are at the heart of this conversation with Icy Sedgwick, author of Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination, folklorist, and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast. From ancient liver divination in Mesopotamia to love divination games played by young women in early modern England, this episode traces the deep folk roots of divinatory practice across centuries and cultures.Icy Sedgwick is a writer, researcher, and diviner specializing in folklore, plant lore, and folk magic. Her book Fate or Fortune: The Art of Divination explores the history, folklore, and practice of divination from a folklore studies perspective. She is the creator and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast, based in Newcastle, England.Divination is one of the oldest and most universal human impulses, and its fingerprints are all over witch trial history. In this episode, Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with Icy Sedgwick to explore what folk magic tradition tells us about the people who practiced divination, why they sought answers through omens and tools and rituals, and what those practices reveal about the communities that preserved them. The conversation is wide-ranging, deeply grounded in folklore scholarship, and endlessly surprising.IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:What separates divination from fortune telling, and why has that distinction mattered throughout history?How did cunning women turn ordinary household objects into powerful folk magic tools?What do love divination rituals reveal about the real lives of women in early modern communities?Why did playing cards become so deeply entangled with the devil in folk tradition?What ancient civilizations left behind physical records of their divination practices, and what did those records reveal?How has dowsing been used for purposes far stranger than finding water?What does folklore say about omens you never asked for but receive anyway?Which forms of divination are experiencing a genuine resurgence right now, and which trend is Icy warning practitioners to avoid?Pick up Icy Sedgwick's book Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination through our affiliate bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhuntsicysedgwick.com#divination #folklore #folkmagic #witchtrials #salemwitchtrials #fortunetelling #cunningfolk #omens #tarot #cartomancy #dowsing #folklorePodcast #witchhunts #occulthistory #historicalpodcast #folklorestudies #divinationhistory #witchcraft #palmistry #scapulamancy
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  Connecticut Witch Trials Before Salem: The Play Windsor's Daughter Restores Alice Young's Legacy 20.05.2026 51min

  Alice Young was the first person executed for witchcraft in the American colonies, in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1647, before the Salem witch trials. Award-winning author Beth Caruso and playwright Lauren Cavanaugh join Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to explore her story and the new play Windsor's Daughter that is bringing her life back into the light.This conversation moves between historical research and present-day resonance, asking what it means to memorialize people whose graves were never marked, whose names faded from community memory, and whose persecution mirrors patterns still unfolding today.WHAT YOU WILL LEARNWhy Alice Young's 1647 execution changed American historyWhy her name nearly vanished from historyWhat made Windsor, Connecticut, a powder kegHow a play brings her execution to the stage without showing itWhy there is no grave to visitWhat the 2023 exoneration meant for her descendantsHow her story connects to persecution happening todayWhere to follow Windsor's Daughter as it finds its stageLinksAuthor Beth Caruso at OneofWindsor.com https://www.oneofwindsor.com/Playwright Lauren Cavanaugh https://hartford.culturalyst.com/CavanaughLMCConnecticutwitchtrials.org https://connecticutwitchtrials.org/Listen to more CT Witch Trials Podcast Episodes https://connecticutwitchtrials.org/witch-hunt-podcast/Support the Podcast Buy a Witch Trial History Book! https://bookshop.org/lists/connecticut-witch-trials
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  Blood Countess: The Lies that Made Elizabeth Bathory a Serial Killer with Shelley Puhak 13.05.2026 52min

  Elizabeth Bathory is one of pop culture's favorite monsters. Accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women, she's inspired everything from Snow White's evil stepmother to Lady Gaga. But the actual historical record shows almost none of it happened.Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with Shelley Puhak, author of The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster, to trace the documented history behind one of history's most sensationalized witch trial-adjacent cases. From the fractured Kingdom of Hungary to a Lutheran minister's invisible demonic cat army, this episode connects the Bathory case to the broader European witch trials and the religious and political warfare driving them.What You'll LearnWhat the preserved record actually showsThe witchcraft and magic accusations woven into the caseThe political war that made Bathory a targetWhat the Palatine of Hungary stood to gain from her downfallThe one minister behind the witchcraft accusationsWhy no bodies were ever foundWhat her own letters reveal about who she really wasThe role of ointments, alchemy, and antimonyWhy widowed noblewomen were especially vulnerable to accusationThe tension between a pop culture monster and a real historical victimWhat justice could look like About Shelley PuhakShelley Puhak is a poet, essayist, and historian from Maryland. Her previous nonfiction book, The Dark Queens (Bloomsbury, 2022), was a national bestseller and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and Virginia Quarterly Review.LinksBuy the book: Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781639732159Learn about the Author on ShelleyPuhak.com https://shelleypuhak.com/End Witch Hunts endwitchhunts.orgAbout Witch Hunts aboutwitchhunts.comSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts
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  The American Revolution and Salem Witch Trials Families with Dan Gagnon 06.05.2026 46min

  What does 1692 have to do with 1775? More than you might think.The families of 1692 did not vanish from history. One to two generations after the Salem witch trials, descendants of both the accused and the accusers were drilling on village training fields, defying British soldiers, and dying on the same battlefields. Israel Putnam, one of the Revolution's boldest generals, was born in Salem Village, raised in a family at the center of 1692, and though he moved to Connecticut, he answered the call when Massachusetts needed him most.From Leslie's Retreat in Salem to the Battle of Menotomy, Bunker Hill, the siege of Boston, Long Island, and Saratoga, the men of Essex County were present from the first confrontation to the wider war. And Benjamin Franklin's tie to the Salem witch trials runs closer than most people know.This episode connects two of American history's most significant chapters and asks: what did the witch trial era leave behind, and how did it shape the people who built this country?Danvers and Salem historian Dan Gagnon, author of A Salem Witch: A Biography of Rebecca Nurse, returns to The Thing About Witch Hunts to tell stories of the North Shore's role in the American Revolution as part of America 250. From a standoff at a toll bridge to the bloodiest stretch of road on Patriots Day 1775, the story of Essex County and the Lexington Alarm is one most Americans were never taught.Hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack trace the thread from the Salem witch trials through Lexington and Concord, from the Rebecca Nurse Homestead to the halls of the Continental Congress, and from the accused of 1692 to the soldiers of 1775.What You Will Learn:The through-line between 1692 and 1775 that changes how you understand bothWhy Leslie's Retreat in Salem months before Lexington and Concord matters more than you have been toldWhat happened when Salem witch trial family names started showing up on revolutionary muster rollsIsrael Putnam: the founding-era general with Salem Village roots whose story was nearly erased from history, and whyA founding father with a direct family tie to the Salem witch trials, and what that connection revealsWhat one brutal day at the Battle of Menotomy cost a single Massachusetts town, and why they brought their dead homeWhat you can see at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead today that quietly holds the story of two centuriesDan Gagnon leads walking tours in Danvers and the Rebecca Nurse Homestead is open seasonally. #AmericanRevolution #America250 #IsraelPutnam #LesliesRetreat #BattleOfMemotomy #BattleOfBunkerHill #SiegeOfBoston #LexingtonAndConcord #LexingtonAlarm #PatriotsDay1775 #BattleOfLongIsland #FrenchAndIndianWar #BostonTeaParty #GeneralGage #GeorgeWashington #BenjaminFranklin #RebeccaNurse #RebeccaNurseHomestead #DanversAlarmList #Minutemen #ContinentalCongress #CoerciveActs #Marblehead #Menotomy #Arlington #EssexCounty #NorthShore #ColonialHistory #AmericanHistory #FoundingFathers #RevolutionaryWarLinks Rebecca Nurse Homestead: rebeccanurse.orgA Salem Witch: A Biography of Rebecca Nurse by Dan Gagnon: www.bookshop.org/Shop/endwitchhuntsEnd Witch Hunts endwitchhunts.orgAbout Witch Hunts aboutwitchhunts.comSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts
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  Fairy History, Folklore, and Belief with Dr. Francis Young 29.04.2026 53min

  Fairy history, folklore, and belief across two thousand years of European culture: that is what we are diving into today with historian of religion and belief Dr. Francis Young, author of the new book Fairies: A HistoryDr. Young holds a doctorate in History from Cambridge University, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a folklorist, a Balticist, a lay canon of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and a series editor for Cambridge University Press. He teaches for Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio on history, religion, and folklore. He is the author, editor, or co-author of over two dozen books.Fairies: A History is a complete survey of fairy belief from prehistoric animism through the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and into the present day. In this episode, Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack ask Dr. Young the big questions: What are fairies? Where do they come from? How do fairy beliefs vary across Europe? What is the relationship between fairy folklore and witch trial testimony? And why is fairy belief still very much alive today?In this episode you will learn:In this episode you will learn:What exactly is a fairy?What do fairies want from humans?How is a fairy different from a ghost, a witch, or an angel?Why should you never eat food in fairy land?Where did the fairy godmother really come from?Have fairies always had wings?Why do children seem more attuned to fairy belief than adults?Could fairies be a feature of human consciousness itself?Are people still seeing fairies today?Links:drfrancisyoung.comFairies: A History is available for pre-order in our online bookstoreLearn more about witchcraft accusations past and present at endwitchhunts.org and aboutwitchhunts.comThe Thing About Witch Hunts is hosted by Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack.#fairyhistory #fairyfolklore #fairybelief #witchtrials #folklore #folklorehistory #witchcraft #fairies #changeling #fairytales #historypodcast #folklorepodcast
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  Devil, Witchcraft and English Demonology with Prof. Darren Oldridge 22.04.2026 51min

  What did the scholars who studied witchcraft most seriously actually believe? And why did their conclusions so often cut against prosecution?Professor Darren Oldridge of the University of Worcester joins Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to examine the intellectual world that produced English demonology and shaped witch trials on both sides of the Atlantic.In this episode:Why the devil mattered far more than witches to learned English ProtestantsThe demonological writers whose work traveled directly to colonial New EnglandWhat Reginald Scott and George Gifford argued, and why it surprised their contemporariesThe specific figure whose writing brought popular and learned ideas into dangerous alignmentWhy the demonic pact was central to prosecution and nearly impossible to proveWhat the Massachusetts law code of the 1640s reveals about biblical influence on colonial legal thinkingHow Increase Mather's skepticism at Salem connected to a century of English Protestant thoughtWhy the "good witch" was considered more dangerous than the harmful oneLearn more at endwitchhunts.org and aboutwitchhunts.com.#WitchTrials #SalemWitchTrials #Demonology #WitchHunts #DevilHistory #WitchcraftHistory #EnglishHistory #HistoryPodcast #EarlyModernHistory #WitchcraftPodcast #EndWitchHunts #ProtestantHistory #ColonialHistory #SalemHistoryLinksProfessor Darren Oldridge https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/profiles/professor-darren-oldridgeBuy Books by Darren Oldridge https://bookshop.org/lists/guests-of-the-thing-about-witch-hunts-podcastLearn more at endwitchhunts.org and aboutwitchhunts.comSign the Boston Exoneration Petition change.org/witchtrialsWe're on Youtube too! www.youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts
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  The Conjuring Explained: The Real Bathsheba Sherman and Salem Witch Trials Victim Mary Esty 15.04.2026 44min

  The Conjuring franchise named a real Salem witch trial victim as the origin of a Satanic lineage. Mary Towne Easty was executed in 1692. She did not curse anyone. She did not sacrifice a baby. And she has millions of living descendants, including your hosts.Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack are direct descendants of Mary Towne Easty. In this episode they break down exactly what The Conjuring, Annabelle, and the Conjuring Universe get wrong about real history, real people, and real court records, and what those people actually did and said.The Warrens built a career on these stories. James Wan built a franchise. But behind Bathsheba Sherman, behind the hanging scene, behind the demonic lineage that launched nine films and over two billion dollars in box office, are three real women whose names deserve to be known for who they actually were.Who was Bathsheba Sherman? Her grave has been vandalized because of this film.Who was Susan Richardson Arnold? The real documented death behind the hanging scene. Who was Mary Towne Easty? A grandmother and the author of one of the most powerful legal petitions in American history. Written from prison. Written for others. Not for herself.Also in this episode: the Annabelle doll is headed to Salem. A comedian now manages the Warren artifacts. The Conjuring is a great horror film. These are the real people underneath it.Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack host The Thing About Witch Hunts, a podcast from End Witch Hunts nonprofit. New episodes every week.See the real Mary Easty Petition Learn more at endwitchhunts.org and aboutwitchhunts.comSign the Boston Exoneration Petition#TheConjuring #Annabelle #EdAndLorraineWarren #SalemWitchTrials #MaryEasty #BathshebaSherman #ConjuringUniverse #horrorpodcast #paranormal #truestory #1692 #witchhunts #historypodcast #haunted
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  Cunning Folk at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center: Witchcraft and Occult Knowledge 08.04.2026 45min

  What can a five-foot-long magic scroll tell us about early modern fears, beliefs, and the people who sought protection through cunning folk? Sara Lent Frier, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, joins Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to explore her exhibition "Cunning Folk: Witchcraft, Magic, and Occult Knowledge."Sara walks us through this collection show, which draws from both the Cantor Arts Center and Stanford's Green Library to present rare artifacts from the early modern period, roughly 1500 to 1750. The exhibit also features contemporary California artists whose work responds directly to that history, creating a conversation across centuries.In this episode:What cunning folk were and the roles they played in early modern communities How the Cantor Arts Center brought together artifacts and contemporary art in a single exhibition The stories behind objects including magic scrolls and a miniature bureau connected to the Salem witch trials What Stanford's collections reveal about the intersection of magic, medicine, and knowledge in early modern Europe How contemporary artists are engaging with this history todayWhether you are a historian, an art lover, or someone drawn to the deeper history of witchcraft accusations and occult belief, this conversation offers a rare look at objects that survived centuries and the scholars keeping their stories alive.The Thing About Witch Hunts is hosted by Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack.Learn more at endwitchhunts.org and aboutwitchhunts.com.LinksView Cunning Folk Exhibit Cantor Arts Center🎥 Watch more on YouTube: youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts🌐 Learn more about our work on historical and contemporary witchcraft accusations at endwitchhunts.org
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  Vampires, Witchcraft, and the Dangerous Dead in Folklore and Ritual: Professor John Blair 01.04.2026 48min

  Oxford historian Professor John Blair explores vampire beliefs, predatory corpses, and the deep connections between witchcraft and folklore in medieval and early modern Europe — and colonial New England.What do vampires, witch trials, and shroud-chewing corpses have in common? More than you might think.In this episode of The Thing About Witch Hunts, hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with Professor John Blair, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford. Professor Blair is the author of the book Killing the Dead: Corpses, Vampires, and the Unquiet Dead in Medieval and Early Modern Europe — a landmark study of how premodern communities understood the body, fear, and the threat of the dangerous dead.This conversation goes deep into the history of vampire beliefs and folklore, including:The origins of the word "vampire" and the many names given to predatory corpses across culturesCorpse execution practices in medieval and early modern EuropeSleep paralysis and its role in shaping beliefs about the unquiet deadThe Malleus Maleficarum and its connections to vampire and witchcraft loreShroud-chewing, witch cakes, and vampire cakes — and what these practices reveal about community fearStriking parallels between vampire beliefs and witchcraft accusations in colonial New England, including the Salem Witch TrialsWhether you're interested in medieval folklore, the history of witchcraft, vampire mythology, early modern European history, or the Salem trials, this episode offers essential historical context for understanding how fear, the body, and the supernatural intersected in the premodern world.📖 Pick up Killing the Dead at bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhunts https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780691224794🎥 Watch more on YouTube: youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts🌐 Learn more about our work on historical and contemporary witchcraft accusations at endwitchhunts.orgIf this episode was valuable to you, please leave a review and share it with someone who loves history, folklore, or the early modern world. It helps others find the show and keeps this important work going.HASHTAGS: #VampireHistory #VampireFolklore #MedievalHistory #WitchcraftHistory #TheDangerousDead #SalemWitchTrials #EarlyModernEurope #Folklore #UnquietDead #MalleusM aleficarum #SleepParalysis #HistoryPodcast #WitchHunts #OxfordHistory #TheThingAboutWitchHunts #KillingTheDead #ProfJohnBlair #ColonialNewEngland #HistoricalFolklore #WitchTrials
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  Salem Witch Trials Daily Covers the Witchcraft Panic of 1692 in Real Time 30.03.2026 3min

  Check out Salem Witch Trials Daily, our new podcast that follows the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in real time, day by day, court date by court date, through the documented record. In Salem, Massachusetts, 19 people were executed, one man was pressed to death for refusing trial, and more than a hundred others were accused and imprisoned, leaving a lasting mark on American history. Building on the extraordinary listener response to this series when it launched within The Thing About Salem, the show now has its own dedicated feed, available wherever you get podcasts. Each micro-episode is tied to the actual calendar of 1692 and draws directly from primary sources like court documents, examination transcripts, petitions, letters, and contemporary accounts, alongside established scholarship and our own research. We also provide weekly companion blog posts and downloadable worksheets on aboutsalem.com for deeper, self-paced learning.⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily – The Thing About Salem Podcast
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  Scottish Witch Trials: The Story of the Peebles Witch Trials Comes Alive in Rope and Flame Play 25.03.2026 53min

  In 1629, 27 men, women, and a 15-year-old child were executed in Peebles, Scotland — and their ashes cast into the River Tweed. For centuries, their names were largely forgotten. Now, a community theater production called Rope and Flame is bringing their stories back to life, just steps from the river where they were lost.Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with the creative team behind this remarkable project: director and co-writer Clare Prenton, playwright and co-writer Anita John, actor Scott Noble, and historian Mary Craig, whose book Borders Witch Hunt laid the foundation for the script.This conversation will take you into the Scottish Borders, into the streets and kirk of a 17th-century market town under pressure from famine, religious upheaval, and the reach of Edinburgh's legal machinery. Listeners will come away with a richer understanding of how witchcraft accusations spread through a community, why both accusers and accused deserve to be understood as full human beings, and what a commemorative plaque on Tweed Green sparked in a modern Scottish town.You'll also hear how three women writers intentionally pushed back against the framing of female fear and coercion as irrational, how a 15-year-old girl was pressured into naming names, and why one local historian argues that boots on the ground matter more than books when it comes to understanding the past.From generational trauma to the parallels between 17th-century gossip and why the mechanics of a whisper spreading through a 17th-century Scottish market town are not as distant from our own moment as we might like to think. this episode connects the Scottish witch trials to questions that are urgently alive right now.In This EpisodeThe history of the 1629 Peebles witch trials and what made the Scottish Borders a hotbed of witchcraft prosecutionsHow the 2022 memorial on Tweed Green sparked a community theater productionThe role of Calvinism, political turmoil under Charles I, and economic hardship in fueling accusationsWhy Rope and Flame portrays accusers as complex, frightened human beings rather than simple villainsThe story of Isabel Haddock, the 15-year-old accused whose testimony changed everythingHow community theater is doing what history books alone cannotIf this episode moved you, share it. These stories survive because people carry them forward. Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack are descendants of Salem witch trial victims who helped build End Witch Hunts nonprofit to educate about witch hunts past and present, advocate for the accused, and support the communities doing that work. Subscribe to The Thing About Witch Hunts wherever you listen, and visit endwitchhunts.org to learn more and donate.LinksPlay Podcast Episode: A History of Scottish Witches with Mary W. CraigPlay Podcast Episode: Scottish Witch Trials with Mary W. CraigDuns Play Fest East Gate Arts TheatreBuy Books Mentioned in this EpisodeSign the Petition to Exonerate the Boston 8The History of Witch Trial Exonerations in MassachusettsAbout the MA Witch Hunt Justice ProjectPurchase a MA Witch Hunt Justice Project Memorial Pin
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  Podcasthon 2026: The Anatomy of a Moral Panic — Salem, McCarthyism, and the Satanic Panic 18.03.2026 38min

  What's in This EpisodePodcasthon is a global event where thousands of podcasters use their platforms to raise money for a cause they believe in. This year, The Thing About Witch Hunts is participating to support End Witch Hunts, the only US nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about witchcraft accusation violence past and present. If this episode moves you, donate at endwitchhunts.org/donate. Every contribution goes directly to the work.The Salem Witch Trials ended in 1693. We know what went wrong. And yet the pattern keeps showing up, different century, different accusation, same structure. This episode names that structure.Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack step back from individual cases to look at what moral panics are actually made of: how they get built, who builds them, who gets targeted, and why the fear feels so real and so righteous from the inside. The history moves from colonial Massachusetts through the Red Scares, McCarthyism, and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s, connecting to witchcraft accusation violence happening in communities around the world right now.What You'll LearnWhy the same panic keeps working across centuries. How institutions transform fear into prosecution. Who gets chosen as the target, and why that choice is never random. What genuine fear has to do with other agendas operating underneath it. And perhaps most importantly: what the people who actually disrupted witch hunts throughout history had in common.The dissenters are always in the record. This episode finds them.Why It MattersEvery person who can recognize a moral panic in progress becomes a potential dissenter. That is not a small thing. Support End Witch Hunts at endwitchhunts.org/donate. Keywords: moral panic, witch hunts, Salem witch trials, Satanic Panic, McCarthyism, Red Scare, witchcraft accusation violence, folk devils, spectral evidence, historical exoneration, End Witch Hunts, Podcasthon 2026, Dr. Leo Igwe, Maimunat Mohammed, Thomas Brattle, Cotton Mather, Massachusetts Bill H.5154LinksBuy the Book: Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen Buy the Book: The Enemy Within, A Short History of Witch Hunting⁠Listen to Podcasthon: When Children are Accused of WitchcraftListen to the Episode:Fearing the Devil: A Cultural History of America’s Satanic Panic with Scott CulpepperArticle by Dr. Leo Igwe Give to Gain: Justice for Women Accused of Witchcraft in AfricaAdvocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) End Witch HuntsUN Human Rights Council Resolution 47/8
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  Give to Gain: Raising Voices for Women Accused of Witchcraft in Nigeria 11.03.2026 57min

  In honor of International Women's Day 2026, End Witch Hunts hosted a powerful panel discussion bringing together advocates, legal experts, journalists, and survivors to raise awareness about witchcraft accusations targeting women in Nigeria and across Africa. This conversation is part of the global "Give to Gain" initiative — the theme of International Women's Day 2026 — calling on individuals, organizations, and governments to give resources, empathy, legal support, and voice so that women accused of witchcraft can gain justice, safety, and dignity.Witchcraft accusations disproportionately target women, especially those who are poor, widowed, elderly, or otherwise vulnerable. Accusation can mean social ostracism, physical violence, displacement, imprisonment, and even death. Our panelists shared firsthand experience, legal expertise, and on-the-ground advocacy work illuminating what is happening in Nigeria today and what all of us can do about it.How witchcraft accusations specifically harm women and compound existing inequalityThe psychological toll of accusation, including self-doubt and mental health impactsLegal protections that exist in Nigeria and why they are not being usedHow women can seek justice through courts, NGOs, and community channels even without financial resourcesThe role of patriarchy, poverty, and community silence in perpetuating accusationWhy empowerment and financial independence are protective factorsHow diaspora communities outside Nigeria are funding witchcraft accusations back homeWhat governments, international organizations, media, and individuals can give to create real changeThe critical importance of reaching rural communities in local languagesDr. Leo Igwe is the director of Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW), an initiative working to end witch hunts in Africa by 2030, and the Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation. A board member of Humanist International and the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Dr. Igwe earned his doctoral degree from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, where he wrote his thesis on witchcraft accusations.Chief Magistrate Safiya Musa Salihu is a Chief Magistrate in Bauchi State, Nigeria, and Vice Chairman of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Bauchi branch. She has trained paralegals across multiple communities and works fearlessly to ensure that accused women have access to justice.Hauwa Mundi is a broadcast journalist with Radio Nigeria — the largest radio network in Africa with over 40 million listeners — a social media influencer, and a member of Advocacy for Alleged Witches. She uses her platform to challenge belief in witchcraft and amplify the stories of the accused.Maimunat Mohammed is an Information Officer at a university in Minna and representative of the Niger State Branch of Advocacy for Alleged Witches. She shared her own experience of being accused alongside her mother following her father's death, and her years of advocating for her family in the face of community hostility.Dr. Barrister is the National President of the Association of Women against Gender-Based Violence and founder of the ADI Foundation in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, working for justice and security for vulnerable persons.Article by Dr. Leo Igwe Give to Gain: Justice for Women Accused of Witchcraft in Africa Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) End Witch HuntsInternational Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Association of Women against Gender-Based Violence Radio NigeriaUN Human Rights Council Resolution 47/8
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  Salem Witch Trials: Tituba in Two Centuries of Literature with Samaine Lockwood 04.03.2026 49min

  What does American literature reveal about how a society imagines justice, belonging, and the power of women? Samaine Lockwood, Associate Professor of English at George Mason University and the 2026 Fenwick Fellow, has spent years tracing that question through one of the most enduring stories in American culture: the Salem witch trials. Her fellowship project, Tituba Indian: The History of an American Cultural Figure  follows Tituba Indian from the historical record of 1692 through two centuries of novels, plays, and reimaginings to ask what her story has been made to carry and why.In This EpisodeHow the Salem witch trials became one of the most reimagined episodes in American literary historyWhy Tituba Indian sits at the center of debates about race, gender, and civic belonging across two centuries of American cultureHow culture reuses the pastHow Ann Petry's Tituba of Salem Village broke from literary tradition decades before most readers noticedWhy Arthur Miller's The Crucible remains complicated and how teachers are beginning to challenge it in the classroomThe real significance of the witch as a figure in literature, from colonial revival to contemporary young adult fictionWhere to find the vast archive of Salem witch trial literature that predates copyright, freely available onlineAbout Samaine Lockwood Samaine Lockwood is an Associate Professor of English at George Mason University, specializing in 19th century American literature and gender and sexuality studies. She is the 2026 Fenwick Fellow, a research fellowship funded by the George Mason Fenwick Library supporting her book in progress, Tituba Indian and the History of an American Cultural Figure. Her previous book, Archives of Desire: the Queer Historical Work of New England Regionalism, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2015.Authors and Works Mentioned in This EpisodeAnn Petry: Tituba of Salem Village; The Narrows; Biography of Harriet Tubman. First black woman to write a bestselling novel in the United States.Maryse Conde: I, Tituba: Black Witch of SalemHenry William Herbert: The Fair Puritan (written 1850s, published 1870s)Elizabeth Gaskell: Lois the WitchCharlotte Perkins Gilman (with Grace Ellery Channing): Untitled Salem play, 1890, held at the Schlesinger Library, HarvardPauline Elizabeth Hopkins: Fiction writer, first Black woman editor of a magazine, key figure in the Boston African American community at the turn of the 20th centuryArthur Miller: The CrucibleMarian Starkey: The Devil in MassachusettsMatilda Joslyn Gage: Woman, Church, and State (1890s)Saidiya Hartman: Venus in Two ActsGretchen Adams: The Specter of SalemHenry James: The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost StoriesKimberly Bellflower: John Proctor is the Villain (Broadway, 2024)Samaine Lockwood: Archives of Desire: the Queer Historical Work of New England Regionalism Keith Clark: The Radical Fiction of Ann PetryWhere to Find These Works Most works published before 1923 are in the public domain and freely available through Open Library and Internet Archive. For titles still in print, support this podcast and End Witch Hunts by purchasing through our Bookshop.org storefront: bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhuntsEvery purchase (of any title) through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and helps fund the work of End Witch Hunts when you purchase through our affiliate link.LinksPublications by Samaine LockwoodUniversity Libraries has named Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English, the 2026 Fenwick FellowBuy Books Mentioned in Today's Episode Sign the Petition to Exonerate the Boston 8 The History of Witch Trial Exonerations in Massachusetts About the MA Witch Hunt Justice ProjectPurchase a MA Witch Hunt Justice Project Memorial Pin