190 - The Bizarre True History of Spirit Photography: A Halloween Replay

This is a spooky-season re-release. Casey welcomes Dr. Emily Zarka, host of Monstrum on PBS Digital's Storyed channel, for a conversation about monster folklore, spirit photography, and what our desire to document the supernatural says about us.

In this episode:

• The Twitter debate that started it all: why (and whether) vampires can be photographed — soul folklore vs. silver folklore
• Working through the "photographability" of werewolves, mummies, zombies, and ghosts based on soul mythology
• The history of 1860s spirit photography and the spiritualist movement
• William Mumler, the photographer who faked ghostly portraits of deceased loved ones — and the trial where he got away with it
• P.T. Barnum's staged "ghost photo" of himself with Lincoln's spirit, made to expose the trend as fraud
• Why spirit photography took hold after mass wartime loss, and what it offered grieving families
• What monster folklore more broadly reveals about how humans process real horror and cruelty
• Global vampire folklore and why Western "Dracula-style" vampires are just one version among many
• Dr. Zarka's favorite monster (the undead), favorite monster movie (The Mist), and favorite non-traditional monster (the Manananggal, from Filipino folklore)

Useless information segment:

How Lazzaro Spallanzani proved in 1793 that bats navigate by sound rather than sight — by blindfolding bats first, then plugging their ears, and watching which one made them start bumping into things.

Guest: Dr. Emily Zarka, host of Monstrum (PBS Digital / Storyed) — watch on YouTube or at PBS.org

Episode Promo: Kit - https://partners.kit.com/nerdy

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About The Podcast

The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com

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