Halloween is almost here (at the time of posting) and doing a show about the Salem Witch Trials is perfectly on-brand for this spooky holiday. The Elizabeth that our episode is about is Elizabeth Parris - whose child Betty Parris and her niece Abagail Williams - were the first to be "afflicted" by alleged Satanic influences in 1692. Parris with her husband, Samuel, and another neighbor diagnosed the so-called nefarious symptoms of their children, and accused three of being Witches - two townswomen and Tituba, who was the slave who lived in the Parris household. This first case of "Witchcraft" started the fire (to paraphrase Billy Joel) and an epidemic of satanic activity across Salem and even parts of Connecticut. Do Elizabeth and her child Betty (a variation of Elizabeth) get a pass from Gideon and Kathy? And what caused these symptoms? Kathy and Gideon go through some of the theories including "Mass Hysteria" and ergot mushroom poisoning.

Later in the episode, Gideon and Kathy welcome guest Jane Borden, author of "Cults Like Us" and discuss whether the Puritans, who founded America, were essentially a cult, and how does the Puritans' cult-like behavior and thinking manifest in our modern society in America. In a twist, we channel Henry Louis Gates, and help reveal the descendant of our guest Borden...can you guess?

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A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson W Baker

https://a.co/d/8k3xxRF

Hysterical by Dan Taberski

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hysterical/id1753789609

Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America by Jane Borden

https://a.co/d/g6Frn5F

I Totally Meant to Do That by Jane Borden

https://a.co/d/eh0c3Ot

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

https://a.co/d/383dc3f

John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower

https://a.co/d/ez6xt4z

The Day of Doom - by Michael Wigglesworth

https://a.co/d/6q4G470

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Hosted by Gideon Evans & Kathy Egan-Taylor

Producer & Engineer: Will Becton / Executive Producer: Amber Becton

Recorded @ Jett Road Studios

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack