In part one of this two-part series on Spiritualism, the medium is the message. We talk about the history of the 19th-century Spiritualist movement and its significance in American culture. Quest explains how seances were performed and tells us about big names in the business such as the Fox sisters, the Davenport Brothers, and D.D. Home. Tune in to part two for a continued discussion of Spiritualism and its connection with the development of the technology and art of photography. Bibliography “Chapter 4: The Victorians and Spiritualism; or, The Seance is Born” from Calling the Spirits by Lisa Morton “The Medium on the Stage: Theatricality and Performance in the Spirit Séance” from Supernatural Entertainments by Simone Natale Spectres of the Self by Shane McCorristine (Ch 5 and Epilogue) Ghosts of Futures Past by Molly McGarry (Ch 1)

In this episode Quest and Annabelle introduce themselves and explain the mission of this podcast. We ask the question "What is a ghost?" and discuss some foundational theories that will guide us in the ensuing episodes including a brief history of ghosts, types of ghosts, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster theory, gothic literature, and abjection. Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” published in Monster Theory: Reading Culture, ed. Cohen “To Be Haunted” by Jessie Lynn McMains Chapter 1: Introduction and Chapter 2: What Are (And Are Not) Ghosts? from Ghosts: A Haunted History by Lisa Morton “Introduction: Conceptualizing Spectralities” from The Spectralities Reader: Ghosts and Haunting in Contemporary Cultural Theory, ed. María del Pilar Blanco and Esther Peeren “The Gothic-Theory Conversation: An Introduction” and “Abjection as Gothic and the Gothic as Abjection” from The Gothic and Theory, ed. Jerrold E. Hogle and Robert Miles Goddu T. A. (1997). Gothic America: Narrative History and Nation. Columbia University Press.