Something spooky was born on the American frontier in the mid-19th century: the idea that people’s personalities survive death and that some gifted individuals can communicate with them. It developed into a religion that some still practice today.
AI Summary
In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating world of the spiritualism movement that swept America in the mid-1800s. They explore how a perfect storm of frontier life, religious fervor, and emerging scientific discoveries created the ideal conditions for mediums, séances, and spirit communication to flourish as both genuine beliefs and elaborate money-making schemes. The hosts trace the movement's origins back to the famous Fox Sisters and examine how spiritualism became deeply embedded in American culture, influencing everything from ghost stories to the eventual birth of paranormal investigation.
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Crossing Over with John Edward
2000
★ 1.0
"That reminds me of John Edwards. I remember him crossing over with John Edwards. — Chuck referenced the psychic television show when discussing mediums claiming to hear spirits telepathically."
— Chuck
"I thought this is very interesting, actually, probably the greatest ghost movie that involves seances ever. Ghost no. Whoopi Goldberg. — Josh referenced the famous ghost movie as an example of a film involving séances."
— Josh
Ghostbusters
1984
1h 47m
★ 7.5
"Dan Aykroyd is huge into UFOs and spirits and ghosts. It's one of the impetuses of him writing Ghostbusters. — Discussed how Dan Aykroyd's personal beliefs in spiritualism influenced his creation of the Ghostbusters screenplay."
— Josh
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
3h 48m
★ 8.0
"You either look like Lawrence of Arabia or like you just wandered in with a head injury. — Chuck joked about how wrapping scarves around his head made him look like the character from Lawrence of Arabia."
— Chuck
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
2019
PG-13
1h 48m
★ 6.5
"Do you remember the scary stories to tell in the dark book? Yeah. Where was that? What that was from? — Josh referenced the book series (which was adapted into films) when discussing the illustrations from the Scary Stories series."
— Josh
The Irishman
2019
3h 29m
★ 7.6
"That would be weird unless they do some sort of bad Irishman, the aging. — Josh referenced the movie's de-aging technology when discussing casting Kate Winslet in a potential Fox Sisters film."
— Josh
The Others
2001
1h 41m
★ 7.6
"The others. With Nicole? Yeah, that was good. — Josh and Chuck discussed The Others as another great séance-related ghost movie."
— Josh
"He looked like the old man from up. — Chuck compared the appearance of medium Leslie Flint to the old man character from the Pixar film Up."
— Chuck
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