Podcast
Assume Nothing
Hosted by BBC Radio Ulster · EN
The teams assume nothing as they examine events through fresh eyes.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
6. The Investigator
3d ago00:12:37Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 6 – The InvestigatorFollowing Dr Crawford’s death, a highly respected scientist – and psychical investigator – is dispatched to Belfast to carry out a series of experiments with the Goligher Circle. However, Professor Edmund Edward Fournier D’Albe soon runs into problems during a séance Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain KingReadings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production
Transcribe →5. The Descendants
1w ago00:12:36Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 5 – The DescendantsReggie is back on the road to Bangor to meet Kathleen Goligher’s grand daughter. What more can she tell him about her Grandmother’s life as a spiritualist and medium, and how does she feel about Dr Crawford’s unusual experiments?Meanwhile – Dr Crawford’s great granddaughter Clare reveals the engineer did not have a good reputation in their family history.Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain KingReadings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production
Transcribe →4. A Question of Propriety
2w ago00:12:53Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 4 – A Question of ProprietyDr Crawford records his experiments with Kathleen and her family in painstaking detail – but some feel his methods, which frequently involve underwear, are not appropriate. Reggie visits the archives of the Society for Psychical Research in Cambridge to see photographs taken by Crawford during his experiments, along with dozens of handwritten letters and notes. Reggie also gets a chance to see and hold a sample of historical ectoplasm, though it isn’t quite what he is expecting. Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain King Readings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland Production
Transcribe →3. Mr Splitfoot
3w ago00:12:58Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 3 – Mr Splitfoot1848, Wayne County in rural New York. Two young sisters claim they can communicate with a strange presence in their home – the ghost of a murdered pedlar who uses raps, knocks and bangs to answer their questions.The Fox sisters become key in the creation of a new religious movement known as Spiritualism – the belief that the dead may be contacted by the living. Word spreads fast and it soon takes root in Ireland, where Spiritualism finds its way to Belfast – and the Goligher family.Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain KingReadings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland Production
Transcribe →2. The Unseen Operators
May 900:13:51Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 2 – The Unseen OperatorsDr Crawford invites a visitor to attend a séance with Kathleen and her family, known as the Goligher Circle. Sir William Barrett, a highly respected physicist and parapsychologist, is astonished when a wooden table appears to float into the air.Meanwhile, nearly one hundred years later – Reggie Chamberlain King’s plans to give a lecture about Dr Crawford and Kathleen Goligher are disrupted when a protest is announced.Readings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production
Transcribe →1. A Man in His Usual Health
May 200:12:11Tap to summarizeThe story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax?Episode 1 – A Man in His Usual Health.The body of a man is found on a rocky shore near Bangor, Northern Ireland. In his pockets are a sealed letter to his wife, a silver watch stopped at 7.50 and a small bottle of whiskey.Dr Crawford was a respected engineer, but in the years before his death he carried out a series of elaborate and increasingly unusual experiments – to prove that Belfast teenager Kathleen Goligher could communicate with the dead. Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain KingReadings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen BeggsProduced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production
Transcribe →
8. The Long Shadow
Apr 800:13:25Tap to summarizeA baby is born with disabilities in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. She grows up neglected and in fear in an orphanage in Belarus, until she is taken on a radiation holiday to Ireland. A new life with hope and possibility unfolds before her. But the mystery of what happened in her early life has cast a shadow over her life. And she’s determined to solve it.
Transcribe →7. Nuclear Family
Apr 700:11:04Tap to summarizeA baby is born with disabilities in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. She grows up neglected and in fear in an orphanage in Belarus, until she is taken on a radiation holiday to Ireland. A new life with hope and possibility unfolds before her. But the mystery of what happened in her early life has cast a shadow over her life. And she’s determined to solve it.
Transcribe →6. Protest Song
Apr 700:11:18Tap to summarizeA baby is born with disabilities in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. She grows up neglected and in fear in an orphanage in Belarus, until she is taken on a radiation holiday to Ireland. A new life with hope and possibility unfolds before her. But the mystery of what happened in her early life has cast a shadow over her life. And she’s determined to solve it.
Transcribe →5. Emotional Hand Grenade
Apr 700:11:34Tap to summarizeA baby is born with disabilities in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. She grows up neglected and in fear in an orphanage in Belarus, until she is taken on a radiation holiday to Ireland. A new life with hope and possibility unfolds before her. But the mystery of what happened in her early life has cast a shadow over her life. And she’s determined to solve it.
Transcribe →