Ep. 78 - The Donner Party Tragedy

My Victorian Nightmare

Genevieve Manion

History

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today's episode, Genevieve will have the tragic tale of the Donner Party, the group of 87 pioneers who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1847, who were driven to commit acts of cannibalism to survive. She will also discuss the séances of “The Naked Medium,” Eva Carrière, as well as how the dead define “space.” Subscribe to the Newsletter! ⁠⁠https://myvictoriannightmare.myflodesk.com/myukzmys04⁠⁠ Subscribe to the Patreon free trial for ad-free listening! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/MyVictorianNightmare/membership⁠ Dark Poetry: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1943582?view=condensed Instagram Post For Today's Episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTlYa-QkUpy/?igsh=MW1mZmxweDAwcjJuMg== References For Today's Episode: https://www.kqed.org/news/11844011/donner-party-pt-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Carri%C3%A8re https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/22/eva-carriere-the-lying-spiritualist-ectoplasm-was-said-to-come-from-every-orifice-of-her-body/ “Spirit Wrapping in John Wesley’s Family” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 17th 1869. “A Spirit on SPACE” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 17th 1869. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This show is supported by Odu. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs
0:06.2	add up, and it gets complicated and confusing. Odo solves this. It's a single company that
0:12.8	sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales.
0:18.9	Odo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way.
0:24.0	You can save money without missing out on features you need.
0:27.5	Check out Odu at ODO.com.
0:31.8	That's ODOO.com.
0:35.8	To succeed in the future of work, forward thinkers use AI to deliver measurable results.
0:41.6	Workday is the AI platform for HR and finance that frees you from the mundane so you can focus on more meaningful work.
0:48.6	Workday, moving business forever forward.
0:53.3	Hello and welcome to my Victorian nightmare.
0:57.9	I'm your host, Genevieve Mannion, and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations,
1:05.1	disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era.
1:10.8	Because to me, there's just something especially intriguing, creepy, and oddly comforting
1:16.4	about horror and mayhem from the 19th century.
1:20.3	So, listener discretion is advised.
1:35.1	Hello, friends, and welcome to this my 78th episode.
1:41.9	I hope that you are not beating yourself up for not being able to check everything off your to-do lists lately.
1:43.2	I really hope that you are all giving
1:46.1	yourselves some considerable grace for procrastinating, leaving those clothes on the chair. Of all the
1:53.1	things attacking your sweet psyche at the moment, don't join in. Have a few gummy bears and
1:59.4	leave the laundry till tomorrow.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Genevieve Manion, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Genevieve Manion and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.