Episode #259 - How Did Two Teenagers Talk to the Dead? (Part II)

About this episode

In the mid-19th century a new religious movement, known as modern spiritualism, was sweeping North America and Europe. At the heart of this phenomenon were two sisters from western New York who claimed they could speak with the dead. Kate and Maggie Fox became famous as teenagers when they started being followed by strange knocking sounds they claimed were made by the hands of spirits. However, as the girls aged they discovered that being famous spirit mediums came with many difficulties. Eventually the Fox Sisters would turn their backs on the movement they helped create and would confess to perpetuating a decades long fraud. But the confession itself was riddled with lies, exaggerations, and obfuscations. Should we trust it? How did the girls managed to pull off such an elaborate years long hoax? Were they ever truly honest about how they created the amazing things witnessed at their seances? Tune-in and find out how ghost kisses, arctic explorers, and toe-ology all play a role in the story See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.