Forty years before the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, Hugh Parsons stepped out of his dirty, disease ridden prison cell in Boston and was carted off towards the courthouse in order to stand trial as a witch. He’d come from a small settlement named Springfield over a hundred miles away and spent the last year cooped up in a concrete prison wit ... Show More
Aug 20
Introducing: CONSPIRACY THEORIES, CULTS, AND CRIMES
From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate, to the Octopus Murders and the Waco Siege, the world is full of deception, manipulation, and destruction. Listen to Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes every Wednesday as we explore the real people at the center of the world’s most shocking sec ... Show More
9m 49s
Mar 2024
England's Worst Witch Trial: Pendle Witches
Inside the heavy walls of Lancaster Castle, the darkest & deadliest of English witch trials played out in 1612 - the Pendle Witch Trials. By the end ten people would be executed and many more lives ruined. At their heart was a little girl, Jennet Device, and a book, Daemonologie ... Show More
46m 18s
Oct 2022
Helen Duncan, (Not) Scotland’s Last Witch
Helen Duncan is sometimes described as Scotland’s last witch, or the last person imprisoned for witchcraft in Britain, or the last person to be tried under the UK’s 1735 Witchcraft Act. None of those are quite accurate.
Research:
Undiscovered Scotland. “Helen Duncan.” https://www ... Show More
40m 17s
Dec 2022
Six Impossible Episodes: More Listener Requests
Today’s six impossible episode subjects are all by listener request! Topics include the Iron Mountain baby, Leslie’s Retreat, Lady Hao, Ella Williams, and more. And these are examples of how short tales can sometimes have intense details.
Research: “Tale of The Iron Mountain Baby ... Show More
38m 52s
Jan 2024
21. Maria Manning - 'Lady Macbeth of Bermondsey'
Lucy Worsley travels back in time to revisit the unthinkable crimes of 19th century murderesses from the UK, Australia and North America.This episode sees Lucy traverse London, hot on the heels of Maria Manning, the so-called Lady Macbeth of Bermondsey, a woman who confounds expe ... Show More
29m 21s
Oct 2022
EP. 85 MASSACHUSETTS - Lizzie Borden and The Trial of the Century
It’s the year 1892, and everyone in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts is going about their morning as usual - except for one family. Inside the home at 92 Second Street, Abby and Andrew Borden had been brutally murdered. It wouldn’t be long before their daughter, Lizzie Borde ... Show More
1h 54m
Nov 2022
Lady Chatterley’s Obscenity Trial
Thirty years after D.H. Lawrence died, his book "Lady Chatterley's Lover," which had been banned for decades in many countries, was central to a trial in Great Britain over whether the novel was obscenity or whether it had literary merit.
Research:
Britannica, The Editors of Ency ... Show More
43m 28s
Sep 2023
Eponymous Foods – Autumn Apple Edition
The eponymous Bramley and McIntosh apples are both lucky accidents, and both of them have stories which stretch from the early 19th century into present day.
Research:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ann Radcliffe". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jul. 2023, https://www.br ... Show More
35m 41s