Witches of Scotland

Zoe and Claire come clean about why there has been no podcast in a while and what they have been up to... SPOILER : They've written a book! Their publishers say "HOW TO KILL A WITCH is a compelling and detailed investigation into the historic persecution of women as witches by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi, founders of the world-famous Witches of Scotland campaign. With testimony from a small army of experts, pen portraits of the women accused, trial transcripts, witness accounts and the documents that set the legal grounds for the witch hunts, HOW TO KILL A WITCH builds to form a rich patchwork of tragic stories, helping us comprehend the underlying reasons for this terrible injustice, and raises the serious question - could it ever happen again?

Zoe & Claire speak to Prof Goodare about how the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft came about and Euan McAndrew, Wikimedian in residence at Edinburgh University explains bringing the work to a digital audience along with student Ruby Imrie PLUS BONUS APOLOGY EPISODE with Kristof Smeyers about a topic close to Zoe & Claire's hearts….

Zoe & Claire speak to the endlessly fascinating Professor Marion Gibson about her new book which spans 700 years of witchcraft trials - from the trial which probably started the European witch hunt to the 21st century allegations of “witch-hunting” of Donald Trump by Stormy Daniels *may include raccoons

Zoe and Claire speak to author Stacey Thomas about her debut novel “The Revels” - all about witchcraft accusations . Stacey Thomas is a contributor to Bad Form Review. She is an alumna of the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course where she was awarded the Clare Mackintosh Scholarship for Black Writers. In 2021, she was announced as one of the three winners of HarperCollins's inaugural Killing It Competition for Undiscovered Writers.

Zoe and Claire catch up with Leo Igwe to find out about witchcraft accusations in the present day : what are people being accused of, by whom and why? NB The Aye Write event has now already taken place - sorry to those who missed it! WARNING - Discusses violence against people accused of witchcraft

Zoe and Claire talk to the hugely knowledgeable Dr. Andrew Sneddon, historian of medicine, religion and the supernatural, especially ghosts, magic and witchcraft. Senior Lecturer in History @ Ulster University.

Zoe and Claire speak to Lorraine Murray Archivist at The Watt Institution in Greenock and at The Glasgow Academy in Kelvinbridge. She is an Art and Architectural Historian who has been researching the woman and men accused of witchcraft in Inverclyde

Zoe and Claire speak to author Anya Bergman about her story of the women killed as witches in Vardø. We talk magic, menopause, weather witches and why a Scotsman might have been to blame. Raccoons included

Zoe and Claire speak to Dr. Martha McGill about her game, developed by a team at the University of Warwick, to explore and understand the witch hunt phenomena - based on events in Haddington, Zoe & Claire consider the history of Haddington accused and one of the accusers who owned an enchanted pear. Raccoon chat included

Zoe and Claire speak to the fabulously knowledgeable Judith Langlands Scott about witch confessions in Forfar, John Kincaid's “expert” expenses and find out where following the money trail gets you on the hunt to uncover the details of those killed as witches

Zoe and Claire speak to Assistant Professor Jem Bloomfield to explore "witches" in crime fiction of the mid-twentieth century. His work explores the intellectual and social worlds of these books, relating them to contemporary concerns around gender, art, magic and religion.

Zoe and Claire talk to Anna Day, Cultural Public Programme Manager for Perth about statues in memory of women accused of witchcraft, why memorials are important and Anna shares her own family story of remembering those who died in WWII.

Zoe and Claire interview the brilliant author Jenni Fagan about her new book “Hex” : “ A witch will die here in the morning. It is the 4th of December 1591. On this, the last night of her life in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh's High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor – Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still killed for who they are and what they believe.” (Birlinn Publishers)

Zoe and Claire speak to Professor Malcolm Gaskill about his study of witchcraft accusations in England - from the 17th century jjury trials to the 20th century trial of “Hellish Nell”

Zoe and Claire talk to the criminal defence lawyer - made famous by #thestaircase documentary on Netflix about american injustice - the Salem witch trials, forced confessions, pardons and why they are important and much more! also : cake references

Join Zoe & Claire speaking to Dr Jan Machielsen who studies and teaches about witchcraft accusations and trials - we ask what an apology really means and why each country builds different narratives around the witchcraft trials

Zoe and Claire speak to Dr. Louise Yeoman about her amazing work on the scottish witchcraft trials - from The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft to her discovery of Lilias Adie's “grave” with lots more chat about Satan's world uncovered, service magicians, John Knox and enchanted sticks

Zoe and Claire speak to Dr. Danny Buck about witch trials in the south of England - we talk about religious in fighting, rowdy Quakers and the self proclaimed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins

Zoe and Claire go to Edinburgh for IWD2022 and listen to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon grant an official apology to all those 4000 or so people, mostly women, who were accused of witchcraft - the first time in Scottish history that an apology had been tendered to all those who were accused

Zoe & Claire speak to Caterina Úbeda of Sapiens Magazine about their successful campaign to have the Witches of Catalonia pardoned. We also speak to Laura Graham, artist about her Exonerate Agnes event which takes place on International Women's Day 2022 . Ravens and Raccoons also included

Zoe & Claire speak to Dr Miranda Corcoran - author of Teen Witches Witchcraft and Adolescence in American Popular Culture - about the use of the witch icon in popular culture, the rise in modern day witches, we talk about witches of our youth Tabitha, Sabrina, Endora and Buffy - we ask why do young women need witch role models?

Zoe and Claire speak to the wonderfully knowledgeable Professor Marion Gibson (@witchesetc on twitter) about confessions, dooking witches, and, when all is said and done what accusations of witchcraft are really all about. Also, cake and ravens

Zoe & Claire talk to Dr Ciaran Jones who is a historian of religion and witchcraft in early modern Scotland, and he recently completed his PhD in Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh in 2020. His thesis explored the relationship between Calvinism and witchcraft trials, and it focussed on the religious and spiritual aspects of some accused witches' confessions. Ciaran's research has been published in History Scotland magazine, the Scottish History Society, and a chapter of his thesis is due to appear in the next volume of the journal of Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft, published by the University of Pennsylvania . We also talk about his new researches on the WITCHES OF QUEENSFERRY and the work he was commissioned to do for the National Trust of Scotland

Owen Davies is a British historian who specialises in the history of magic, witchcraft, ghosts, and popular medicine. He is currently Professor in History at the University of Hertfordshire and has been described as Britain's "foremost academic expert on the history of magic. Zoe & Claire speak to him about accidental witches, conflict witches, witch bottles and myth busting witch folklore

Zoe & Claire talk to Professor Nicola Ring about her research funded by the Royal College of Nursing Foundation into the stories of Scotland's early nurses and midwives accused of witchcraft for helping others. We also hear the stories of women accused as witches in Penicuik

Zoe and Claire talk to Matthew Bridson who is a postgraduate scholar of Heritage Studies. He recently submitted his Masters thesis on the topic of the group referred to as “The Lancashire Witches”. We talked to him about the Lancashire Witch Trials and Matthew's work on “witch signs” . We talk about the Witches Walk in Lancashire and whether we should be thinking more about how we engage with places of historic interest to properly record what happened and make that history accessible for all.

Zoe and Claire speak to Helen Woodsford Dean and Ragnhild Ljosland, the two women who were the inspiration and driving force in getting the memorial to those killed as witches in Orkney erected - we talk witches, collecting tears, pagans, whether we can change history and reveal the secret depths of the Orkney memorial

Zoe and Claire talk to Ash William Mills on his book - The Black Book of Isobel Gowdie - we discuss what was known of her, whether she was a “wise woman” and the cauldron of cultures that made up the various folklore and spells that were used by charmers and healers

Join Zoe and Claire as they speak to Kayla Kandzorra about the bi-weekly podcast where hosts Stephanie and Kayla discuss trials and tales of witches throughout the centuries. Each episode sheds light on a new story bringing attention to the thousands of people who have been persecuted as witches

Zoe and Claire talk to author Carolyn Jess Cooke about her new book The Lighthouse Witches and her inspiration from the scottish witchcraft trials. We talk themes of trauma, loss, and justice

Zoe & Claire talk to Jennifer Wight who has researched scottish folk history (more can be found on her website The Adder's Deb) and is part of Scottish Cunning Ways (FB) . What is the difference between cunning folk and witches? were those executed as witches pagans? Listen as Jennifer helps us separate fact from fiction!

Join Zoe & Claire as they learn from the experts as to how they research the history of those accused of witchcraft : Judith Gorman, Helen Upfield, Mary Craig, Norah Carlin and Catherine McPhee : with a reading from Elizabeth Lee's new book Cunning Women and an exclusive performance from Heal and Harrow

Join Zoe and Claire speaking to Laura Graham, lawyer and artist. Laura's work has been particularly informed by the Scottish Witch Trials - we discuss the patriarchy, what's in a name, her work “Soul Murder” and the “dittays” against women accused as witches

Zoe and Claire learn more about the criminality involved in witchcraft - we hear about how a trial of an alleged witch was conducted and the sentences imposed - we talk more about quarrelsome dames and how the transgressing of “feminine norms” of the time was more likely to find someone in the dock in Scotland than being a “charmer”.

Zoe and Claire talk to performance artist Amy Kingsmill about her year long project- Light Source - finding out about the witches of England - and we discuss why the current zeitgeist seems perfect for memorialising those killed as witches. www.light-source.co.uk

Zoe & Claire speak to historian and author Mary W Craig about the 4 Proofs, Quarrelsome Dames and the woman accused of witchcraft in Mary's forthcoming book.

Join Zoe and Claire as we talk to Emma Cowan and Norah Carlin - Norah Carlin is an academic who studied the Witch Trials, and was motivated to learn about those people killed as witches where she grew up : 20 years later Emma, as part of her own researches and found Norah's work and was inspired to campaign - with great success - to have the names of those killed as witches in Corstorphine properly remembered.

This week Zoe and Claire talk to Liane Maitland, Psychotherapist about considering the witch trials through her professional lens : We talk about the legacy of trauma the witchcraft trials will have left on the country and we consider the trauma likely to have been suffered by James VI, and we discuss how that trauma may have impacted Scotland's witch trial history. Liane's website can be found at www.innerwilderness.co.uk

Zoe and Claire speak to Associate Professor Louise Nyholm Kallestrup about the crossover (literally across the sea) with the Danish and Scottish witch trials - we name Danish women and men killed as witches and we once again discuss the need for a Scottish Museum of Witch Hunts to memorialise those caught up in the terrible miscarriages of justice and paid with their lives

Zoe and Claire talk to Laurie Goodlad - who presents “Shetland with Laurie” podcast / insta pages - she is a podcaster, tour guide, historian and museum curator who was motivated to research the Witches of Shetland - listen as she names all the people she has found in local records, and as we discuss the controversial cremains of women accused as witches which can be seen in the Scalloway Museum.

Zoe and Claire discuss Tituba of Salem in more detail and then speak to Anna BJÖRG, curator of the Musuem of Witchcraft and Sorcery in Iceland - we find out why it was men that were accused, discuss the modern folklore on elves and we ask - should our national monument be a scottish Musuem of Witchcraft Trials?

Zoe and Claire talk to Rachel Christ about the Salem Witch Trials - the accused - the “spectral evidence” used to convict - the pardons granted for all but one of those convicted- the memorial garden - and the “final pardon” - the 21st century legislature to pardon the last person convicted of witchcraft.

Zoe and Claire talk about the term witch in politics and beyond, and speak to Judith Gorman, the brilliant independent scholar who has spent years researching the stories of those accused as witches in Forfar - and we end on another cliffhanger! (And another sterling “ending”)

Zoe and Claire talk to Leo Igwe - Nigerian human rights activist and award winning humanist - about his campaign to stop witchcraft allegations in the modern day - and how he wants us all to support those who suffer from being accused of witchcraft in the modern day

Zoe and Claire talk about the positive Scottish Government response to the petition, the extraordinary decision of the National Trust for Scotland to promote a holiday let by naming the apartment after man who was involved in witchcraft trials, and speak in depth with Sonia Casas, Editor in Chief of Sapiens magazine about their campaign “they were women not witches” in part inspired by the Witches of Scotland campaign

This week Zoe and Claire talk petitions, widdershins, and hear from the inspiring Heather Upfield - writer of The 5 women of Kilwinning (about 5 women killed as witches) and campaigner to have the names and stories remembered .. find out about her great success... it may inspire you too!

IWD2021 marks a year of work on the the #womennotwitches Witches of Scotland campaign. Zoe and Claire talk to their very first guest, Sara Sheridan (EP 2) about why we need to memorialise women and why we need to remember the history of women and men who were killed as witches in Scotland.

This week Zoe and Claire talk to Hazel Meldrum about her mum, Jannette Archibald and her play “The Devil's Mark”.Hazel and her sister Heather Ann have published her play and you can buy it at heatheranndowd.shop . We also talk about the Wall Street Journal, (?!? ) , Jeannie Dark, and another campaign to remember women killed as witches in Catalonia

Zoe and Claire speak with Andrew Tickell about what it means to have suffered a miscarriage of justice and whether we should now pardon those convicted as witches .. with a little Oscar Slater and Netflix chat thrown in for good measure!

Zoe and Claire discuss the third and final part of Doug Speirs story bringing the Lilas Adie story up to the 21st Century

This week Doug takes Zoe and Claire into the detail of Lilias Adie's trial - and tells us the detail of her confessions and the records written clearly some time after the accusations - were they written as a cover up? Did the Minister ask for these papers when he moved parish because he knew the case was problematic and wanted to cover his tracks?