Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus

Hi, Ghost Church listeners! iHeartPodcasts has geared up for a riveting new podcast called The Legend of SwordQuest. Hosted by Jamie Loftus, The Legend of SwordQuest started as a promotion for a new Atari game that would become one of the most controversial moments in ‘80s pop culture, with a central mystery that’s consumed fans for decades: what happened to the missing SwordQuest prizes? Don't just take our word for it, though. Check out this trailer and start listening now!

Listen to The Legend of SwordQuest on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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Hi Ghost Church Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of our newest show, Weird Little Guys.

About the show: Investigative journalist Molly Conger takes you beyond the headlines to examine some of the worst people on the planet, most of whom you’ve never heard of. These are the weird little guys trying to ruin life as we know it.

Listen here and subscribe to Weird Little Guys on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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Hi Ghost Church Fans! Take a listen to the trailer of our newest show Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)

About the show: Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) is a weekly show from Jamie Loftus that takes a closer look at the internet’s main characters – one part reported, one part interviews, and one part Jamie collapsing her permanently internet-damaged brain. Whether it’s an enduring meme or a dreaded Character of the Day distinction, it’s the kind of notoriety that often results in little money, unwarranted attention, and a confusing blurred line of consent. What do you do when you get more attention and judgement than any one person is built to handle? The Sixteenth Minute of Fame is the place where we figure that out, putting people in the context of the moment they've been frozen inside of.

Listen here and subscribe to Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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In the final episode of Ghost Church (for now), Jamie befriends a Cassadaga medium, reads a manifesto, and looks backwards and ahead to where American spiritualism goes from here. Thank you for listening, and abolish the Supreme Court bitch.

Find Uncle Dennis Here: http://www.mysticallahan.com/

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This week, Jamie takes a look at the second wave of spiritualism in the United States through American Spiritualism's most famous schism -- believer Arthur Conan Doyle versus skeptic Harry Houdini over the mediumship (and yes, ectoplasm) of Mina Crandon. Featuring Paul F. Tompkins as Doyle and Robert Evans as Houdini. I know, right?

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This week, Jamie goes to a ghost museum, high fives a Jigsaw doll, and takes a look at two religious movements that pulled from American Spiritualism, took what they needed, and left the rest. Dr. Carlos Camacho stops by for a chat about espiritismo, and still no talk of ectoplasm.

Dr. Margarita Simon Guillory on "The Religious Studies Project": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q3kvN3RDpI

More information on Dr. Camacho here: https://linktr.ee/carloscreates2018

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This week, Jamie heads to the only spiritualist library in the American south -- open two hours a week -- to try and trace the legend of Cassadaga's founding to its root, as land taken from indigenous Americans. Writer Olivia Woodward stops by to discuss spiritual traditions of the Caddo Nation, thoughts on spiritualism's appropriation of Native culture, and questions George Colby's spirit guide.

Follow Olivia's work here: https://twitter.com/LivNative93

More on the Seneca Nation: https://sni.org/

More on the Mascogo: https://about.proquest.com/en/blog/2019/what-juneteenth-means-to-the-mascogo-tribe/

More on the Timucua: https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article/77/3/502/144849/The-History-of-the-Timucua-Indians-and-Missions

More on the Miccosukee: https://www.miccosukee.com/history 

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This week, Jamie visits a legendary Cassadaga medium and traces the story of spiritualism's Fox sisters to its end -- where the sisters abandoned the religion that had defined their lives.

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This week, Jamie passes the mic to four women of Cassadaga to tell their stories about how they came to American spiritualism -- from being raised by NASA scientists to a tragic loss.

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This week, Jamie goes to a table tipping class — a Spiritualist tradition that uses tables to connect people with their dead. Elsewhere in the past, the Fox sisters go on tour, where the skeptics put increasing pressure on the teenagers to meet their hype.

Further Reading:

Talking to the Dead, Barbara Weisberg

Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances by Lisa Morton

The Road to Seneca Falls by Judith Wellman

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

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