From Cautionary Tales: Harry Houdini's Spiritualist Journey

Harry Houdini is known for his daring escapes and illusions, but he also had an obsession with debunking spiritualist frauds.Today, we’re bringing you the first of a three-part series from another Pushkin podcast, Cautionary Tales, about Houdini’s crusade to expose phony mediums, an undertaking that would lead him to the courtroom and put him on a collision course with his close friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Host Tim Harford stops by The Last Archive for a conversation with Ben Naddaff-Hafrey about Tim’s fondness for historical morality tales, the concept of invisible worlds, and the root of Houdini’s anti-spiritualism. You can listen to the rest of the series on Cautionary Tales.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Om Podcasten

The Last Archive​ is a show about the history of truth, and the historical context for our current fake news, post-truth moment. It’s a show about how we know what we know, and why it seems, these days, as if we don’t know anything at all anymore. The show is written & hosted by Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, and was created by the historian Jill Lepore. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.