Episodes

  • 11: What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?

    11: What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?
    Oct 6 2025
    IT'S THE BEST MONTH OF THE YEEEAAR! Let's celebrate with a subject most befitting: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Specifically, host Ivy talks about what events actually led to this deadly event. Was it all a land grab? Misogyny? Ergot poisoning? Let's find out!

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    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Resources used for this episode:

    Bolitho, Riley. The New England Puritans: History, Social Order, and Gender, Perspektywy Kultury, 2021;34(3):59-72

    Linder, Douglas O. The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: An Account, UMKC School of Law, famous-trials.com/salem/2078-sal-acct. Accessed 29 June 2025.

    Parker, Geoffrey. Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, “The Little Ice Age”, 1st ed. 2013 Yale University Press

    Schiff, S. (2015) The Witches: Salem 1692, New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2015
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    47 mins
  • 10: Lilias Adie

    10: Lilias Adie
    Sep 2 2025
    Happy September! Or shall we say, “Cemtember”. This month, Taisha eases us further into spooky season with a story involving some of our favorite topics: Scotland, witches, archaeology, a grave, and a missing skull… Can we solve the mystery? Probably not. But Scotland, please hire us to at least give it a try!

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Resources used for this episode:

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41928/41928-h/41928-h.htm
    https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/witches-trail/
    https://www.differentia.co.uk/news/2020/10/2/fife-witches-trail
    https://engole.info/lilias-adie-witch/
    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wanted-missing-bones-scottish-witch-180973033/
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41775398
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-29689688
    https://witches.hca.ed.ac.uk/faq/
    https://www.britannica.com/place/Fife-council-area-Scotland
    https://www.thenational.scot/news/17859215.bid-find-missing-bones-scottish-witch-feared-rise-dead/
    https://museumblog.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2020/09/15/witchcraft-and-mystery-or-the-object-that-never-was-in-our-collection/
    https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A0457F3E3512CC1B3B342D118B9CE53E/S0009640700109655a.pdf/the-scottish-witchcraft-act.pdf
    Witches of Scotland Podcast – Episodes 21, 22, & 23
    Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread – Scott Richardson-Read
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    44 mins
  • 9: The Paris Catacombs Pt. 2 (The ghosts!)

    9: The Paris Catacombs Pt. 2 (The ghosts!)
    Aug 19 2025
    We are excited to announce our new collaboration with Bath & Body Works, featuring the highly anticipated Corpse Wax line! (Just kidding though, don't get mad Bath & Body Works!) Today, Ivy wraps up her two-part series on the Paris Catacombs with some of its most famous ghostly tales.

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
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    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Resources used for this episode:

    The Unexplained The Haunted Catacombs of France for Medium
    https://medium.com/@TheUnexplained/the-haunted-catacombs-of-france-2ca1c5228169

    Leyla Alyanak 9 Eminently Haunted Places in Paris for Off Beat France
    https://www.offbeatfrance.com/most-haunted-places-in-paris.html
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    29 mins
  • 8: The Paris Catacombs Pt. 1

    8: The Paris Catacombs Pt. 1
    Aug 1 2025
    The Paris Catacombs (well, its actually an "ossuary") is one of the most famous tourist attractions in France. Floor to ceiling human bones, along with the dark, cave-like nature of the catacombs, gives this location a somber, macabre, yet intriguing appeal. For this episode, co-host Ivy shares the history of its creation and dives into the issue of ethics often brought up when discussing human remains which have been used in such a manor. (How does this tie in with anthropology, you might ask? Um…old bones…yeah, we can justify its discussion here on Odd Anthro!)

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Resources used for this episode:

    Jessica Pearce Rotondi The Dark Origins of the Paris Catacombs (November 2023, updated May 2025) for HISTORY
    https://www.history.com/articles/paris-catacombs-origins

    Philibert Aspairt for Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philibert_Aspairt

    Les Catacombes de Paris - History
    https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/history
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    36 mins
  • 7: Homo Floresiensis

    7: Homo Floresiensis
    Jul 1 2025
    Also known as the "hobbits", this early human stood at around three feet tall and may be involved in local folklores...

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Resources used for this episode:

    https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-floresiensis
    https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/homo-floresiensis-hobbit.html
    https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-floresiensis/
    https://aeon.co/ideas/investigating-homo-floresiensis-and-the-myth-of-the-ebu-gogo
    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/16/flores-hobbit-human-downs-syndrome-claim-homo-floresiensis
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    37 mins
  • 6: The Loch Ness Monster

    6: The Loch Ness Monster
    Jun 1 2025
    This month, we "dive in" to the legends and lore surrounding one of the worlds most famous cryptids...Nessie! Being an anthropology podcast, we also include some insights around a particularly famous archaeological find at Loch Ness, and what societal pressures may have led to this monsters rise in fame. You can also head over to our Instagram for our first ever giveaway featuring items relating to this months topic! Woo hoo!

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Sources Used:

    https://www.historyhit.com/painted-people-who-were-the-picts/
    https://www.britannica.com/topic/Loch-Ness-monster-legendary-creature
    https://www.digitscotland.com/scottish-archaeology-and-the-loch-ness-legend/
    https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6210/6180
    https://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-ancient-serpent-stone-of-loch-ness.html
    https://nypost.com/2023/08/31/new-sighting-of-loch-ness-monster-captured-in-photos/
    https://www.ncregister.com/blog/st-columba-and-the-loch-ness-monster
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    49 mins
  • 5: Curious Considerations Vol. 1 - Imposter Syndrome

    5: Curious Considerations Vol. 1 - Imposter Syndrome
    May 1 2025
    This month, we decided to take a little mental break and sit down for a more conversational-style episode! Join us as we discuss the plague that is imposter syndrome through an anthropological lens, and don't worry...we still keep the episode fun! So sit down, have a laugh, and lets try and kick imposter syndrome to the curb.

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay
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    29 mins
  • 4: The Tollund Man

    4: The Tollund Man
    Apr 1 2025
    Disclaimer: This episode discusses murder and ritual human sacrifice!

    Two peat farmers in Denmark accidentally discovered what would become one of the most famous and recognizable ancient mummies to date. Let's sit down and discuss this incredible find and what we learned about the life and death of the Tollund Man!

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology
    Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com

    Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com

    Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

    Sources Used:

    Bog Bodies Uncovered - Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery by Miranda Aldhouse-Green

    https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/bodies-in-the-bog-the-lindow-mysteries/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5i8BhDmARIsAGE4xHwWpeCbtlMViLK4q-SZTWXefW5aCrSUjiVilVh0NEZVZRvfWUJFOIwaAhIzEALw_wcB

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/

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    46 mins