The Black Candle by Emily Murphy ~ Full Audiobook [history]

The Black Candle by Emily Murphy audiobook. Genre: history First published in 1922, The Black Candle is Emily F. Murphy's hard-hitting and highly influential exposé on narcotics in early 20th-century Canada. Writing from the vantage point of a public magistrate (and drawing on earlier journalism under her pen name, Janey Canuck), Murphy assembles courtroom anecdotes, police accounts, medical claims, and sensational reportage to argue that opium, cocaine, morphine and heroin, and the then-new specter of marijuana are not private vices but a national emergency. Moving from city streets and alleged opium dens to the machinery of trafficking and corruption, she portrays addiction as a force that can hollow out families, exploit the vulnerable, and undermine social order. The book's central conflict is not a single mystery to be solved, but a campaign: Murphy presses for stronger enforcement, harsher penalties, and broader public vigilance against dealers and users alike. At the same time, the narrative reveals the era's moral panic and the racialized assumptions that shaped public debate, making the work both a period artifact and a document with lasting consequences for drug policy and social attitudes. For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate) (00:00:00) Chapter 00 (00:06:08) Chapter 01 (00:24:09) Chapter 02 (00:41:00) Chapter 03 (00:57:06) Chapter 04 (01:14:39) Chapter 05 (01:29:18) Chapter 06 (01:43:27) Chapter 07 (01:56:59) Chapter 08 (02:28:00) Chapter 09 (02:50:01) Chapter 10 (03:08:52) Chapter 11 (03:30:58) Chapter 12 (03:49:18) Chapter 13 (04:16:55) Chapter 14 (04:38:50) Chapter 15 (04:55:22) Chapter 16 (05:17:06) Chapter 17 (05:43:37) Chapter 18 (06:09:06) Chapter 19 (06:30:38) Chapter 20 (06:47:59) Chapter 21 (07:12:13) Chapter 22 (07:40:41) Chapter 23 (07:55:27) Chapter 24 (08:17:32) Chapter 25 (08:39:35) Chapter 26 (09:00:18) Chapter 27 (09:25:53) Chapter 28 (09:38:51) Chapter 29 (09:59:20) Chapter 30 (10:22:31) Chapter 31 (10:44:04) Chapter 32 (11:10:32) Chapter 33 (11:26:03) Chapter 34 (11:44:34) Chapter 35 (12:03:09) Chapter 36 (12:14:56) Chapter 37 (12:37:28) Chapter 38 (12:53:55) Chapter 39 (13:13:43) Chapter 40 (13:27:51) Chapter 41 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices