What is a ghost? How long have we believed in them? For the re-debut of Spiritus, paranormal investigator and anthropology student Ivy Boyd offers insight into the earliest beginnings of our belief in the other.

Instagram: instagram.com/spirituspodcast
Email: spirituspod@gmail.com
Music: "Beethoven Moonlight Sonata" by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay

Resources and Recommendations

Articles:

• JoAnn Scurlock, “Mortal and Immortal Souls, Ghosts and the (Restless) Dead in Ancient Mesopotamia”, Religion Compass, 2016
• Joshua J. Mark, “Ghosts in the Middle Ages”, World History Encyclopedia, 2019
• Rob Dunn, “What Are You So Scared of? Saber-Toothed Cats, Snakes, and Carnivorous Kangaroos - The evolutionary legacy of having been prey”, Slate, 2012

Books:

• Ann Braude, "Radical Spirits", second ed., Indiana University Press, 2001
• Dr. Irving Finkel, “The First Ghosts”, Hodder, 2021

Videos and Lectures:

• Dr. Irving Finkel, “The First Ghost Stories”, Archaeology Now (YouTube), 2020
• Dr. Justin Sledge, “The Evolution of Ghosts”, Esoterica (YouTube), 2025
• Dr. Eleanor Janega, “Did People In The Medieval World Believe in Ghosts?, History Hit (YouTube), 2024

Project Gutenberg - Pliny the Younger Letters to Licinius Sura (LXXXIII) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2811/2811-h/2811-h.htm#link2H_4_0083

This podcast is researched, hosted, edited, and produced by Ivy Boyd.