Podcast
Witches of Scotland
Hosted by claire mitchell and zoe venditozzi · EN
A podcast that follows the Witches of Scotland campaign to bring justice to those accused, convicted and executed as witches under the Witchcraft Act 1563
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
EPISODE 84 WITCHES OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
2w ago01:08:17Tap to summarizeIf you thought witchcraft accusations were a thing of the past, think again : Sarah Newey, a journalist based in Bangkok covering global health security across the Asia Pacific, predominantly but not solely for the Telegraph, investigated the witch trials of Papua New Guinea . Her website is here https://sneweyy.squarespace.com/.This is an uncomfortable but necessary reminder that witchcraft accusations are not a historic abberation but relevant now and historically. WOMEN NOT WITCHES QUARRELSOME DAMES REMEMBRANCE IS RESISTANCE
Transcribe →EP 83 BONUS RANT
Apr 1900:35:14Tap to summarizeThis bonus ep covers a range of topics related to sexual violence, misogyny, and women's rights. It delves into the normalisation of violence, legal definitions, and the ongoing erosion of women's healthcare. The discussion also calls for the criminalisation of misogyny in Scotland and the importance and necessity of resistance and community building. The chat ends with the suggestion that Raven Intelligence is utilised to smash the patriarchy. Standard convo from these two.
Transcribe →EPISODE 82 ANNA CAIG - THE WISE WITCH OF ORKNEY
Mar 101:35:29Tap to summarizeZoe and Claire chat to Anna Caig, about Anna's new book, 'The Wise Witch of Orkney,' Set in 1593. it tells the story of Elspeth Balfour, a wise woman from Orkney.
Transcribe →EPISODE 81 BONUS EP ZOE AND CLAIRE @ MASON AND FIFTH LONDON
Feb 301:33:12Tap to summarizeZoe and Claire present a review of the campaign so far to a London audience - for those with us from the start it's a meandering wander from then till now, for those just joining the pocast it's a catch up of where we've come from and where we are going #quarrelsomedames #remebranceisresistance
Transcribe →EPISODE 80 DR. MORETTI ON & GEMMA CLARK
Jan 501:49:14Tap to summarizeZoe and Claire speak to Dr. Debora Moretti about ritual magic vs. folk magic and most importantly for those taking down their decorations on the 5th of January , The Befana tradition in Italy. On women's rights issues, we speak to Gemma Clark abortion rights activism in the UK and why we should make sure our healthcare rights are protected.
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EPISODE 79 THAT GLASGOW WITCH and JUANO DIAZ
Dec 2801:54:43Tap to summarizeZoe and Claire wish to offer a Solstice offering to all those who have stuck by us with this podcast through a VERY patchy period and we wanted to give u THE BEST festive guests we could think of to finish this year! First is @thatglasgowwitch whose quiet, authentic witch work has taken the world by storm and the hugely talented artist and author Juano Diaz whose excellent book, Slumboy tells of his childhood and whose current artistic work focuses on the spiritual world.
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EPISODE 78 HOPE REESE / STEVEN VEERAPEN
Dec 2401:35:49Tap to summarizeYou’ll have seen memes saying “I made dinners for men I should have poisoned” , well Zoe and Claire speak to Hope Reese about her book “The Women Are Not Fine: The Dark History of a Poisonous Sisterhood. Hope tells the story of about a woman who lived at the turn of the 20th century, in the village of Nagyrév, Hungary, midwife Zsuzsanna Fazekas. She was more than a caretaker - she was a confidante. She helped poor women give birth; she assisted them with abortions; and she listened. Their stories were the same: husbands who drank, who beat them, who made their lives unbearable.In response, Auntie Zsuzsi asked one question: "Why bother with them?"Her solution was arsenic. Soon, women began slipping this concoction, made by dissolving flypaper in water, into their husbands' porridge, stews, and brandy. And over the next twenty years, the quiet village became the epicentre of one of the deadliest poisoning epidemics of the 20th century - according to some estimates, up to 300 people in the region were murdered.Why did they do it? How did these murders spin out of control? How did these women get away with their crimes for two decades?In The Women Are Not Fine, journalist Hope Reese pieces together archival newspapers, court documents, police records, and the vital work of historians, sociologists, and psychologists, diving deep into the truth behind this extraordinary event. Her findings serve as a stark warning: when women in a community are pushed to the brink, the consequences reverberate through history.Zoe and Claire also speak to the fabulously knowledgeable academic and writer Steven Veerapen. Steven is an author born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley.Fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, his books show a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it... We speak to him about his book “Witches – A King’s Obsession” whether broomstick-riding spell-casters or Wiccan earth-worshippers – have been culturally relevant for centuries. For centuries, too, belief in the potency of witchcraft has been debated, accused witches have been hunted and punished, and film and TV productions have brought the witch and the witch-hunter to big and small screens.But where did our perception of witches – good and bad – come from? What motivated wide-scale panics about witchcraft during certain periods? How were alleged witches identified, accused, and variously tortured and punished?Steven Veerapen traces witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunters from the explosion of mass-trials under King James VI and I in the late sixteenth century to the death of the witch-hunting phenomenon in the early eighteenth century. Based on documents and the latest historical research, he explores what motivated widespread belief in demonic witchcraft throughout Britain as well as in continental Europe, what caused mass panics about alleged witches, and what led, ultimately, to the relegation of the witch – and the witch-hunter – to the realm of fantasy and the fringes of society.
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EPISODE 77 THE WITCHES OF GHANA
Nov 2801:17:19Tap to summarizeListen to Zoe and Claire to talk to Professor John Azumah and extraordinary photographer Claire Thomas about the women suffering modern day witch accusations, the witch camps in which they are forced to stay for safety and what we can do to help them.
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EPISODE 76 DR MARGARET BENNETT
Apr 21, 202501:21:34Tap to summarizeEPISODE 76 DR MARGARET BENNETT Zoe in conversation with DR MARGARET BENNETT “is a Scottish writer, folklorist, ethnologist, broadcaster, and singer. Her main interests lies in the field of traditional Scottish folk culture and cultural identity of the Scots in Scotland and abroad. The late Hamish Henderson, internationally distinguished poet and folklorist, said about her: Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland.” THIS WAS RECORDED BEFORE WE HAD CONFIRMATION THAT THE UK AND US HARDBACK OF OUR BOOO WILL HAVE THE TARTAN ON IT
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THE WOS TARTAN EPISODE
Mar 4, 202500:31:55Tap to summarizeCLARE CAMPBELL OF PRICKLY THISTLE talks to Zoe and Claire about the tartan and about how we are releasing the WOS Tartan, clans and much more
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