- Before Salem: Boston’s Forgotten Victims
When you think “Massachusetts witch trials,” you think Salem, 1692. But what if we told you that 44 years before Salem, Massachusetts was already executing people for witchcraft in Boston? Between 1648 and 1693, more than 200 people were formally charged with witchcraft across Massachusetts. In 1957, the state cleared 31 Salem victims. But Boston’s victims have been forgotten. On November 25, 2025, Bill H.1927 goes before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary to finally exonerate 8 individuals convicted of witchcraft in Boston and recognize everyone else who suffered accusations across Massachusetts. Co-hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack, descendants of Salem witch trial victims and co-founders of the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project, explain why Salem’s story is incomplete without Boston—and how YOU can help Massachusetts finish the job.
Are you curious about the Salem Witch Trials? Fascinated? Intrigued? Maybe even fully obsessed? Josh and Sarah from The Thing About Witch Hunts podcast bring you The Thing About Salem, a podcast dedicated to uncovering all things about the Salem Witch Trials. Each week, in 15 minutes or less, you’ll go through all the feels as we share a story and a discussion. You will cry, rage, and even laugh a little about some of the silliness, like the witch cake baked with the urine of the afflicted girls. Topics covered so far include Tituba, The Crucible, poppets, the witches’ sabbath, and witch marks. In future episodes, we will peel back all the layers of the witch trials.
Follow The Thing About Salem on Social Media
Subscribe to The Thing About Salem wherever you watch or listen to podcasts
Play our Episodes
Read our Blog Posts
Watch our September 22 event, Resistance: Stopping Witch Hunts
Watch our September 8 event: The Other: Understanding Witch Hunts
Join us on Patreon for exclusive Salem Witch Trials content
Check out the Salem Witch Trials content on The Thing About Salem’s Patreon.
Listen to Salem Witch Trials episodes of The Thing About Witch Hunts podcast
And enjoy some Salem episodes of our other podcast, The Thing About Witch Hunts. We wear our serious pants over there and talk to smarty pantses (a lot of pants are involved). Enjoy a longer episode or take a bite with one of our “Witch Hunt 15” abridged versions.
Play every Salem Witch Trials episode of Witch Hunt (soon to be The Thing About Witch Hunts).
