In the last twenty-five years, ghost hunting has entered something of a golden age, with all sorts of technology playing its part and filling up an investigators kit bag. Cameras, EMF metres, InfraRed thermometers and spirit boxes all help to carve a science out of a difficult premise, with differing levels of credibility. In the early 1800s, things were a l ... Show More
Jun 30
The Miracle Cures of Doctor John Brinkley
In an era when medicine was still finding its footing, John Romulous Brinkley built an empire on impossible cures, relentless ambition, and astonishing lack of a moral compass. In a shocking display of charm and manipulation, he managed to sell his patients on a cure for diseases ... Show More
1h 10m
Jun 15
Folk Exorcism & The Cornish Ghost Layers
The early modern period was a rocky time for religion across Europe, fundamental pinnings of everyday life were being questioned and changing, as the reformation shifted authority away from the church. Thoughts on death and the afterlife were turned upside down, and in villages a ... Show More
50m 50s
Jun 2
The Unsavoury Tale of the Maryland Snallygaster
In the fall of 1909, a strange fear settled over the hills and farms of Maryland. Newspapers carried reports of a monstrous winged creature said to stalk the countryside with a host of bizarre descriptions pouring out from witnesses, including glowing eyes, huge claws, and boilin ... Show More
50m 5s
Feb 2019
Love, Hate, and Sex from the History of Science
<p>This Valentine's Day we could have just brought you some sappy love stories from science's past. But instead we offer you three tales of lust, loneliness, betrayal, pettiness, and not one, but two beheadings.</p> <h2>Credits</h2> <p>Hosts: <a href="file:///profile/alexis-j-ped ... Show More
38m 34s
Feb 2022
380 Ian Fleming | PLUS The Black James Bond
Ian Fleming (1908-1964) always wanted to be a writer. Not an "author," as he put it, and not someone in the "Shakespeare stakes," but someone who wrote for money and pleasure. In developing his enduring character James Bond, he managed to accomplish both. In this episode, Jacke t ... Show More
48m 52s
Oct 2023
Ann Radcliffe, Gothic Great Enchantress, Part 2
<p>Once Ann Radcliffe retired from publishing, all kinds of rumors started to spread about her, including some that distressed her greatly. After she died, there was even more speculation.</p> <p><strong>Research:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "A ... Show More
37m 30s
Oct 2023
Ann Radcliffe, Gothic Great Enchantress, Part 1
<p>In the space of a decade, Ann Radcliffe married, started writing, and had an incredibly successful career as an author. But after her 1797 novel, she retired, much to the confusion of her readers. </p> <p><strong>Research: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Britannica, The Editors of Ency ... Show More
32m 16s
Oct 2023
560 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
It's the early nineteenth century, and the moon is bright, the Hudson Valley forests are full of shadows, and a lonely schoolteacher heads home on his rickety horse. All those stories he's heard about a headless horseman are just stuff and nonsense...aren't they?
In this episode, ... Show More
1h 40m
May 2023
William Burns, America's Sherlock Holmes (1934)
<p>It’s May 21st. This day in 1934, William Burns resigns from the Bureau of Investigations in scandal, replaced by J Edgar Hoover.</p>
<p>Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Burns had gained the reputation as “America’s Sherlock Holmes” as an independent investigator, then event ... Show More
16m 58s
<p>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. </p> <p><strong>Research:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ann Radcliffe". <em>Encyclop ... Show More
