HeyJaredThe Thing About the Salem Witch Trials
The Thing About Salem is your resource for in-depth coverage of the Salem Witch Trials, the largest outbreak of witchcraft accusations in American history.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 4
- Latest publication
- Sep 1, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 12, 2026
Latest episodes
Ann Putnam's Apology with Writer and TV Producer Tom Phillips and Dr. Hogan Sherrow (opens the original)
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Why Did Ann Putnam Jr. Accuse? Evolutionary Behavioral Reconstruction and the Human Story Behind SalemWe welcome producer-director Tom Phillips and evolutionary anthropologist Dr. Hogan Sherrow to explore the psychological research informing Phillips’ project Aftermath and to confront a question that has lingered for more than 330 years: why 12-year-old Ann Putnam Jr., a central accuser in the Salem witch trials and the only known accuser to publicly apologize, did what she did. Using Sherrow’s
Salem Witch Trial Descendants at History Camp Boston, Connecticut Witch and Culture Fest, and Salem (opens the original)
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New England Pilgrimage: Salem Witch Trials Sites, History Camp Boston, and Connecticut Witch & Culture Fest We share highlights from our New England trip for The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, including visiting key Salem Village and Danvers sites with our colleague Mary Louise Bingham, paying respects at the Danvers Witch Trial Victims Memorial, and standing together as descendants of Mary Esty at her home site. We reflect on places central to 1692, such as the Samuel Parris parsonage site
What Historic Records are Available from the Salem Witch Trials? (opens the original)
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Where the Salem Witch Trials Records Really Come From (and What’s Missing) We dig into the biggest surprise at the heart of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials: the official Court of Oyer and Terminer record book is gone, and what people call “trial records” are mostly pretrial examinations, warrants, depositions, bills, diaries, and printed observers’ accounts. We explain how magistrates like John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin shaped the surviving dialogue-style transcripts, why those documents get mist
Salem Witch Trials: Witchfinder Roger Toothaker and His Family (opens the original)
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The Toothaker Family: Folk Magic, Witchfinding, and Tragedy in the Salem Witch TrialsA folk healer known as “Dr. Toothaker,” Roger Toothaker was the only male healer/physician accused of witchcraft in 17th-century New England, and his story pulls our Salem Witch Trials podcast into a web of witchfinding, fear, and family fallout. After leaving his wife Mary Allen Toothaker and their children behind in Billerica, Roger was arrested in May 1692 for allegedly afflicting Salem Village girls and died
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