After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

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Enfield Poltergeist: 1970's Suburban Horror Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

The Enfield Poltergeist is Britain's most infamous haunting - set in the late 1970s on the outskirts of London, it continues to be told and retold. Most famously in the film The Conjuring 2.

But this is a real piece of history about a real family and a young girl, Janet, who became the focus of newspapers, paranormal investigators and - if we believe what we're told - a malevolent poltergeist.

Written by Anthony Delaney.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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The Witch of New York: 1840's Murder Trials of Polly Bodine Jun 06, 2024

Show notes

On Christmas night 1843 a mother and child were found murdered inside their burned out home. Suspicion fell on one Polly Bodine. Over the next three years, Polly became the most infamous person in America in a blockbuster series of murder trials that gave birth to a monster - tabloid justice.

Our guest today is author Alex Hortis whose book The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice is out now.

Edited by Freddy Chick, Produced by Charlotte Long & Freddy Chick.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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The Real Mutiny on the Bounty: Revenge in Paradise (Part 2) Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

Mutineers, manhunts, uninhabited tropical islands and...SHIPWRECKS! The second part of the story of the Mutiny of the Bounty is even wilder than the first. This time we follow HMS Pandora as it hunts down the mutineers, and uncover the incredible story of how a group of mutineers and Polynesians escaped to the uninhabited island of Pitcairn.

Written by Maddy Pelling.

Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Real History of the Knights Templar May 30, 2024

Show notes

Why are the Knights Templar surrounded by myths and legends? Is there any truth to the tales of the Holy Grail or that the Knights survived? Why does this medieval order, which disappeared in the 14th century, continue to enthral us today?

To uncover the real history of the Knights Templar we are joined by Dan Jones - historian, author, podcaster and host of This Is History, whose new series The Iron King is all about man who destroyed the Templars - King Philip the Fair.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Victorian Thames Torso Murders May 27, 2024

Show notes

At exactly the same time as Jack the Ripper, another serial killer terrorised London. Just like Jack the Ripper, all their victims were women - their dismembered bodies left floating in the Thames. This is the dark history of the Thames Torso Murders, a case which asks questions about what crimes we choose the remember and what ones we try our hardest to forget.

Written by Maddy Pelling. Edited by Peter Dennis. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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Hidden History of Garden Gnomes May 23, 2024

Show notes

Garden gnomes have a secret life all of their own. If you don't believe us, then go ask Paris Hilton.

Today we discover the hidden history of garden gnomes and meet the eccentric aristocrat - Sir Charles Isham - who firmly believed that the mountains of the world really filled with little folk with pointy red hats and pickaxes.

Our guest is Twigs Way author of Garden Gnomes: A History.

Edited by Tomos Delargy, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great Irish Famine: Coffin Ships & the Dark Truth (Part 2) May 20, 2024

Show notes

1847 was the darkest year in the spiralling horror of the Great Irish Famine. It is known in Ireland as 'Black '47'. The British Government withdrew its support, leaving famine and disease to stalk the land. Those who could leave Ireland did, sailing on board 'Coffin Ships'.

Today Anthony concludes his two-part history of the Great Irish Famine with the help of special guest Professor Christine Kinealy, Director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Charlotte Long and Freddy Chick.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oliver Cromwell's Decapitated Head & Charles II's Revenge May 15, 2024

Show notes

***Warning: today's episode contains graphic description of violence***

In 1661 Oliver Cromwell was hung and beheaded...the only problem was he'd been dead two years already. Charles II had returned and revenge was in the air. It took many strange and gruesome forms.

Anthony and Maddy are joined again today by Ronald Hutton - one of Britain's foremost historians who is working on a three volume biography of Oliver Cromwell. They hear about the strange after life of Cromwell's head and the incredible story of the execution of regicide Thomas Harrison.

Produced and edited by Freddy Chick. Senior producer is Charlotte Long.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Great Famine: Ireland’s Darkest Chapter (Part 1) May 13, 2024

Show notes

One million people died. Two million emigrated. The Great Irish Famine was the world turned upside down. The darkest chapter in Ireland's past.

It is not solely Ireland's history to bear. This is a piece of British history as well, one which needs to be faced. What really happened in the Great Irish Famine?

Written by Anthony Delaney with special guest Professor Christine Kinealy, Director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Charlotte Long and Freddy Chick.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harry Potter Monsters: The Ancient Origins May 08, 2024

Show notes

***Spoiler Alert: this episode contains spoilers for the Harry Potter books and films***

Giant snakes, winged horses and hooded demons. The world of Harry Potter is full of bizarre and terrifying beasts... but what are the origins of these mythical creatures? To discuss this, Anthony and Maddy met with Ceri Houlbrook, folklorist and lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.

Produced and edited by Tom Delargy. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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