Episodi

  • The Constitutional Convention of 1787

    The Constitutional Convention of 1787
    Jan 26 2026
    Bonus Episode: This year, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the moment when American patriots pledged their lives and their sacred honor to declare the American colonies independent of the British crown. By the time the Continental Congress signed that document, American blood had already been shed and the colonies were already fighting the war that would ultimately lead to the birth of the United States as an independent nation. As momentous as this revolution was, it wasn’t until over 10 years after the Declaration was signed that the revolutionary act that truly founded the nation took place: the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It’s one thing to declare your independence and earn that freedom with spilt blood and military victory; it’s quite another to make that independence meaningful and real in the form of a meaningful, functional and enduring government. And in a moment when the meaning of that government, and indeed the integrity of the the central document of the founding - the Constitution - itself, is as imperiled as it has ever been, it’s the Constitutional Convention, not the Declaration of Independence, that has real resonance for us in the ‘now.’ On this special bonus episode of Dig, join us in a little deep dive into the United States Constitutional Convention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 ora e 28 min
  • Bonus Episode: Best of 2025, What's Coming in 2026!

    Bonus Episode: Best of 2025, What's Coming in 2026!
    Jan 5 2026
    Trying something we've never done before - an end-of-year wrap up in which we discuss our favorite episodes to write and be co-hosts on from the 2025 season, and a little sneaky preview of what is coming in 2026! Happy New Year, all, and thank you for being supporters of this show! xoxox Ave, Marissa, Sarah and Elizabeth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    40 min
  • Orange Slices, Simmer Pots, and Naked Dancing: A Brief and Incomplete History of Modern Witchcraft

    Orange Slices, Simmer Pots, and Naked Dancing: A Brief and Incomplete History of Modern Witchcraft
    Dec 21 2025
    A Bonus Episode! Yule logs, dried orange slices strung across your windows, decorated trees and simmer pots - all the marks of a neopagan holiday season! Wait, that's Christmas, you say? Well, can't it be both? A brief history of modern witchcraft, just in time for the winter solstice celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 min
  • Re-Release: A Ghost Story for Christmas!

    Re-Release: A Ghost Story for Christmas!
    Dec 7 2025
    We're on a little break, getting our stocking stuffers and Yule logs together, so to tide you over until our next new release, here's an oldie but goodie (with a little remixing - though unfortunately there is no fixing our singing) about the history of ghost stories at Christmas time! Original transcript at: https://digpodcast.org/2017/12/22/christmas-ghost-dickens/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 min
  • Martian Visitors in the Gilded Age

    Martian Visitors in the Gilded Age
    Nov 10 2025
    Spooky Series, Episode #4 of 4. Over an eight-month period in 1896-1897, thousands of people across North America reported seeing mysterious ships in the air or lights in the sky. There were over 12,000 newspaper accounts published about the phenomenon in 408 different newspapers in 41 American states and six Canadian provinces. The airships were usually described as oblong, cigar-shaped objects, sometimes with wings that would flap up and down. What was going on that would have inspired so many unidentified flying object sightings? And why did they seem to cluster around an eight month period in 1896-1897? Today, in the last installment of our 2025 spooky series, we are going to dive into this late nineteenth century UFO-sighting phenomenon and perhaps figure out what was going on. For the complete bibliography, visit digpodcast.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 min
  • Beasts and Believers: A History of Werewolf Trials in Early Modern Europe

    Beasts and Believers: A History of Werewolf Trials in Early Modern Europe
    Oct 27 2025
    Spooky Series. Episode #3 of 4. In 1220 CE, St. Francis of Assisi tamed a ferocious werewolf terrorizing Gubbio, Italy—transforming "Brother Wolf" from savage beast to peaceful townsperson. But why did Christianity need to conquer the wolf? For millennia, werewolves have stalked the boundaries between civilization and savagery, humanity and monstrosity. From ancient Mesopotamian curses to Greek myths of divine punishment, from medieval theology to early modern courtrooms where hundreds died in werewolf trials, the shape-shifter has embodied our deepest anxieties about human nature itself. Join Marissa and Elizabeth as they uncover the forgotten history of werewolf prosecutions that claimed real lives, explore how economic crises and religious upheaval sparked lycanthropy panics, and trace the transformation of the werewolf from genuine judicial threat to Hollywood monster. This third episode in our Spooky series reveals how the figure of the werewolf has shaped—and been shaped by—Western culture's evolving understanding of violence, identity, and the wild within us all. NOTE: This episode contains references to sexual assault, violence against children, and descriptions of gruesome gore. Listen/read with extreme caution. Find show notes and transcripts at www.digpodcast.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    59 min
  • You're Bound to Die: The Long History of the American Murder Ballad

    You're Bound to Die: The Long History of the American Murder Ballad
    Oct 12 2025
    Spooky Series. Episode # 2 of 4. If you look through recordings of country, western, and folk music ranging from the 1920s and 1930s through to present, you’ll notice a theme: songs about crime, murder, and executions are ever-present. From Grayson & Whittier’s recording of the centuries-old ballad “Rose Connelly” in 1927, to Lloyd Wilson’s “Stagger Lee”recorded in the 1950s, Bob Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”in the 1960s, to Johnny Cash’s “Delia’s Gone”in the 1990s, to Jason Isbell’s “Live Oak” or “Yvette”or Zach Bryan’s “Birmingham” in more recent years, songs about the murder are a staple of the American musical tradition. How did songs about violence and crime become so central? Today, we’ll take a closer look at the murder ballad tradition, tracing them back to the real crimes that inspired them but also considering what they might teach us about race, gender, and American culture. Find transcripts and show notes at www.digpodcast.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 ora e 24 min
  • Suffer a Witch to Live? Religious Conflict and Witchcraft Persecutions; or, No One Expects the Inquisition

    Suffer a Witch to Live? Religious Conflict and Witchcraft Persecutions; or, No One Expects the Inquisition
    Sep 29 2025
    Spooky Szn Episode #1 of 4. How would you expect the Spanish Inquisition to treat a confessed witch? Does the suggestion conjure visions of fire, torture, and lots of murdered women? You aren’t alone - but this is a history we definitely need to unpack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 min