In the inaugural episode of The Thing About Salem, hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack take you inside the Salem Witch Trials, focusing on the early events that triggered the infamous witch-hunt. Discover how Tituba became the unwitting catalyst for America's most infamous witch hunt. This isn't the sanitized version you learned in school or saw in The Crucible—this is the raw, documented truth about three pivotal days that changed history forever.When 9-year-old Betty Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began barking like dogs and trying to walk into fireplaces in January 1692, their desperate community turned to folk magic—baking a grotesque "witch cake" made with the girls' urine and feeding it to a dog. This bizarre ritual, unique in all of New England's witch trial records, appeared to succeed when the girls began naming witches the very next day. Their first target was Tituba, the enslaved indigenous woman in their own household—the most vulnerable person in Salem Village and the unwitting catalyst who would spend 15 months in jail as the witch trials exploded across Massachusetts.Listeners are provided with a detailed account of the strange behaviors exhibited by Parris's daughter Betty and niece Abigail, the mysterious witch cake baked by Mary Sibley, and the subsequent accusations against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. The podcast also highlights Tituba's lasting impact and a commemorative brick in her honor at the House of the Seven Gables. The episode is the first in a weekly series exploring different facets of the Salem Witch Trials.00:00 Introduction to The Salem Witch Trials00:13 Meet Your Hosts: Josh and Sarah00:35 Podcast Overview and Schedule01:07 Focus on Salem Witch Trials01:25 Tituba: The Enslaved Woman at the Center02:02 The Mysterious Illness of Betty and Abigail05:55 The Witch Cake Experiment09:58 Accusations Begin: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne12:10 Tituba's Fate and Memorial13:31 Closing Remarks and Patreon InvitationKey Topics Covered<ul><li>The Parris Household Crisis (January 1692)</li><li>The Afflicted Girls</li><li>Mysterious Symptoms</li><li>Dr. William Griggs</li><li>Mary Sibley's Folk Magic</li><li>Samuel Parris's Response</li></ul><ul><li>Tituba's Vulnerability</li></ul><li><ul><li>Life-Changing Moment</li></ul><a href="https://aboutsalem.com" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Thing About Salem Website</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmN8-OuuBnc5b6nP4tMG6Q" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Thing About Salem YouTube</a><a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/aboutsalem" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Thing About Salem Patreon</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SarahWildes-do9qw" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mary Bingham’s YouTube Channel: Sarah Wildes 1692</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@witchhuntshow" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Thing About Witch Hunts YouTube</a><a href="https://witchhuntshow.com" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Thing About Witch Hunts Website</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780814786215" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine G. Breslaw</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780306821202" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach</a></li>

In the inaugural episode of The Thing About Salem, hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack take you inside the Salem Witch Trials, focusing on the early events that triggered the infamous witch-hunt. Discover how Tituba became the unwitting catalyst for America's most infamous witch hunt. This isn't the sanitized version you learned in school or saw in The Crucible—this is the raw, documented truth about three pivotal days that changed history forever. When 9-year-old Betty Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began barking like dogs and trying to walk into fireplaces in January 1692, their desperate community turned to folk magic—baking a grotesque "witch cake" made with the girls' urine and feeding it to a dog. This bizarre ritual, unique in all of New England's witch trial records, appeared to succeed when the girls began naming witches the very next day. Their first target was Tituba, the enslaved indigenous woman in their own household—the most vulnerable person in Salem Village and the unwitting catalyst who would spend 15 months in jail as the witch trials exploded across Massachusetts. Listeners are provided with a detailed account of the strange behaviors exhibited by Parris's daughter Betty and niece Abigail, the mysterious witch cake baked by Mary Sibley, and the subsequent accusations against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. The podcast also highlights Tituba's lasting impact and a commemorative brick in her honor at the House of the Seven Gables. The episode is the first in a weekly series exploring different facets of the Salem Witch Trials. 00:00 Introduction to The Salem Witch Trials 00:13 Meet Your Hosts: Josh and Sarah 00:35 Podcast Overview and Schedule 01:07 Focus on Salem Witch Trials 01:25 Tituba: The Enslaved Woman at the Center 02:02 The Mysterious Illness of Betty and Abigail 05:55 The Witch Cake Experiment 09:58 Accusations Begin: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne 12:10 Tituba's Fate and Memorial 13:31 Closing Remarks and Patreon Invitation Key Topics CoveredThe Parris Household Crisis (January 1692)The Afflicted GirlsMysterious SymptomsDr. William GriggsMary Sibley's Folk MagicSamuel Parris's ResponseTituba's VulnerabilityLife-Changing MomentThe Thing About Salem Website The Thing About Salem YouTube The Thing About Salem Patreon Mary Bingham’s YouTube Channel: Sarah Wildes 1692 The Thing About Witch Hunts YouTube The Thing About Witch Hunts Website Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine G. Breslaw Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach

In the inaugural episode of The Thing About Salem, hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack take you inside the Salem Witch Trials, focusing on the early events that triggered the infamous witch-hunt. Discover how Tituba became the unwitting catalyst for America's most infamous witch hunt. This isn't the sanitized version you learned in school or saw in The Crucible—this is the raw, documented truth about three pivotal days that changed history forever.When 9-year-old Betty Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began barking like dogs and trying to walk into fireplaces in January 1692, their desperate community turned to folk magic—baking a grotesque "witch cake" made with the girls' urine and feeding it to a dog. This bizarre ritual, unique in all of New England's witch trial records, appeared to succeed when the girls began naming witches the very next day. Their first target was Tituba, the enslaved indigenous woman in their own household—the most vulnerable person in Salem Village and the unwitting catalyst who would spend 15 months in jail as the witch trials exploded across Massachusetts.Listeners are provided with a detailed account of the strange behaviors exhibited by Parris's daughter Betty and niece Abigail, the mysterious witch cake baked by Mary Sibley, and the subsequent accusations against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. The podcast also highlights Tituba's lasting impact and a commemorative brick in her honor at the House of the Seven Gables. The episode is the first in a weekly series exploring different facets of the Salem Witch Trials.00:00 Introduction to The Salem Witch Trials00:13 Meet Your Hosts: Josh and Sarah00:35 Podcast Overview and Schedule01:07 Focus on Salem Witch Trials01:25 Tituba: The Enslaved Woman at the Center02:02 The Mysterious Illness of Betty and Abigail05:55 The Witch Cake Experiment09:58 Accusations Begin: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne12:10 Tituba's Fate and Memorial13:31 Closing Remarks and Patreon InvitationKey Topics Covered<ul><li>The Parris Household Crisis (January 1692)</li><li>The Afflicted Girls</li><li>Mysterious Symptoms</li><li>Dr. William Griggs</li><li>Mary Sibley's Folk Magic</li><li>Samuel Parris's Response</li></ul><ul><li>Tituba's Vulnerability</li></ul><li><ul><li>Life-Changing Moment</li></ul><a href="https://aboutsalem.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Thing About Salem Website</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmN8-OuuBnc5b6nP4tMG6Q" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Thing About Salem YouTube</a><a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/aboutsalem" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Thing About Salem Patreon</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SarahWildes-do9qw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mary Bingham’s YouTube Channel: Sarah Wildes 1692</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@witchhuntshow" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Thing About Witch Hunts YouTube</a><a href="https://witchhuntshow.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Thing About Witch Hunts Website</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780814786215" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine G. Breslaw</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780306821202" rel="noopener noreferrer">Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach</a></li>

The Thing About Tituba and the Salem Witch Trials

Are you curious about the Salem Witch Trials? Fascinated? Intrigued? Maybe even fully obsessed? Josh and Sarah from Witch Hunt podcast bring you The Thing About Salem, a podcast dedicated to uncovering all things about the Salem Witch Trials. Each week, in 15 minutes or less, we go through all the feels as we share a story and a discussion. Together, we will cry, rage, and even laugh a little about some of the silliness, like the witch cake baked with the urine of the afflicted girls. Early topics include Tituba, The Crucible, poppets, the witches' sabbath, and witch marks. In future episodes, we will peel back all the layers of the witch trials.

Are you curious about the Salem Witch Trials? Fascinated? Intrigued? Maybe even fully obsessed? Josh and Sarah from Witch Hunt podcast bring you The Thing About Salem, a podcast dedicated to uncovering all things about the Salem Witch Trials. Each week, in 15 minutes or less, we go through all the feels as we share a story and a discussion. Together, we will cry, rage, and even laugh a little about some of the silliness, like the witch cake baked with the urine of the afflicted girls. Early topics include Tituba, The Crucible, poppets, the witches' sabbath, and witch marks. In future episodes, we will peel back all the layers of the witch trials.

The Thing About Salem Trailer

Witch trials shaped colonial America, and the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 produced the largest witchcraft accusation outbreak in American history. The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials examines a different topic, person, or place connected to the Salem witch hunt each week, with witch trial descendants and experts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack joined by guest historians, authors, and researchers. At 15 minutes a week, it is one of the most focused in-depth guides to Salem witch trials history available. Also from the hosts: Salem Witch Trials Daily and The Thing About Witch Hunts.
#witch

History

Witch trials shaped colonial America, and the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 produced the largest witchcraft accusation outbreak in American history. The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials examines a different topic, person, or place connected to the Salem witch hunt each week, with witch trial descendants and experts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack joined by guest historians, authors, and researchers. At 15 minutes a week, it is one of the most focused in-depth guides to Salem witch trials history available. Also from the hosts: Salem Witch Trials Daily and The Thing About Witch Hunts. #witch

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