Podcast Review: Witch
I recently listened to the thirteen-episode podcast series Witch hosted by India Rakusen on BBC Sounds / Radio 4 and released in 2023. Rakusen’s other work for BBC is similarly focused on women’s lives, including 28ish Days Later about the menstrual cycle and Child about pregnancy, birth, and the first year of life. I became interested in this podcast after reading Witch Hunt by Kristen J. Sollée and was curious to learn other perspectives on the topic. Similar to the book, this podcast blends European medieval history with modern witchcraft practices.
Rakusen begins her series at a Beltane party, an ancient Gaelic festival still practiced by modern pagans that takes place in May. This sets the tone and careful balance between the witches and researchers describing their current practice and the atrocities done to people falsely accused of witchcraft from medieval Europe to present cultures. Special guests within just the first episode included Emma Kathryn, Pam Grossman, Ronald Hutton, and Tatum Karmen Swithenbank. The guests feel like well-rounded characters and friends of the host, even if she has just met them. Rakusen has a calm, reassuring way of interviewing that brings out the best in these experts.
From a purely factual standpoint, the historical descriptions are nothing new. Most listeners are aware of witch hunts in the British Isles. However, they may have believed misconceptions about witchcraft in the Middle Ages: that any of these people were real witches. At that time, definitions were set by the Malleus Maleficarum or Hammer of Witches, a witch hunting manual written by the monk Heinrich Kramer, who none of his contemporaries liked. Somewhat confusingly, this crucial text was not mentioned until halfway through “3. The Witches Well”. At this point, the podcast series had completed over 70 minutes of run time. Put a pin in this structural issue, as I will discuss it again in a few paragraphs. As for other concepts about witchcraft accusations, the belief that women were actually practicing medicine was not really true, as discussed in “6. Midwives and Healers”. More likely, women were targeted for being too rich, too poor, or too old, as discussed in “8. Hag”.
While most conversations focus on either modern, practicing witches or historical, never practicing witches, these are punctuated with discussions on witch-adjacent information. “4. Enchanted Lands” covers renters rights in the Thames Valley, England, where long-time renters can be evicted suddenly through a section 21 notice. In 2022, worried renters created a character, the witch Esme Boggart, to represent them in their petitions to absentee landlords to continue renting the property, a proposition that ultimately failed. In “9. To Be Called a Witch”, Nigerian activist Leo Igwe describes his mission to protect children accused of witchcraft. While these stories were interesting, they felt somewhat out of scope when compared to other material on the podcast.
This is where the podcast struggled, undulating between repetition and disorder. Certain guests appear over multiple episodes, while the same historical events are mentioned regularly. Instead of creating a rhythm, this felt like treading over the same ground. Jumps between modern interviews, poetic interpretations of history, and several points along the timeline could make episodes difficult to follow. Rakusen mentioned several times that her surname matched a village in Germany where witch hysteria led to several executions, but the anticipated moment of family connection never paid off. The problem was worsened as an American listener, since several of the speakers sounded the same to me, a problem that likely would not occur for those more familiar with the wide range of British accents. Additionally, the requirement to make each episode about 28 minutes in length with 13 episodes in total, reflecting the ideal number of witches in a coven, may have contributed to uneven pacing, forcing editors to lengthen or shorten segments to fit into the narrow time slot.
The podcast was a great attempt at sharing history, religion, and culture with the general public who otherwise might not explore the topics. Rakusen is a skilled host. The guests were experts in their field. The sound editing was well done. A clearer structure, combining a script with only in-scope stories and better editing for pacing, would have made this an excellent podcast. As for accessibility, I was disappointed that the BBC did not provide an official transcript, but I did find a just okay AI generated transcript on Musix Match. If you recently began studying the European Medieval Period, folklore, or comparative religion, this is a welcoming entry point.
Abby Epplett’s Rating System
Experience: 6/10
Accessibility: 5/10