Notes From The Dead explores the strange stories hidden in New England's past—and what they reveal about America today. From ghost witnesses and vampire panics to health fads, utopian societies, and historical scandals, your host Rebecca uncovers the people, fears, and beliefs that shaped the country we still live in. Smart, funny, and deeply researched (while not taking itself too seriously), each episode connects an unforgettable story from the past to questions we're still wrestling with today. Show features solo podcasts and New England guests.
What do you do after a disastrous business deal nearly wipes out your fortune? If you’re P.T. Barnum, you go on tour telling other people how to make money.
This week on Notes From the Dead, REBECCA D is joined by Caroline Smith of Smith Realty to follow Barnum’s dreams of building an industrial empire in East Bridgeport, Connecticut. At the center: a clock company, enormous promises, and financial commitments that turn out to be considerably less entertaining than a circus.
We get into the scheme that brought Barnum to financial ruin, his reinvention as a lecturer on “The Art of Money-Getting,” and the parallels between Barnum and Donald Trump. When does confidence become a con? And how does a spectacular business failure become another selling point?
A story about selling the dream, and then surviving when the bill comes due. Never miss an episode by following our SUBSTACK (https://www.notesfromthedead.com) or subscribing to our YOUTUBE (https://www.youtube.com/@notesfromthedead) channel.
29 Oct 2026
Half-Hanged: The Women Who Wouldn't Die | Ep 1 | S2
They were hanged. They were supposed to die. They had other plans.
In the Season 2 premiere of NFTD, we're telling the extraordinary stories of two women who survived the hangman's noose.
First, there's Mary Webster of Hadley, Massachusetts, a woman accused of witchcraft in the 1680s who survived a brutal attack by her own neighbors and became known to history as Half-Hanged Mary.
Then we travel across the Atlantic to 18th-century Edinburgh, where Margaret "Maggie" Dickson was publicly executed in the Grassmarket in 1724—only to reportedly come back to life on the way to her own burial, earning the unforgettable nickname Half-Hangit Maggie.
Two women. Two hangings. Two stories that blur the lines between history, folklore, and the downright unbelievable.
Was it luck? A botched execution? Or proof that sometimes death just doesn't get the final word?
Welcome back to NFTD. Season 2 starts now.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM (https://www.instagram.com/nftdpod/) or at NOTESFROMTHEDEAD.COM (https://www.notesfromthedead.com)to never miss a new season or episode.
6 Aug 2026
Alone At Sea with Captain Joshua Slocum | Ep 6
Imagine spending three years alone on a tiny sailboat.
No phone.
No podcasts.
No group chat.
Just you, the Atlantic, and occasionally a goat eating your hat.
This week on Notes From the Dead, we follow Captain Joshua Slocum—the first person to sail solo around the world. His journey includes hallucinations, pirates, carpet tacks, fake sailors, doughnuts, sea shanties, and one of the greatest adventures ever attempted.
Turns out the weirdest part wasn't sailing around the world.
It was coming home.
Never miss an episode of NFTD by joining our Substack at notesfromthedead.com.
Slocum's book: SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD
Today's music is brought to you by Kesta and the Wellington Sea Shanty Society courtesy of the Free Music Archive.
1 Aug 2026
The Celibate Cult That Almost Worked
What do an 18th-century celibate religious movement and today's incels have in common? More than you might think.
This week on Notes From the Dead, Rebecca explores the bizarre world of the Shakers—a New England religious community that banned sex, embraced gender equality, built thriving villages, and somehow became one of the most successful utopian societies in American history... despite guaranteeing their own extinction.
Along the way, we meet the remarkable Ann Lee, follow Eunice Chapman's fight to reclaim her children, and ask an unexpected question: What happens when people organize their entire identity around sex—or the absence of it?
From the Shakers to the internet's incel movement, this episode is about loneliness, belonging, control, and why centuries later, we're still trying to solve the same deeply human problems.
Our messy present explored through our messy past, every week. Join us at notesfromthedead.com
25 Jul 2026
The Snack Designed to Stop Masturbation | Ep 4
Why were graham crackers invented? To stop masturbation. Really.
In this episode of Notes From the Dead, we follow the bizarre story of 19th-century health reformer Sylvester Graham, the preacher who believed bland food could tame sinful urges and save America. Along the way we explore cholera outbreaks, anti-sex crusades, the birth of the fad diet, and why today's wellness influencers—from raw milk evangelists to the Liver King—might not be as different as we'd like to think.
It turns out we've always been searching for the perfect diet. We've just changed the packaging.
Stay connected to New England's funniest new podcast at notesfromthedead.com.
19 Jul 2026
The Last Vampire of New England | Ep 3
In 1892, the people of Exeter, Rhode Island, decided that 19-year-old Mercy Brown was a vampire.
Mercy’s body was exhumed, her heart was burned, and the ashes were used in a desperate attempt to save her dying brother. But New England’s last vampire panic was not really about the supernatural. It was about tuberculosis, grief, misinformation, and what frightened people do when science cannot provide an answer.
Rebecca digs into the true story of Mercy Brown—and why communities searching for someone to blame rarely leave the dead alone.
Learn more at notesfromthedead.com.
11 Jul 2026
The Ghost Testimony That Got a Man Hanged | Rebecca Cornell | Ep. 2
One winter night in 1673, Rebecca Cornell was found dead in her home in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Authorities ruled it an accident. Then Rebecca's brother claimed she appeared to him in a dream and insisted she had been murdered.
What followed became one of the most extraordinary murder investigations in early American history. A body was exhumed. A son stood accused. And testimony from a ghost helped send a man to the gallows.
In this episode of Notes From The Dead, we dig into the unsettling true story of Rebecca Cornell, the blurred line between superstition and justice in colonial New England, and why this 350-year-old case still raises uncomfortable questions about evidence, belief, and the stories we choose to trust.
Most early stories about America start in DC. These start in graveyards.
Learn more and subscribe at notesfromthedead.com.
4 Jul 2026
Phineas Gage and the Art of Starting Over | Ep. 1
Most people know the famous story of Phineas Gage—the railroad foreman who survived an iron tamping rod blasting through his skull and forever changed the way we understand the human brain.
What most people don't know is that it happened in Cavendish, Vermont, where freight trains still roll past the site of one of history's most extraordinary accidents.
But this isn't just the story of the day Gage almost died.
It's the story of how he lived afterward.
In the premiere episode of Notes From the Dead, host Rebecca Donohue travels back to the place where neuroscience changed forever and asks what Gage's remarkable second act can teach us about resilience, reinvention, and starting over. Along the way, she reflects on her own decision to leave city life behind and begin again in New England.
Notes From the Dead is a comedy-history podcast that uncovers New England's strangest forgotten stories—and reveals what they still have to say about America today.
If you enjoy history, true crime, dark humor, forgotten Americana, and stories that connect the past to the present, you're in the right cemetery.
Explore the full story, bonus material, and every episode at notesfromthedead.com.
24 Jun 2026
Introducing Notes From The Dead
America is 250 years old, and we're still arguing about the same questions. Who belongs? What makes a good life? What happens when fear takes hold? Notes From The Dead explores New England's strangest stories—from ghost witnesses and vampire panics to forgotten scandals and unlikely heroes—and connects them to the debates still shaping America today. Hosted by comedian, writer, and newest New Englander, Rebecca Donohue. Premiering July 4, 2026.
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Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
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