Micah Hanks, 2020-10-26: A Magician Among the Spirits: Houdini, Doyle, and the Occult

Some of the most famous minds of the 19th century became swept up in the allure of Spiritualism and mediumship. No less among these had been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who became one of the staunchest defenders of Spiritualism, even authoring a two-volume history of the religion. However, his friend Harry Houdini, while initially open to the possibility of mediumship as an avenue toward making contact with those who had crossed over, soon became convinced that it was a sham. In addition to placing strains on his friendship with Doyle, the experience pushed Houdini toward the pursuit of exposing all mediumship and paranormal claims as nonsense.

However, following Houdini’s death on Halloween in 1926, even the world’s greatest magician would become the target of attempts with reaching the dead through seances and mediumship. On this special Halloween edition of the program, we explore Houdini and Doyles relationship with the occult, and how even in death they each remained highly influential on the world of the occult.