This, Again

Salem Witch Trials, The Central Park Five, and Cognitive Bias

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We all know the story of Salem: young girls pointing fingers, women dragged to the gallows, and a community unraveling. But the real terror? It wasn’t the witches. It was the certainty.

In this episode of This, Again?, we dig into the Salem witch trials—not just what happened, but why it happened, and why it keeps happening. We explore the deep-rooted fear that gave rise to the Malleus Maleficarum, the mass hysteria of 1692, and the frightening parallels in our own era—from viral accusations to the Central Park Five.

We’ll look at what happens when belief spreads faster than truth, when institutions stop asking questions, and when no one wants to be the one to say: what if we’re wrong?

Because witch trials didn’t end.

They just changed platforms.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

Primary Books & Academic Works:

  • Broedel, Hans Peter. The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003.
  • Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
  • Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.
  • Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 2004.
  • Loftus, Elizabeth F. “Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory.” Learning & Memory 12, no. 4 (2005): 361–366.

    • Historical Archives & Primary Sources:

    • “Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive.” University of Virginia. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu
    • Putnam Jr., Ann. “Deposition Against Bridget Bishop.” 1692. [Link to document if available]

      • Modern Reporting & Analysis:

      • Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org
      • PBS. “A Timeline of the Central Park Five Case.” https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/timeline
      • NPR. “How Reddit Got the Boston Bombing Suspect Wrong.” https://www.npr.org

        • ✍️ Attribution Notes:

        • Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the texts above with narrative license for clarity and flow.
        • If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM me @thisagainshow

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          This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.

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          This, AgainBy Mallory Faust