
Scotland’s last witch
History Extra podcast
11/03/23
•42m
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Nicknamed ‘Hellish Nell’ from childhood, spiritualist medium Helen Duncan made a living from claiming to communicate with the spirits of the dead at seances around Britain. But in 1944, her ‘psychic predictions’ of wartime tragedy saw her become the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act of 1735. Malcolm Gaskill explores the remarkable events that led to Duncan’s incarceration and investigates the mysterious world of 20th-century spiritualism.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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The First Crusade | 4. Besieged
November 2, 2023
•41m
In late AD 1097, a weary and wartorn band of crusaders arrived at the imposing walls of Antioch: a key strategic location on the long journey down the Levant. In the shadow of the city’s tall towers, the crusaders plotted their next move. Morale was at an all-time low, but the stakes were high – a Turkish army was on its way. In this fourth episode of our latest HistoryExtra podcast series, we’ll be witnessing the moment the crusaders faced their biggest trial yet. Speaking to a host of expert historians, we’ll be considering top crusader tactics and revealing how the crusader army found the motivation to carry on in an unfamiliar and imposing land.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed.
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The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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