Unobscured

Our interview with Adam Wood, publisher of Mango Books and executive editor of "Ripperologist Magazine." His book, "Donald Swanson: The Life and Times of a Victorian Detective," gave us a dramatic an…

Cases were closed and the files were sealed. Investigators went back to careers scattered across the British empire. It would be decades before their conclusions would shed light on London's dark Aut…

Turmoil swept England, from Whitechapel's mean streets to the halls of power. Public servants savaged each other in person and in the press. Blame was thrown on all sides. None of it helped. Vulnerab…

A terrorist bombing campaign left London crawling with spies. Paranoia and isolation afflicted everyone, from the clandestine service to the people they were sworn to protect. But even efforts of the…

Taunts in red ink sent a wave of fear through London. The Metropolitan police knew they had to respond. So the forces under Charles Warren mobilized like never before, and everything was on the line.

The version of events all depends on where you stand. Eye witnesses and identifications are key to detective work, but even veteran investigators can struggle to see through the screen of their assum…

Chief Inspector Swanson inherited a complicated legacy. The history of the Metropolitan Police was full of twists and turns. No less the city they patrolled, that had never grown completely comfortab…

They said London was a den of vice and violence growing grimmer by the day. The police had their orders to put the pieces together. But there were plenty of visitors who had no trouble taking pleasur…

Victorian journalists had learned the lesson well: true crime sells. They were investigators, but they were storytellers too. And the story they told was meant to shock middle class London, as much a…

A city divided. It didn’t happen by accident. A century of destroying the old to bring in the new left many without homes. If glossy West London was the city’s pride, the poor pushed to the margins w…

Victorian London was the world’s greatest city. But building an industrial empire of steel and treasure comes at a startling human cost. The ancient city’s cults of personality raised heroes and vill…

The deep-dive historical documentary podcast, Unobscured, returns for a dark and bloody 3rd season. Follow along as we take a journey into what many consider to be the most infamous true crime story …

Our interview with Molly McGarry, Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside. To wrap up our exploration of spiritualism, we follow her observations about the power and…

Our interview with Cathy Gutierrez, who has served as Professor of Religion at Sweet Briar College and Scholar in Residence at the New York Public Library. We discuss the nuances and historical devel…

Our interview with John Buescher, co-director of the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals. His dedication to cataloging and preserving spiritualist ne…

Our interview with Mary Gabriel, whose books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critic's Circle Award. Her biographies of Victoria Woodhull and…

Our interview with Nancy Rubin Stuart, whose award winning biographies of American women include The Reluctant Spiritualist, our guide to the life of Maggie Fox for this season of Unobscured. 

Learn …

Our interview with Emily Clark, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University. Her first book, A Luminous Brotherhood, explores spiritualism in New Orleans, giving us a perspective o…

Our interview with Margaret Washington, professor of History and American Studies at Cornell University. Her work on Sojourner Truth's life in the American landscape was invaluable for seeing spiritu…

Our interview with Ann Braude, Senior Lecturer on American Religious History at Harvard Divinity School. Her book, Radical Spirits, was a guiding light for our exploration of the role of spiritualism…