Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store.
2bepainted
Jan 17, 2023
Jul 10, 2022
Paul Smith
Jul 1, 2022
Another great podcast from Jamie Loftus. Covering the history and present day expressions of Spiritualism, this is a consistently interesting and enjoyable listen.
In this limited series, Jamie Loftus investigates and interrogates American spiritualism, a century-old tradition of communing with the dead that takes place in camps full of mediums across the country. Who is drawn to these camps, how did the religion come together, and why are the tarot card readers and the seance-havers fighting? Ghost Church is a look at grief, religion, and loneliness, with on-site reporting and interviews with everyone from spiritualist psychics to Protestant pastors to a very lonely carnival employee.
Episode | Date |
---|---|
9: Waiting for the Spirit in the Cape
3064
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/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Jun 27, 2022 |
8: The Boys Are Fighting (Over Crotch Goo and Ghosts): Arthur Conan Doyle vs. Harry Houdini
3844
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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Jun 20, 2022 |
7: The Fool's Golden Rule (Espiritismo and Spiritual Churches)
3764
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.
More information on Dr. Camacho here: https://linktr.ee/carloscreates2018 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Jun 13, 2022 |
6: The Legend of Seneca the Spirit Guide (or: Colonizer, Please)
3004
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.
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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Jun 06, 2022 |
5: Apples, The Manipulator, and The Curse of Spiritualism
3597
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
May 30, 2022 |
4: Four Roads to Cassadaga
3083
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
May 16, 2022 |
3: The Tables Are Tipping
3975
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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
May 09, 2022 |
2: No Proof is Necessary, No Proof is Sufficient
3732
This week, Jamie returns to Cassadaga for a Gala Day with one Reverend Doctor and one Reverend Doctor / Former Dojo Owner, then attends her first spiritualist church service, complete with a message from the spirit after hymns. Back in 1848, spiritualist's founding Fox sisters become stars overnight, immediately stoking skepticism and smothering press attention. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
May 02, 2022 |
1: Not a Cult
2964
American Spiritualism is a frequently invoked, rarely understood religion that hinges on speaking with spirit through mediums. In our first episode, Jamie Loftus puts your little baby brain at rest -- it's not a cult. But what is it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Apr 25, 2022 |
Introducing: Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus
185
Jamie Loftus investigates American spiritualism, a tradition of communing with the dead that takes place in camps full of mediums across the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |
Apr 15, 2022 |