What can a 500-year-old book teach us about how dangerous ideas spread?
Life Matters - Separate stories podcastShow Notes
The phrase "ditch the witch" has reappeared in Australian politics recently to attack and criticise female politicians — always associated with images of broomsticks and pointy hats. But why do we picture witches that way, and why are they associated with evil? The answer lies in a 15th century book. Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) was a manual for how to hunt, torture and execute women accused of witchcraft, and was the catalyst for witch trials that killed thousands of women across Europe. The University of Melbourne's Archives and Special Collections has recently acquired a rare copy. So what can the world's most infamous witch-hunting handbook tell us about the spread of misinformation and dangerous ideas today?
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