End Witch Hunts

Many distinct teaching moments spanning continents, generations, and contexts capture what 2025 has been about for End Witch Hunts.

This year, the public reached out to us for more information and educational support.  A middle schooler discovered us through our The Thing About Witch Hunts podcast episode “Salem Aftermath” with screenwriter Tom Phillip and reached out for help with a National History Day project on the Salem witch trials. We interviewed for their project documentary and the questions we were asked about how the Salem witch trials became so devastating were so valuable we featured the same questions for an episode on The Thing About Salem podcast. 

Another key inquiry came from a police director in a country where we collaborate with grassroots advocates. He reached out and requested a training seminar for dozens of area police directors on witchcraft accusation intervention and survivor support for their local communities. This year, we also engaged with high school and college students and faculty. Executive Director Sarah Jack connected with a high school English language class in Finland through DKG International for a virtual classroom visit about witch hunting, and End Witch Hunts consulted with a community college librarian who developed a Salem Witch Trials history exhibit for their fall programming.

These connections across continents, generations, and contexts are the heart of our work. We’re connecting past and present witchcraft accusation stories, bridging communities across oceans, and piercing the complexity of witch hunting to make the subject accessible to anyone who wants to understand it.

As a volunteer-driven Colorado nonprofit organization, everything we accomplish depends on the dedication of people who believe this work matters. Our board members, contributors, and partners donate their money, time, and expertise to ensure witch trial victims are remembered and modern advocacy efforts are growing.

Reaching New Audiences Through Video Podcasts

Our one-of-a-kind video podcasts hit more milestones again this year. To date, we have reached over 100 countries with over 270 episodes featuring more than 150 specialized experts from around the world. This year, we launched a second weekly video podcast, The Thing About Salem, on which we dig deep into the infamous and misunderstood 1692-1693 witchcraft trials with focused storytelling and expert insights. These volunteer-led educational podcasts have become the trusted media resource for students, researchers, and everyone learning about or researching witch trial history and alleged witch persecution.

This October and November brought our best statistics in three years of podcasting, and our YouTube channel crossed 900 subscribers. The Thing About Witch Hunts was recognized as a top 15 percent video podcast on Spotify and The Thing About Salem podcast was named a “2025 Instant Hit Show,” more popular than 71 percent of other new shows. We produce the only weekly video podcasts exclusively covering witch hunting and provide an essential global platform for global representation and expert discussion. Every episode represents hours of volunteer research, interviewing, editing, and production work dedicated to education. With over 270 episodes published, we have surpassed the 200-episode threshold that fewer than 3% of podcasts achieve. Our consistency in delivering new episodes weekly reflects our unwavering commitment to advocacy against witch hunting.

Partnerships and Community Connections for The Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project

2025 brought the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project into conversation with a larger community. On The Thing About Witch Hunts, we explored the Springfield Museums’ exhibit on convicted witch Hugh Parsons, whose story connects to Alice Young’s daughter, Alice Young Beamon, we examined Connecticut’s witch trial history and The Witch of Blackbird Pond with the Wethersfield Historical Society, and we discussed the Glebe House Museum’s community production Ground Zero: Witchcraft in Connecticut, which tells the stories of accused witches Moll Cramer, Katherine Harrison, and Rebecca Greensmith. These collaborations helped us reach people who might never have sought out a podcast or known about Connecticut’s witchcraft accusations. In total, we added five Connecticut humanities-themed podcast episodes this year, including a new author talk with End Witch Hunts executive board member Beth Caruso.

Our Community Day of Remembrance for Connecticut witch trial victims brought together dozens of local and national volunteers in partnership with Hartford’s Old State House, Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, and Windsor’s community television network, WIN-TV. The event honored all those accused of witchcraft in colonial Connecticut and celebrated the passage of state legislation championed by House Representative Jane Garibay and Senator Saud Anwar acknowledging this historic injustice. The program included a history presentation by student William Schloat, a performance of The Hanging of Rebecca Greensmith: A Symphony in Spoken Word by Debra Walsh and Virginia Wolf, and an expert panel featuring author Beth Caruso, advocates Tony Griego and Mary Bingham, author Richard Ross III, Representative Garibay, and Senator Anwar. Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack moderated, and Dr. Kathy Hermes provided a recorded introduction about drafting a purposeful witchcraft accusation resolution. A flower remembrance ceremony was led by Alice Young descendants. You can watch the event on WIN-TV’s YouTube channel and hear our reflections on its success on The Thing About Witch Hunts podcast.

Building Bridges Across the Globe

World Day Against Witch Hunts, established by Missio (the Catholic mission organization) in 2020, is observed every August 10th to draw attention to the global crisis of Harmful Practices Related to Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks. We commemorated the day with a live event and podcast featuring Amnesty International Ghana and the Coalitions Against Witchcraft Accusations (CAWA), bringing global attention to ongoing witchcraft accusations and violence in Northern Ghana and around the world. This marked the first public collaborative conversation between these organizations dedicated to witch hunting advocacy.

Honoring the Victims: Research and Remembrance

Board member and witch trial descendant Mary Bingham continues her meticulous volunteer research into the lives of accused witches, and she’s created a comprehensive youtube playlist of Spiritual and Ritual Abuse in the United States with victim stories. All of this content is freely available on the youtube channel SarahWildes1692, reflecting our commitment to accessible education. On SarahWildes1692, you can also view the Tituba memorial brick, which was recently installed on behalf of our organization at the House of The Seven Gables. 

Board member and author Beth Caruso expanded her presentations across New England and added extra fall witch walks to her programming in Windsor, Connecticut to accommodate demand and interest. Her podcast episode about Alice Young became one of our highest-performing episodes.  

Behind the Scenes: Technical Expertise and Innovation

Board member, treasurer, and witch trial descendant Josh Hutchinson’s volunteer work as podcast producer has been essential to our educational mission. He leads every aspect of production for both The Thing About Witch Hunts and The Thing About Salem, from researching guests to final editing. Josh also maintains and updates our websites, ensuring our resources remain accessible and user-friendly. This year, he continued to develop the Connecticut Witch Trial Trail, available at connecticutwitchtrials.org, offering an interactive way to explore Connecticut’s witch trial sites and stories.

Executive Director Sarah Jack: Leading Through Connection

Witch trial descendant Sarah Jack spent 2025 pursuing new connections and collaborations wherever doors opened. From virtual classroom visits with Finnish students through DKG International to consulting with a community college library developing a Salem Witch Trials history exhibit, she continued to serve as a spokeswoman, building global amplification of advocacy, whether speaking to individual students, community groups, or international organizations. She co-hosts both The Thing About Witch Hunts and The Thing About Salem podcasts and will speak as part of the International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attacks speaker series in January 2026. Her work exemplifies End Witch Hunts’ commitment to connecting with any individual or group ready to engage with this mission.

Growing Our Content and Community

Thank you for sharing our blogs with your community! Our social platforms and email newsletter subscribers have grown. We’ve expanded our End Witch Hunts Bookshop selections, making it easier for supporters to shop quality books on witch trials and related topics. When you purchase through our affiliate link, www.bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhunts you support our nonprofit work, even if you’re buying books not in our collection. Your generous support helps us continue our volunteer-driven projects.

We’re passionate about closely reading books that are grounded in solid research and primary sources and actually show the evidence. For the podcasts, we’re constantly reading across different fields and disciplines, always looking for authors who’ve done the hard work of going back to original documents, conducting rigorous studies, or presenting firsthand accounts with art and creativity. There’s something invaluable about engaging with material that doesn’t just tell you what to think but shows you how we know what we know. We’d encourage you to seek out these kinds of books, too.

Looking Ahead in Massachusetts

Massachusetts legislation that would extend exoneration to witch trial victims beyond Salem is currently being reviewed by the General Court’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary. This bill will clear the eight innocent people who were convicted of witchcraft in Boston. A committee hearing was held in November, and we’re awaiting a decision on whether the bill will be sent on to the House for a vote. The Massachusetts Witch Hunt Justice Project has benefited from impressive community mobilization around this effort, with testimony in support of bill H1927 coming from historians, genealogists, descendants, and international advocates. 

In other news from the commonwealth, Salem will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2026, honoring its history as Massachusetts Bay Colony’s first town and the journey from thriving port city to tourist destination. We’re exploring ways to participate in the heritage events, bringing attention to the witch trial victims and their stories during this milestone year. 

Gratitude and Philanthropic Support

None of this would be possible without our dedicated volunteer board members, our podcast guests who generously share their expertise, the museums and organizations that partner with us, and our growing community of listeners, readers, and supporters. Every donation, every shared post, every hour volunteered amplifies the voices of the innocent. 

One podcast listener recently described our work as covering “witch trials from past to present with depth and breadth in a remarkably short timeframe.” That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. Not just tell stories, but actively build connections, honor victims, and work toward a world where accusations of witchcraft no longer destroy lives.

Our education and advocacy are growing because people like you support us through donations, volunteer time, content sharing, or simply listening and learning. Thank you for making 2025 possible. We’re entering 2026 ready to pursue every new connection and collaboration that comes our way.

To learn more about our work, listen to our podcasts, support our nonprofit mission, or volunteer your expertise, visit our website, endwitchhunts.org, and follow us on social media.