S5 Ep. 7: Electronic Biceps

Spiritualism and mediumship, two topics I keep coming back to as this podcast progresses. This week, I bring you the tale of the charlatan who swindled Mary Todd Lincoln and his connections to a presidential assassin and tales of other first ladies who entertained mediums at the White House. I’ll also discuss a medium that Jane Pierce swore was the real deal and even told the woman that, when she resided in the White House, she would bring the woman in via the front door, an illustrious entrance indeed. This episode contains a treacherous humbug, a cranial laceration, a big, haunted white house, and a set of electronic biceps. The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer. The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band. Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com. Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps! Sources: Herbert Mitgang, editor, Noah Brooks, Washington in Lincoln’s Time, pp. 66-68. Daniel Mark Epstein, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, p. 385. Epstein, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, p. 386. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-spiritualist-who-warned-lincoln-was-also-booths-drinking-buddy-180954317/?page=2 https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-1926-houdini-spent-4-days-shaming-congress-for-being-in-thrall-to-fortunetellers https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/05/04/mediums-and-messages/e28b3463-2c78-4ab6-8cca-9382357fd018/ https://www.whitehousehistory.org/seances-in-the-red-room http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/residents-visitors/marys-charlatans/marys-charlatans-charles-j-colchester/ https://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln44.html https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwzvwn/the-first-ladies-who-brought-witchcraft-to-the-white-house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune-telling