The History of Witchcraft

By Samuel HumeSociety & Culture Education History

The History of Witchcraft episodes

December 09, 2024Preview of Winds of Change - Hostile Takeover
The first half of Episode 2 - Hostile Takeover. Listen to the full episode here: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/ARML6837257429?selected=ARML4090812395
After the death of Aurangzeb, the United East India Company benefitted from the political chaos of 18th century India. Allying with, fighting against, and eventually dominating the Nawabs of Bengal and Arcot, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy, and the Sultans of Mysore. At the Battles of Plassey and Buxar, Company generals like Sir Robert Clive asserted British authority over massive territories, and the Carnatic Wars hobbled their European rivals.
The British Empire in India was on the rise, but what goes up must come down.

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Thank you to my guest historians:
Philip J. Stern, Professor of History at Duke, and author of The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) and Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations that built British Colonialism (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2023).
Jon Wilson, Professor of Modern History at King’s College, London, and author of India Conquered: Britain's Raj and the Chaos of Empire (London: Simon & Schuster, 2016)
Rupali Mishra, Associate Professor of History at Auburn University, and author of A Business of State: Commerce, Politics, and the Birth of the East India Company (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2018)
Benjamin R. Siegel, Associate Professor of History at Boston University, and author of Hungry Nation: Food, Famine, and the Making of Modern India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Christina Welsch, Assistant Professor of History at the College of Wooster, and author of The Company's Sword: The East India Company and the Politics of Militarism, 1644-1858 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022)
Thank you to my guest voice actors:
Robin Pierson, host of the History of Byzantium Podcast.
David Crowther, host of the History of England Podcast

Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows.

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34 min
March 25, 2021 Piety and Heartwork in Covenanter Scotland
Witch Hunt Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07rn38z/episodes/downloads
Time Travels: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b094d4hl/episodes/downloads

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1 hr
August 10, 2020 045 - Wittenberg to Witches
Ben Jacobs of Wittenberg to Westphalia and Sam Hume of the History of Witchcraft sat down for a chat about witch panics, memes, authority, and the importance of getting angry while also staying calm.

Check out Ben's Podcast: https://wittenbergtowestphaliapodcast.weebly.com/

Music:
Intro music is See These Bones by Nada Surf.
Spective - Bridge Valley
P.R. & ChillCat - Soul Child
ai means love. - road trip
Breezewax - Mother's Earth
LZRDSK - flowers
LeVirya & Broey. - Inertia
Aphrow & Stuffed Tomato - Goodbye
ningen - Take You Outside
I Am Wolter - Morning Licks
Foeniks - Take It Easy
RINZ. - Lotus
mr. hong & pastels - let's meet at the elevator

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36 min
February 16, 2020044 - Early Modern English Witchcraft with Professor Darren Oldridge
Prof. Oldridge joins me to talk about witchcraft and religion in early Stuart England,
The recommended books, available from all good retailers, are:
Strange Histories (2017)
The Supernatural in Tudor and Stuart England (2016)
The Witchcraft Reader (2019)

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42 min
October 17, 2019 Extra - Sound Education Experience
This is just a short catch up episode to share what I experienced at Sound Education 2019. I met so many great podcasters, many that I've listened to for years and many more that are now in my queue.
www.SoundEducation.fm

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22 min
April 28, 2019 Bonus - What's it like to make a History Podcast (feat. Dead Ideas)
In a special episode BT Newberg and I talk about the highs and lows of making a history podcast. What made us want to start a podcast? Why did we pick the subjects we did? When did I decide to change focus to Pax Britannica? What are the best and worst things about it? Peak behind the curtain!
Go check out Dead Ideas: https://deadideas.net/
Check out the podcast website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historyofwitchcraft/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistofWitch

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45 min
February 10, 2019 Introducing Pax Britannica
A short introduction and clip from the first episode of Pax Britannica. Follow the links below to find my new show your favourite way!
Show Page: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/ADL3707263633
Website: https://paxbritannica.info
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/pax-britannica/id1451859986?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6FQwqzI4u8waYkEaEUiXut?si=n0GT5GBASzyyl1d1GK-j8w
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/samuel-hume-3/pax-britannica
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLm1lZ2FwaG9uZS5mbS9BREwzNzA3MjYzNjMz
PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/pax-britannica-2483186
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax

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9 min
January 27, 2019 043 - Salem, Massachusetts
If anyone has heard of a particular witch trial, they will have heard of Salem. It's an infamous part of early American history, and everywhere in popular culture. Today's episode will be explaining the main theories as to why the small village of Salem, Massachusetts began the greatest witch panic in American history.
This episode primarily made use of the following texts:
- Anderson, Virginia Dejohn, 'New England in the Seventeenth Century', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
- Levack, Brian, ‘State-Building and Witch-Hunting’, in Oldridge, Darren (ed.), The Witchcraft Reader, (2002)
- Godbeer, Richard, ‘Witchcraft in British America’, in Levack, Brian (ed.),The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America (2014)- Hansen, Chadwick, ‘Andover Witches and the Causes of the Salem Witchcraft Trials’, in Levack, Brian (ed.), Witchcraft in Colonial America, ed.
- Le Beau, Bryan F. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials, (1998)
Also included in today's episode is a brief announcement for a new podcast of mine, Pax Britannica, launching 10th February 2019. Keep up to date with the launch by following the social media pages below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax

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36 min
December 09, 2018 042 - Witchcraft in Russia with Prof. Valerie Kivelson
I'm delighted to speak with Valerie Kivelson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Professor Kivelson graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude in 1980, and received her PhD from Stanford University in 1988. Since then Professor Kivelson has been a prolific author of books and papers covering topics as varied as Russian Cosmography, Siberian colonisation, cartography, and of course witchcraft.
Recommended texts by Prof. Kivelson:
- Desparate Magic: The Moral Economy of Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Russia (Available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desperate-Magic-Economy-Witchcraft-Seventeenth-Century-ebook/dp/B00G6SD4JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544309091&sr=8-1&keywords=desperate+magic)
- 'Male Witches and Gendered Categories in Seventeenth-Century Russia', Comparative Studies in Society and History (Available from Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-studies-in-society-and-history/article/male-witches-and-gendered-categories-in-seventeenthcentury-russia/F9FA9F79E0576D4F0AC5EA29E3EFF59A/share/834641cd30309cda70c4c5ed8ee30e6054f43d51)
Website: https://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historyofwitchcraft/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistofWitch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HistoryofWitchcraft

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51 min
October 27, 2018 041 - Halloween - From Pagan, to Christian, to Party
Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial.
Many thanks to Joe from the 80 Days - An Exploration Podcast for lending his voice to today's intro quote. Find his fantastic show on Facebook, Twitter, and 80dayspodcast.com

Today's show primarily relies on the following works:
Rogers, Nicholas, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2002
Santino, Jack (ed.) Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, 1994

For a full bibliography, please see the website: https://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historyofwitchcraft/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistofWitch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HistoryofWitchcraft
The Recorded History Podcast Network: https://recordedhistory.net/

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50 min

About The History of Witchcraft

From the publisher's feed

Witches didn't exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at…