EPISODE · May 10, 2025 · 1H 11M
Ep. 10: Witch Hunts Never Go Out of Style: The Many Faces of Patriarchy pt 1
from ”Great in the Sack”: When Misogyny Leads to Mayhem · host Nicole Davenport
From the witch trials in Valais, Switzerland, to the coerced confessions of Pendle and Salem, this episode uncovers the long arc of misogyny cloaked in religious fervor and legal authority. We trace how accusations of heresy & witchcraft can come as a result of moral corruption and political instability — and have been wielded to control women, the poor, the different, and the defiant throughout history. With voices lost to fire and rope, and others silenced by shame or forced to flee, this isn't just a story of the past. This is a ritual the patriarchy never quite stopped performing. In part 2, we follow this ritual as it evolves—from the Puritan gallows to the propaganda of Nazi Germany, from Cold War suspicion to today’s backlash against inclusion. The targets may change, but the hunt remains the same. [email protected] www.instagram.com/@greatinthesacktruecrimepodcast www.tiktok.com/greatinthesackpodcast www.tiktok.com/neurodivergentfeminist show sources: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-21/girl-brutally-tortured-in-png-after-accusations-of-sorcery/9168876 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/women-witchcraft-papua-new-guinea-b1863343.html https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-latin-american-womens-literature/women-cronistas-in-colonial-latin-america/5E27EA2D8B80D9441CA470E3CCD21F1F https://www.thecollector.com/inquisition-cases-colonial-mexico/ https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Ferdinand-and-Isabella/353119 https://www.thoughtco.com/european-witch-hunts-timeline-3530786#:~:text=The%20European%20witch%20hunts%20lasted,and%20more%20susceptible%20to%20witchcraft. https://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/index.php/irss/article/view/5801/5957 Kieckhefer, Richard (2013). "The First Wave of Trials for Diabolical Witchcraft". The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America. https://web.archive.org/web/20070813092734/http://www.lclark.edu/~schoen/weyer.html https://scandinavianhistory.org/2021/06/20/the-witch-trials-of-dalarna/ https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/swedish-witch-trials-dark-heritage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_early_modern_Scotland https://www.worldhistory.org/Salem_Witch_Trials/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAoULJ02Zg_XnLF-mUWXgvP6pYSvk8&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt8zABhDKARIsAHXuD7aBBG_K_lNYrPir26w76fTEEkCrE9Lr6-k8KuWm7GSupKx0Pacuj9kaAsehEALw_wcB
What this episode covers
From the chilling trials in Valais, Switzerland, to the tortured confessions of Pendle and Salem, this episode uncovers the long arc of misogyny cloaked in religious fervor and legal authority. We trace how accusations of heresy & witchcraft can come as a result of moral corruption and political instability — and have been wielded to control women, the poor, the different, and the defiant throughout history. With voices lost to fire and rope, and others silenced by shame or forced to flee, this isn’t just a story of the past. This is a ritual the patriarchy never quite stopped performing. In part 2, we follow this ritual as it evolves—from the Puritan gallows to the propaganda of Nazi Germany, from Cold War suspicion to today’s backlash against inclusion. The targets may change, but the hunt remains the same.
NOW PLAYING
Ep. 10: Witch Hunts Never Go Out of Style: The Many Faces of Patriarchy pt 1
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Dec 5, 2025 ·50m
Oct 9, 2025 ·33m
Oct 3, 2025 ·40m
Sep 11, 2025 ·31m
Aug 27, 2025 ·39m
Aug 18, 2025 ·54m