The Magic Circle & Hoaxes in History

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2021

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hoaxes and magic were widespread in 18th century Britain. From a woman who claimed to birth rabbits, to a man who said he’d climb into a bottle in front of a live audience, many of the claims sound laughably unbelievable to us today. But at the time, these sorts of hoaxes were widely influential, even drawing in celebrities of the day such as Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift. This episode, Dan is joined by joined by historian and magician, Ian Keable, who details some of the most bamboozling hoaxes of the 18th century and why the public fell for them. Ian's book,The Century of Deception: The Birth of the Hoax in Eighteenth-Century England, is out now.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I've really welcomed Dan Snow's history here. Today I'm talking about magic and hoaxes.
0:06.9	And because of my off-demanded obsession with the 18th century, I'll be focusing on that joyful
0:11.1	period in our history. Hoaxes and magic in the 18th century and there was plenty of both, as you
0:16.5	will hear. The very brilliant magician himself, but also historian Ian Kebel, is going to take us
0:22.3	through some of the more bamboozling hoaxes of the 18th century, a woman who gave birth to rabbits.
0:27.1	Someone who climbed into a bottle in front of a live audience or said they were going to,
0:32.0	and curious astrological predictions. They believed in that they're not like us super sophisticated
0:39.3	truth seekers today. Thank you very much everyone for your feedback from yesterday's podcast,
0:45.2	the very brilliant Margaret McKenzie, the wonderful old lady who became a world-leading expert on
0:49.4	the fove and camps of the World One training areas on Salisbury Plain. As you'll have heard in that
0:54.0	podcast yesterday, she passed away. She died just after recording that episode, so it's very,
0:58.3	very special. And I know her neighbors and family are thrilled that she's had a chance to broadcast
1:03.4	to so many people, sharing some of their expertise. And we'd be glad to know that her
1:08.6	neighbors are keeping her research, keeping her work going, and that huge wealth of knowledge is not
1:14.9	dying with her. If you want to listen to other podcasts and you can do so without the ads,
1:20.9	go a little out there over Christmas, a lot of brands want to get on the old pod.
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