In 1917, in the quaint village of Cottingley, England, two young cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, captured the world's imagination with a series of captivating photographs featuring themselves alongside ethereal, winged creatures. Claiming these images were a window into the fairy realm, the girls ignited a spirited debate between believers and sceptics. Join us on a journey to uncover the mesmerising story behind the Cottingley Fairies, exploring the enduring allure of a mystical narrative that continues to captivate both the young and the young at heart.

My Special Guest Is Merrick Burrow

Merrick Burrow is an academic and literary scholar, mainly focusing on 19th and early 20th Century literature and culture. He has a long-standing interest in Victorian and Edwardian popular fiction (adventure stories, detective fiction, gothic, scientific romance, spy thrillers, etc.) and especially the ways that these cultural forms show societies adapting to the emergence of new technologies. More recently, this has developed into an examination of the theme of deception culture since the early 19th century. Important to Merrick’s research is the idea that modernity is driven by a desire for enlightenment, which supports scientific discovery and the production of new technologies. But these technologies, he argues, have always been haunted by the possibility that they may become tools of deception.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a literary luminary of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, left an indelible mark on the world as the ingenious mind behind the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. Born in Edinburgh in 1859, Doyle's prolific career spanned beyond mystery fiction into the realms of science fiction, historical novels, and non-fiction. A physician by training, he blended scientific inquiry with a keen sense of storytelling, creating characters that transcended the pages of his novels. Despite Holmes's towering legacy, Doyle's life was a tapestry of multifaceted interests, including spiritualism and public service.

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Examine the events surrounding news of the Cottingley Fairies.

2. Examine some of the factors that led to an unintentional hoax.

3. Take a closer look at the protagonists involved.

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Guest Links:

https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/merrick-burrow