Ep 14: Ouija: What The Eyes See, The Mind Believes

Somewhere between the way things were, and the way they are, there was a hope; no, there is a hope, that there's more to life than meets the eye. But, long before news of scientific discoveries were embedded between posts like '18 Things Only Girls With Curly Hair Will Understand' and 'Hedgehogs: Our New Cute Obsession' and updates for tech devices appeared every other day, there was a sense of wonder and possibility attached to each advance and understanding. Is it so difficult to think that early 20th century imaginations might turn attentions to the boundary between the life and death, expecting that the same science that brought electric lighting to their home or sent their messages across oceans via telegraphs might contact those just beyond the veil? These are the origins of the Ouija board. The swirling chaos that defined that era is full of characters and controversy. The Spiritualist movement pitted master magician Harry Houdini against the master of mystery, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the fallout was and is incredibly entertaining. Join us as we examine how and if this board works, and take a look at one of the greatest intellectual feuds in modern history.