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Strange Country


Sometimes you need to have a glass of wine, cuppa whatever and listen to a good old weird story. Musical score Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands.

Mar 8, 2018

You likely can easily name the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, but what about the guy who killed John Wilkes Booth? Strange Country Ep. 31 focuses on the strange, mercury-filled life of Boston Corbett, the hatter, who fired that fatal shot. Much credit to Scott Martelle's fascinating book, Madman and the Assassin.

Theme music: Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

“Boston Corbett Hopelessly Insane.” The New York Times, 6 Oct. 1887, www.nytimes.com/1887/10/06/archives/boston-corbett-hopelessly-insane.html.

“Boston Corbett – The Mad Hatter who Killed John Wilkes Booth.” New England Historical Society, 2 Sept. 2016, www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/boston-corbett-mad-hatter-killed-john-wilkes-booth/.

Corbett, Boston. “The Manner of Booth's Death Letter from Boston Corbett.” The New York Times, 15 May 1865, www.nytimes.com/1865/05/15/archives/the-manner-of-booths-death-letter-from-boston-corbett.html.

Furgurson, Ernest B. “The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Lincoln.” The American Scholar, 30 Jan. 2018, theamericanscholar.org/the-man-who-shot-the-man-who-shot-lincoln/#.WonLExPwZAZ.\

Greenspan, Jesse. “The Other Targets of Booth's Murder Conspiracy.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 15 Apr. 2015, www.history.com/news/the-other-targets-of-booths-murder-conspiracy.

Halvorsen, Richard. Dr Richard Halvorsen, www.drhalvorsen.co.uk/mad_hatter_mercury.html.

“He Killed Lincoln's Killer, Then Lived In A Hole, Concordia, Kansas.” RoadsideAmerica.com, www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16178.

History.com Staff. “Abraham Lincoln's Assassination.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/abraham-lincoln-assassination.

History.com Staff. “Andersonville.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/andersonville.

Jensen, Bill. “The Insane Story of the Guy Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln.” Washingtonian, 21 Oct. 2016, www.washingtonian.com/2015/04/12/the-man-who-killed-john-wilkes-booth/.

Kang, Lydia, and Nate Pedersen. Quackery: a brief history of the worst ways to cure everything. Workman Publishing, 2017.

Mae, Janice Rachael Dr. “Mad Hatter Disease.” HealthGuidance.org, www.healthguidance.org/entry/17695/1/Mad-Hatter-Disease.html.

Martelle, Scott. Madman and the assassin: the strange life of boston corbett, the man who killed john wilkes ... booth. Chicago Review, 2017.

Swanson, James L. “The Final Hours of John Wilkes Booth.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 8 Apr. 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/final-hours-john-wilkes-booth-180954853/.

Wadja, Shirley. “Ending the Danbury Shakes: A Story of Workers Rights and Corporate Responsibility.” ConnecticutHistoryorg, connecticuthistory.org/ending-the-danbury-shakes-a-story-of-workers-rights-and-corporate-responsibility/.