Shows
Tea Time CrimesA Killing in Queensland: Ellen ThomsonIt’s 1800s Australia and Ellen Thomson has found her husband, William “Billy” Thomson, in a pool of his own blood. At first, no questions are asked, but once a second bullet is found, the case starts to unravel. Ellen is at the center of it all. Discover what happened to Ellen at the hands of the law and decide whether she received true justice or not. Tea of the Day: Watermelon Mint HerbalTheme Music by Brad FrankSources:Douglas Shire Historical Society, “In 1887 Ellen Thomson became the only woman legally hanged in...
2024-04-2351 min
Evolve'Adoption Isn’t a Bad Thing, It’s a Tricky Thing'In the public imagination, the practice of adoption is often thought of as children in need of a loving home being matched with couples who get to fulfill deferred dreams of becoming parents. And as a bonus, society lifts one more child out of poverty. It’s a win-win, right? Minna Scherlinder Morse, a writer and editor as well as an adoptive parent, says the reality and the history is far more nuanced. In this episode, timed for National Adoption Month, Morse examines adoption from a Jewish ethical lens and raises many questions. Are birth parents pressured to give up...
2021-11-2940 min
Unsung HistoryPhrenology & Crime in 19th Century AmericaIn Nineteenth Century America there was a strong reformist push to know and improve the self. One key tactic Americans used to learn more about themselves was phrenological readings. They would pay practical phrenologists, like Orson Squire Fowler and his younger brother, Lorenzo Niles Fowler for readings of their skulls or their children’s skulls. In Lorenzo Fowler’s reading of Emily Sawyer, he concluded a thirteen-page analysis by saying: “Cultivate as much as you can the organs marked smallest in your Chart + properly guide and exercise the stronger ones + thus produce a harmony of ment...
2021-08-3043 min
Detectives by the DecadeFrancois Courvoisier and the Head BumpsSeason 1 Episode 9: Using the case of Francois Courvoisier, a valet who was neither good at his job nor good at crime, we explore the development of phrenology as a "science." But what, pray tell, did this case have to do with Jack the Ripper?Find me on FB, Insta, and Twitter. Check out my other show, Old Timey Crimey, wherever you get podcasts.Voice Acting: Scott MortMusic:Deadly Roulette by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3625-deadly-rouletteThe Bandit by Kevin MacLeodLink: https...
2020-08-2041 min