Smarty Pants

#177: Between Science and Séance


Listen Later

On the eve of World War II, a young housewife named Alma Fielding found herself in the grip of a poltergeist hell-bent on flinging china through the air, toppling over dressers, and leaving no egg uncracked in her London home. Her case caught the attention of the Hungarian ghost hunter Nandor Fodor, whose tests at the International Institute for Psychical Research led to ever-odder phenomena from Alma: a bird flew from her skirts, beetles crawled beneath her gloves, stolen jewelry materialized on her fingers. In The Haunting of Alma Fielding, Kate Summerscale tells the story of an investigation that combines the supernatural and subconscious, revealing the very real anxieties of a changing society.


Go beyond the episode:

  • Kate Summerscale’s The Haunting of Alma Fielding
  • If you haven’t seen it yet, you must: Poltergeist
  • Also Carrie: because Alma’s story is in many ways a mashup of both
  • In a reversal of Alma’s story, the unexpectedly excellent Ouija: Origin of Evil follows a family whose fraudulent tricks end in real possession
  • In an earlier episode of Smarty Pants, “Scientists and Saints,” we covered women’s roles in American spiritualism and other fringe religions
  • Read Sudip Bose’s essay on how a séance lead a connoisseur of the occult to discover a lost Robert Schumann concerto


Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.


SubscribeiTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • Acast


Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Smarty PantsBy The American Scholar

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

119 ratings


More shows like Smarty Pants

View all
On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,129 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,902 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,613 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,151 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,168 Listeners

To The Best Of Our Knowledge by Wisconsin Public Radio

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

931 Listeners

The Kitchen Sisters Present by The Kitchen Sisters & Radiotopia

The Kitchen Sisters Present

1,269 Listeners

Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

Reveal

8,245 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,677 Listeners

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

2,087 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,520 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,239 Listeners

Read Me a Poem by The American Scholar

Read Me a Poem

60 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,941 Listeners

Americans in Paris by The American Scholar

Americans in Paris

9 Listeners

NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

NPR's Book of the Day

596 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

574 Listeners