You may not have heard of John Murray Spear, but he ran with cool kids like Frederick Douglass and Victoria Woodhull, preaching for equality and against exploitation. So why isn't he in our history books? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss Spear's illustrious life and his quest to build a God Machine with blueprints provided in real-time by a dead Ben Franklin. This God Machine required a special kind of power, one that is likely why Spear has been erased and cast off to the margins.
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
Buescher, John. “John Murray Spear.” Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography, uudb.org/articles/johnmurrayspear.html.
Buescher, John Benedict. The Remarkable Life of John Murray Spear: Agitator for the Spirit Land. University of Notre Dame Press, 2006.
Kleyman, Katia. “11 Gross Facts About The Surprisingly Prolific Sex Life of Benjamin Franklin.” Ranker, 14 June 2019, www.ranker.com/list/benjamin-franklin-private-life/katia-kleyman.
Lenoir, Andrew. “When 19th-Century Spiritualists Believed a ‘God Machine’ Would Save Humanity.” Mental Floss, 13 Feb. 2019, www.mentalfloss.com/article/571569/spiritualist-god-machine.
“Serial Killers / Murderers and their Head Injuries as a Child.” The Murder-Mile True Crime Podcast, 10 September 2017. https://www.murdermiletours.com/blog/serial-killers-murderers-and-their-head-injuries-as-a-child#:~:text=Richard%20Ramirez%20%22The%20Night%20Stalker,suffer%20from%20epileptic%20seizures%20which