WEBVTT - Introducing: Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus

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<v Speaker 1>I would ask you if you believed in ghosts, but

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<v Speaker 1>every time I do that, there's like a swarm of

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<v Speaker 1>angry redditors that descend on me like wasps. So I'll

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<v Speaker 1>ask you this instead. Have you heard of ghost Church?

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Jamie Loftus, the creator behind the Lida podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>my year in Mensa, and a bunch of other stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>and I love a freaky niche American experience. So what

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<v Speaker 1>if I told you there are camps across the US

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<v Speaker 1>dedicated to communing with the dead. What if I told

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<v Speaker 1>you the religion behind these camps had attracted the likes

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<v Speaker 1>of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Frederick Douglas, Mary Todd Lincoln,

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<v Speaker 1>Queen Victoria dan Ackroyd, and the first woman to run

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<v Speaker 1>for the U S presidency. No, but what if I

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<v Speaker 1>told you I've been there and I've seen it myself.

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<v Speaker 1>American Spiritualism is a religion I've been tangentially aware of

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<v Speaker 1>for years. But it wasn't until I went to the

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<v Speaker 1>religion's largest surviving camp in Cassadega, Florida, that I started

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<v Speaker 1>to learn out the US as bizarre and somewhat tortured

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<v Speaker 1>relationship with the spirit communication The assumptions that come along

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<v Speaker 1>with it are expected. Is it a cult? Are they witches? No,

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<v Speaker 1>and relax. But the reality of how the religion came together,

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<v Speaker 1>how it was blown apart, and how it's managed to

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<v Speaker 1>mostly survive for nearly two centuries undetected is fascinating. My

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<v Speaker 1>new series Ghost Church follows this uniquely American religion from

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<v Speaker 1>its origin to a week of n sweating in Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>listening to medium's drunk gossiping at a karaoke night, trying

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<v Speaker 1>to make ends meet. I went to spiritualist churches post

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<v Speaker 1>churches across the country to find out how a religion

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<v Speaker 1>that was started as a prank by two preteen sisters

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<v Speaker 1>in upstate New York snowballed into a movement that consumed

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<v Speaker 1>the final years of Harry Houdini's life. It's not a cult,

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<v Speaker 1>They're not witches. But the history of American spiritualism intersects

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<v Speaker 1>with the history of the industrial era, of the rise

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<v Speaker 1>of science, of the backlash to first wave feminism and abolition,

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<v Speaker 1>and today with the billion dollar New Age movement that

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<v Speaker 1>the religion hasn't managed to capitalize on. I'll be taking

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<v Speaker 1>a look at this entire Bizarro history on our impulse

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<v Speaker 1>to debunk systems of belief at the celebrity psychics that

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<v Speaker 1>have watered down and jacked up prices on access to spirit,

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<v Speaker 1>and take you on my own journey through a week

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<v Speaker 1>communing with the mediums of Cassadega, Florida. Taking a class

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<v Speaker 1>where a table would connect you with the dead spirit

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<v Speaker 1>of your pets, to services where reverence tell you about

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<v Speaker 1>ghosts you didn't know we're standing right behind you, to

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<v Speaker 1>rivalries between mediums and psychics who are neighbors. I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>asking you to believe or disbelieve anything. I'll be interviewing

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<v Speaker 1>mediums from the camp and skeptics alike. I'm just asking

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<v Speaker 1>you to get in the spirit circle with an open mind.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's see what comes through. You can listen to Ghost

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<v Speaker 1>Church by me Jamie Loftus starting on April on the

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<v Speaker 1>i Heeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

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<v Speaker 1>your podcast Sage