Show Notes
In many ways, the Salem witch trials have taken on a life of their own over the last three centuries. In this episode, we’re joined by John Howard Smith, professor of history at Texas A&M University - Commerce, who helps us sort through the myths and realities of the witch crisis. Prof. Smith’s most recent book is A Dream of the Judgment Day: American Millennialism and Apocalypticism, 1620-1890 He is currently finishing up the drafting of his new book, Heathens and Other Adversaries against Us: Religion, War, and Racial Identity in Colonial New England. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter. and TikTok Learn about Greg Houle's forthcoming book, The Putnams of Salem: A Novel of Power and Betrayal During the Salem Witch Trials.
More from The Salem Witch Trials Podcast
What did it mean to be a witch in 1692? In this episode, we explore how the Puritans understood witches, satan, and the supernatural. And we address why those beliefs were so central to the tragedy. ----more---- Join host Greg Houle in Owensboro, Kentucky! He'll be at Owensboro Community and Technical College for two special events:
What was everyday life like in Salem in 1692? In this episode, we look beyond the witch crisis to explore the work, routines, and relationships that shaped the people at the center of the storm.
The Salem witch trials ended more than three centuries ago, but the story has never truly stopped. This episode explores how the legacy of this historical crisis has been claimed, reinvented, memorialized, commercialized, and contested across generations.
When the witch crisis of 1692 faded, Salem Village was left to live with what it had done. This episode examines how Reverend Joseph Green guided this damaged community through its long and uncertain aftermath.Joining us is Dan Lipcan, the Ann C. Pingree Director of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, which has in its collection the diary of Reverend Green.
WE'RE BACK!In the first episode of our second season, we trace the story of Tituba, an enslaved Indigenous woman and the first person accused of witchcraft in 1692. With the help of historian Matt Alschbach, we examine her story within the broader context of seventeenth-century folk medicine, race, and Puritan theology, exploring how fear breeds suspicion, and how suspicion so often settles on the margins.