In 1865, German physician and medical writer Justus Hecker published a volume titled The Epidemics of the Middle Ages. In a footnote, he remarked on a strange phenomenon: an outbreak of meowing nuns. In this minisode, I bring you the story of the meowing nuns of late medieval France and the men who told their story.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

Sources

Primary

• Aristotle. History of Animals. Translated by d’ A. W. Thompson. In Aristotle, Complete Works. Vol. 1, 774–993. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
• Aristotle. Politics. Translated by Ernest Barker. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
• Hecker, J. F. C. The Epidemics of the Middle Ages. Translated by B. G. Babington. London: Woodfall, 1844. 
• Zimmerman, J. G. Solitude. Vol. II. London: Dilly, 1798.

Secondary

• Bartholomew, Robert E. Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion. London: McFarland, 2001.
• Bartholomew, Robert E. and Simon Wessely. “Protean Nature of Mass Sociogenic Illness: From Possessed Nuns to Chemical and Biological Terrorism Fears.” British Journal of Psychiatry 180, no. 4 (2002): 300–306.
• Mercer, Christia. “The Philosophical Roots of Western Misogyny.” Philosophical Topics 46, no. 2 (2018): 183–208.
• Penso G. Roman Medicine. 3rd ed. Noceto: Essebiemme, 2002.
• Tasca, Cecilia et al. “Women and Hysteria in the History of Mental Health.” Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health 8 (2012): 110-9.

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Haunted dolls are a cornerstone of folklore and popular culture. Our enduring fascination with them may stem from the fact that they occupy the uncanny valley, where their lifelike resemblance to humans both captivates and disturbs us. This episode brings you the stories of Robert and Annabelle, two of the world’s most famous haunted dolls.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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On June 29, 1987, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the tomb of the late president, Juan Domingo Perón, was desecrated by a mysterious group calling itself “Hermes IAI and the 13," which led some to link the act to Perón’s former minister, known for his involvement with occult groups and mystical practices. This episode brings you a story of political intrigue, violent upheaval, and the occultist who took control of Argentina’s leaders: the story of José López Rega.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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Before microscopes and stethoscopes, before hospitals and modern medicine, there were the cunning-folk, who practiced a kind of magic woven into the fabric of daily life: practical, personal, and deeply rooted in community belief. A missing object, a run of bad luck, or an unrequited love were their concerns. This episode brings you the story of the wise men and women who worked in whispers and who bridged belief and need: the cunning-folk of Britain.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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In the shadow of Puritan New England, where scripture, law, and community shaped every aspect of daily life, a different kind of visionary emerged. Drawing on European alchemical traditions, Hermetic philosophy, and Christian reformist ideals, he believed that nature itself was a sacred text, written by the Creator and waiting to be deciphered. This episode brings you a story of religion, medicine, politics, and alchemy in an age of upheaval and imagination: the story of John Winthrop, Jr.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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In 1764, Fray Juan José Toledo, the priest of the mission church in Abiquiú, New Mexico, wrote a striking letter to the local magistrate. In it, he described an extraordinary spiritual crisis: a surge of demonic possessions affecting the women in his congregation. Viewed through the lenses of gender, colonialism, and religious conflict, this event emerges as a powerful moment of Indigenous resistance, expressed through bodies and language. This episode tells a story of ritual and rebellion: the story of the witches of Abiquiú.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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In the summer of 1612, a woman named Alice Nutter walked to her death. She was not like the others who stood beside her on the gallows, gaunt women worn hollow by poverty. Alice Nutter was a woman of property in Lancashire, a woman of standing, and—most damningly—a woman who did not easily bow her head. This episode brings you a story of fear, injustice, and resistance in early modern England: the story of the Pendle witch trials.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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Morgan le Fay, the infamous enchantress of Arthurian legend, has worn many faces across the centuries: healer and villain, seductress and savior, sister and sorceress. Her story is often a mirror, reflecting the anxieties and desires of the cultures that tell it. This episode brings you the shapeshifting faces of Morgan le Fay.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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In seventeenth-century England, astrology hovered at the edges of learned society. That is, until one man predicted the Great Plague and the Great Fire, both of which would strike at the very heart of London. This episode brings you the story of the English astrologer William Lilly and his legacy.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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In the summer of 1836, against a backdrop of economic instability and fervent religious revival, Joseph Smith, accompanied by his brother Hyrum, Oliver Cowdery, and Sidney Rigdon, set forth on a journey that would forever connect them to the notorious witch trials that took place centuries earlier in Salem, Massachusetts. This episode brings you the story of seer stones, witch trials, and the life of Joseph Smith.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

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