Powerful Trouble artwork

Powerful Trouble

11 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratings

Amateur historian Blair Carpenter dives deep into a subject that has fascinated humanity for centuries - magic. Each season focuses on a different magical topic, and season 2 is all about the legend of King Arthur. In addition to the tales and folklore of witchcraft, Blair explores the historical and cultural forces at play in our popular imaginings of magic.

History history witches witchcraft spirituality feminism historical
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

Bonus Episode: Samhain

October 31, 2022 10:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MB

Since before the days when ancient Irish kings lit a bonfire on the Hill of Tlachtga, Scots, Picts, Irish, and English tribes such as Druids celebrated the feast of Samhain (SOW-an). Falling on the midpoint between the autumn equinox and winter solstice, Samhain is a celebration of the abundance of the harvest, and the thinning of the veil into the world of the dead.  This special bonus episode of Powerful Trouble discusses the lore surrounding this Celtic witch's holiday, and the ways it's...

Season 2 - Trailer

August 24, 2022 10:00 - 3 minutes - 2.32 MB

Season 2 of Powerful Trouble premieres Wednesday, August 31, 2022 wherever you listen to your podcasts. To get episodes ad-free and a day early, join the Patreon at any level, starting at $1 per month. https://www.patreon.com/powerfultroublepodcast  Background music in the trailer is from Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, mvmt II (Adagio). Music sourced via imslp.org Support the show

Bonus: Winter Solstice Rituals

December 22, 2021 22:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MB

Across the world, cultures have developed surprisingly similar ways to celebrate the longest night of the year. In Scandinavia and India, people spent the darkness celebrating abundance around a huge bonfire. Both Germans and Iranians spend the whole holiday inside, battling the long dark night with light and warmth. And for thousands of years, the Hopi and the Celts used the longest night as an opportunity to coax the sun back towards the earth. In this bonus episode of Powerful Trouble,...

7: Fact v. Fiction

October 27, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

The Salem Witch Trials loom large in American lore, inspiring of dozens of spinoff works and thousands of pages of research and reflection. But what ideas do we know to be true, and what parts of the story have been passed down as fiction? Sound effects and music via zapsplat.com Additional music via imslp.org Episode sources at powerfultroublepodcast.com/sources Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/powerfultroublepodcast)

6: The Trials

October 21, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 23.8 MB

Crowds of people packed into the small, dingy, sweltering meeting house in Salem village the summer of 1692 to observe the trials of the accused Salem witches. Arrests were still rolling in, new stories of torments arrived each day, and the villagers were out for blood. Sound effects and music via zapsplat.com Additional music via imslp.org Episode sources at powerfultroublepodcast.com/sources Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/powerfultroublepodcast)

5: A Full-Blown Witch Hunt

October 13, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MB

After Tituba testified to seeing 9 names written in Satan's book, the village of Salem went into a full-blown panic trying to identify the other 6 witches. In true hysterical fashion, they completely overreacted, and by the end of May almost 20 people total had been arrested for being a witch. From a five-year-old girl to a beloved septuagenarian, no one was safe. Music courtesy of imslp.org Sound effects courtesy of zapsplat.com Read all episode sources here. Support the show (https://www...

4: Tituba

October 06, 2021 10:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MB

She's one of the central figures of the trials. Her testimony led to the imprisonment and execution of others. And yet, we know so little about Tituba's life. Historians have tried to excavate the truth over the past 300 years, but there are still so many unanswered questions about her. This episode digs into the theories about who she really was, and what her life was really like. Music courtesy of imslp.org Sound effects courtesy of zapsplat.com Read all episode sources here. Support the...

3: The Accusations

September 29, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MB

Now is the moment you've been waiting for... It's January of 1692, halfway through a barren, cold, and brutal winter. Attacks from the French loom. Your woodpile is dwindling dangerously. And two young girls begin acting very strangely. This episode covers the symptoms, investigation, and first hearing of the Salem Witch Trials, roughly January 25th to March 10th 1692.  CW:  This episode contains mild descriptions of violence and death, including infant death. Listener discretion is advis...

2: Salem Village

September 22, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 22 MB

In the US, we all know the story of the Pilgrims landing the "Mayflower" on Plymouth rock in 1621. But did you know that Salem is the second oldest colonial settlement in New England? Or the names of the tribes and their leaders that lived in Massachusetts when the English arrived? This episode covers all of that, plus what life was like in Puritan villages, and where the Salem Witch Trials would start in the cold, cold January of 1692. Music via musopen.org Sound effects via zapsplat.com ...

1: Setting Up Salem

September 15, 2021 10:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

The early modern period in Europe saw a massive amount of change. From wars and famines to plagues and religious upheaval, by the mid-1500s, people were convinced the apocalypse was nigh. Out of this chaos, a religious group known as the Puritans came about and decided they were the ones to guide the transition into God's time on earth. The first episode of season 1 discusses who the puritans were, how they came about, and how society viewed magic and witchcraft. Music via musopen.org Soun...

Powerful Trouble Season 1: Trailer

August 31, 2021 21:00 - 1 minute - 1.09 MB

What do you think of when you think of witches? Long grey hair? Black cats? Cauldrons? Flying broomsticks? Maybe you just picture Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus full stop.  Introducing a new podcast about witches: Powerful Trouble. This show focuses on the history, culture, and folklore of witchcraft and witch tales from around the world, all researched and recorded by history nerd Blair Carpenter. Season one focuses on the most famous true  North American witch tale - t...