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Episode 9: The Salem Witch Trials
CW: Execution, racism, enslavement, religious extremism, psychological distress.
On this episode, we travel back to 1692 to a Puritan village gripped by panic, paranoia, and prayer. The Salem Witch Trials have become one of the most infamous moral panics in history, but beneath the surface of hysteria lies a complex story about faith, power, and fear.
We dig into how belief, both sacred and superstitious, collided with social tension, personal vendettas, and the fragile psychology of a community at war with itself. From the first accusations to the final executions, we explore what these trials reveal about human nature, collective guilt, and the dangerous comfort of certainty.
Sources
Deposition of Mercy Lewis v. Giles Corey, Salem Witch Trials, 1692. University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law link
“Martha Corey,” Wikipedia. link
“Ipswich and the Salem Witchcraft Trials,” Historic Ipswich. Link
Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Vintage Books, 2003.
Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits (1692).
Miller, Perry. The New England Mind: From Colony to Province. Harvard University Press, 1953.
Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Harvard University Press, 1974.
Rosenthal, Bernard, ed. Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Smithsonian Magazine. “New Research Confirms Site of Salem Witch Hangings.” July 2016.
Smithsonian Magazine. “Did Fungus Convict the Witches of Salem?” February 2009.
National Geographic History. “Salem Witch Trials: A Legal Horror Show.” 2021.
Bible, King James Version. Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10–12.
Salem Witch Museum. “Myths About the Trials.”
Colonial Society: “The Influence of Europe on Colonial Massachusetts Medicine”
National Humanities Center: Health in Becoming American
Pirates Surgeon Journal: “Tools and Procedures”
BAUS 17th Century Medicine
View all episodes
By Altar EgoCW: Execution, racism, enslavement, religious extremism, psychological distress.
On this episode, we travel back to 1692 to a Puritan village gripped by panic, paranoia, and prayer. The Salem Witch Trials have become one of the most infamous moral panics in history, but beneath the surface of hysteria lies a complex story about faith, power, and fear.
We dig into how belief, both sacred and superstitious, collided with social tension, personal vendettas, and the fragile psychology of a community at war with itself. From the first accusations to the final executions, we explore what these trials reveal about human nature, collective guilt, and the dangerous comfort of certainty.
Sources
Deposition of Mercy Lewis v. Giles Corey, Salem Witch Trials, 1692. University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law link
“Martha Corey,” Wikipedia. link
“Ipswich and the Salem Witchcraft Trials,” Historic Ipswich. Link
Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Vintage Books, 2003.
Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits (1692).
Miller, Perry. The New England Mind: From Colony to Province. Harvard University Press, 1953.
Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Harvard University Press, 1974.
Rosenthal, Bernard, ed. Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Smithsonian Magazine. “New Research Confirms Site of Salem Witch Hangings.” July 2016.
Smithsonian Magazine. “Did Fungus Convict the Witches of Salem?” February 2009.
National Geographic History. “Salem Witch Trials: A Legal Horror Show.” 2021.
Bible, King James Version. Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10–12.
Salem Witch Museum. “Myths About the Trials.”
Colonial Society: “The Influence of Europe on Colonial Massachusetts Medicine”
National Humanities Center: Health in Becoming American
Pirates Surgeon Journal: “Tools and Procedures”
BAUS 17th Century Medicine