The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

About The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

In our new season, Veteran reporter Joe Nocera investigates a 94-year-old crime that deserves a second look: the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. ---- The Free Press Investigates brings you gripping, deeply reported stories you can't find anywhere else—and the investigations others won’t dare to cover. You can also listen to our first series, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.

Publisher

The Free Press

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Feb 2023

Latest episode

23 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

2 of 29 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   23 Jun 2026

   EP06 | May The Best Conspiracy Win

   In the final episode of The Lindbergh Conspiracies, Joe and Poppy revisit the case’s most compelling theories one last time—from Robert Zorn’s claim that a German immigrant named John Knoll was the true mastermind, to Robert Cahill’s methodical argument that Bruno Hauptmann acted alone. They also follow one lawyer’s ongoing legal battle to secure DNA testing on the ransom notes. It’s a fight that could either settle the case once and for all—or add new fuel to the fire. Reading list: Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead — Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1973) Scapegoat: The Lonesome Death of Bruno Richard Hauptmann — Anthony Scaduto (1976) The Airman and the Carpenter — Ludovic Kennedy (1985) Hauptmann’s Ladder — Richard T. Cahill Jr. (1986) Crime of the Century — Gregg Ahlgren & Stephen Monier (1993) Beneath the Winter Sycamores — Jim Bahm (2000) The Case That Never Dies — Lloyd C. Gardner (2004) Lindbergh — Thomas Doherty (2005) Lindbergh’s Baby — Candace Fleming (2011) The Lindbergh Kidnapping: Suspect No. 1 — Robert Zorn (2012) Suspect No. 1 — Lise Pearlman (2017) The Lindbergh Nanny — Mariah Fredericks (2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2. 

   16 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   EP05 | Suspect Number 1

   Investigative journalist [Host Name] explores evolving theories about the Lindbergh baby's murder, questioning the original conclusion and Charles Lindbergh's legacy.

3. 

   9 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   EP04 | The Trial of the Century

   If the kidnapping was the Crime of the Century, then the trial that followed was the Trial of the Century. At the center of it all stands the accused—a man who insists on the stand that he is innocent. Nearly a hundred years later, we ask: Could he have been telling the truth? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside a recent episode

EP05 | Suspect Number 1

Published 16 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] But they had all, as far as I can tell, everybody who looked at this before us started with the assumption that there had been a real third-party abduction, that there had been a stranger abduction. And what we said is, wait a minute, forget about the evidence against Hartman. Is this even a kidnapping? Is it likely that this was a kidnapping? And I think now we know a lot about domestic violence, domestic situations that we probably weren't as aware of in 1932. And we can all think of cases where a child has been murdered or disappeared. Allgren told me that nowadays, when a child disappears or dies mysteriously, parents are always suspects, and often the prime suspects. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

62,269,100

Score snapshot 26 Oct 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

12,001 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

22,459 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 5 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

0

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

27

Contact The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

• 

  Breaking History

• 

  Honestly with Bari Weiss

• 

  Conversations With Coleman

• 

  Blocked and Reported

• 

  Reflector