26. Psychics: Etta Smith & Rose Mackenburg (Halloween Series)

This week, we continue our Halloween theme by looking at cases involving psychics. First, we discuss the psychology behind psychics and why people believe in them. Next, Rachel did some field research for the pod and had a very disappointing experience with a psychic who gave some not-so-psychic advice. Despite this setback, she still managed to cover the case of Etta Smith. When Etta heard about the disappearance of Melanie Uribe she got a very strong feeling about the location of her body. She rushed to the police station and they said they would look into it. Etta was not satisfied with this answer and decided to take matters into her own hands. When she went looking for Melanie, she found her. Unfortunately, Melanie had been murdered. The police were suspicious of Etta and arrested her. She was in prison for four days while the real killers went free. Nathalie then tells the story of Rose Mackenburg, private investigator. Rose worked with Harry Houdini and led a team of investigators. Their mission? Bust bogus psychics and fortune-tellers. During her career, Rose would testify in court cases and even before Congress, as well as interviewing for television and magazines. You should absolutely Google her disguises for some fashion inspiration. Rachel’s Sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB4A0sj58VU https://buzzesque.com/how-a-psychic-found-the-body-of-melanie-uribe/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201107/women-s-intuition-myth-or-reality#:~:text=Women's%20intuition%20is%20a%20myth,wrong%20more%20often%20than%20not. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/12/18/The-body-of-a-nude-woman-found-in-a/4089345963600/ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/12/22/Three-young-suspects-were-in-custody-Monday-for-the/3439346309200/ https://buzzesque.com/how-a-psychic-found-the-body-of-melanie-uribe/ https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Etta_Smith https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-19-me-14152-story.html https://medium.com/@darianwest/how-a-psychic-found-the-body-of-melanie-uribe-d624bee8b392 https://www.simplypsychology.org/self-fulfilling-prophecy.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201904/should-you-believe-in-psychics Nathalie’s Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Mackenberg atlasobscura.com/articles/the-female-ghost-buster-who-rooted-out-spiritual-fraud-for-houdini https://wednesdayswomen.com/rose-mackenberg-ghostbuster-of-phantoms-frauds-and-flimflam-men/ https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/XQdYOBIAAH7YyQv0 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/obituaries/rose-mackenberg-overlooked.html