It's A Death Sentence

Emma tried to prove she was a witch. Carrie might be one. And Ancestry nearly swallowed Emma whole.
This Halloween, we're going down the witchcraft rabbit hole — and what started as a bit of fun with our family names turned into a proper historical investigation. Three hours later, Emma emerged from Ancestry none the wiser, with more tabs open than brain cells available and absolutely no definitive proof of witchcraft in her family tree.
Naturally, we had to investigate further.
From the Yorkshire woman accused of witchcraft who shared Emma's family surname, Sykes, to the chilling story of the Islandmagee witch trials in 1711 and Carrie's possible geographical family connection, we discovered that the real history of witchcraft is far darker, stranger and more complicated than broomsticks and pointy hats.
We explore what it actually meant to be accused of being a witch in Britain, why ordinary people turned on their neighbours, how supposed witches were examined for mysterious marks, and how illness, misfortune, fear and community tensions could lead to devastating consequences.
We also get into the questions that really make you think:
· Were some accused witches healers or wise women, or is that a modern romanticisation of history?
· Why were women so frequently targeted, particularly those who didn't fit society's expectations?
· Where did the familiar image of the witch — broomstick, black cat and pointy hat — actually come from?
· What is the difference between historical witchcraft accusations and modern Wicca?
· And if someone in your family had been accused of witchcraft 400 years ago, would you want to know?
We examine the strange history behind witch's marks, protective symbols carved into old buildings, flying ointments, the origins of the modern witch and the real people whose lives were changed by fear and superstition.
Then there's the family tree. Emma's surnames have taken us into documented Yorkshire and English witchcraft records, while Carrie's family history has led us towards County Antrim and the infamous Islandmagee trials. Are we actually descended from witches? We can't prove it. Yet.
And just when you think we've reached the end of the rabbit hole, Carrie goes home and books tickets for us to visit Salem next Halloween.
Which means next year's Halloween episode will be recorded on location in Salem, Massachusetts. Yes, really. We are taking this witchcraft investigation international.
So, are we witches? Are our ancestors witches? Or have we simply spent far too long on the internet?
Listen and decide for yourself.
Our question for you: If you discovered that someone in your family had been accused of witchcraft 400 years ago, would you want to know?
And that’s us for this episode of It’s A Death Sentence!
Listen on your favourite podcast platform and follow the show so you never miss an episode.
If you’ve enjoyed it, found it useful, thought-provoking, or just found us thoroughly entertaining — which is entirely possible — please like, follow, subscribe and share. It genuinely helps us grow, and growing we really are so a huge huge thank you for your support if you are reading this!
You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and the podcast is now available on all major platforms, with the video version on YouTube and Spotify. https://linktr.ee/itsadeathsentencepodcast
We’re also on Patreon if you’d like to support what we do.
And if you want to find out what we’re up to beyond the podcast, come and follow Dead Curious CIC on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. That’s our Community Interest Company delivering creative death education workshops — because apparently talking about death wasn’t enough, so we decided to make a whole organisation out of it!
And finally… Halloween!
Thanks for listening — and as always, we’re dying to talk to you.
#ItsADeathSentencePodcast #Halloween #Witchcraft #WitchTrials #Salem #halloween
Thank you for listening - find us on socials @itsadeathsentencepodcast follow and like us for more episodes. Find contact info on our web page www.its-a-death-sentence.com here you can contact us, buy our merch and send us your stories.
www.its-a-death-sentence.com
YouTube- @itsadeathsentencepodcast
Get in touch - we are Dying to talk to you
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She's helped millions talk about death. Now she's talking to us.
With a social media audience of more than 2 million followers, American hospice nurse Penny Hawkins Smith, better known as Hospice Nurse Penny, became a viral sensation during the Covid pandemic by doing something many people still struggle with: talking honestly about death.
With more than 17 years of experience in hospice and palliative care, Penny shares the realities of dying with refreshing honesty, compassion and a healthy dose of dark humour. Her videos help people understand what happens at the end of life, challenge misconceptions and reassure families who are frightened by things they've never witnessed before.
And when we sat down with Penny, it quickly became clear that we'd found a kindred spirit across the Atlantic.
In this episode of It's A Death Sentence Podcast, Emma and Carrie get together with Penny for a conversation that is as funny, fascinating and wonderfully candid as it is thought-provoking.
We talk about what dying can actually look like, the changes that happen as life draws to a close, and why families are often left frightened simply because nobody has explained what's normal. We explore whether people who appear unconscious can still hear us, the experiences some people report near the end of life, and the questions we're often too embarrassed to ask.
But this conversation goes far beyond the physical process of dying.
Penny opens up about her own unconventional journey into hospice nursing, the difficult experiences that helped shape her, and why she believes our relationship with death has such a profound effect on the way we live.
We explore the supernatural, the possibility of an afterlife, whether working so closely with dying people changes what you believe, and what happens when the nurse herself encounters something she can't easily explain.
We also discuss Penny's book, Influencing Death: Reframing Dying for Better Living, the role of social media in breaking down death taboos, and why dark humour can sometimes help us talk about the things that scare us most.
And because no conversation with us would be complete without a few unexpected questions, we finish with some Would You Rather dilemmas, including whether you'd rather know exactly when you're going to die or exactly how.
Along the way, we discover the woman behind the millions of views: a mum, grandma, wife, author and hospice nurse who lives in a mountain cabin with her husband, Pam the cat and Kevin the dog.
Three women, different life experiences, one shared belief: talking about death doesn't have to be depressing, frightening or taboo.
It can be honest. It can be funny. It can be compassionate. And it might just help us live better.
In this episode, we discuss:
· What dying can really look like and what families need to know.
· Common misconceptions and the things people are often afraid to ask.
· Hearing, awareness and what may happen in the final days of life.
· Unusual experiences reported by dying people and the possibility of an afterlife.
· Penny's unconventional journey into hospice nursing.
· How dark humour and social media can help normalise conversations about death.
· Penny's book, Influencing Death: Reframing Dying for Better Living.
· What working with dying people teaches us about living.
· The big questions: immortality, knowing when we'll die and what makes a meaningful life.
A huge thank you to Penny for her honesty, generosity and brilliant company. We genuinely felt we'd found our American death-normalising companion, and we hope this is the first of many conversations.
Because death isn't a dirty word. And talking about it might be one of the most important things we ever do.
Follow Hospice Nurse Penny: Website: https://www.hospicenursepenny.com/
Find her book, Influencing Death: Reframing Dying for Better Living, through her website.
As always, we're dying to talk to you.
Thank you for listening - find us on socials @itsadeathsentencepodcast follow and like us for more episodes. Find contact info on our web page www.its-a-death-sentence.com here you can contact us, buy our merch and send us your stories.
www.its-a-death-sentence.com
YouTube- @itsadeathsentencepodcast
Get in touch - we are Dying to talk to you
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Victorian murder mysteries to modern-day poisonings, workplace scandals and an entire community exposed to toxic pollution… this episode is enough to make you look twice at what's lurking in the shed.
This week, it's just Emma and Carrie, and we're in full throttle as we explore the fascinating, frightening and sometimes downright unbelievable world of poison.
We're talking historical poisonings, notorious cases, questionable human behaviour and the extraordinary ways people have found to kill one another throughout history. Expect dark British humour, some genuinely jaw-dropping stories and the occasional bout of raucous laughter as we ask ourselves one very reasonable question: what on earth is wrong with people?
We explore common poisons, from cyanide and carbon monoxide to medicines, lead and mercury, and discover how substances that have legitimate uses can also become dangerous or deadly.Then we turn to some extraordinary cases from history and closer to home.
We also explore the tragic story of the Radium Girls, young factory workers who suffered devastating consequences after repeated exposure to radioactive paint while painting luminous watch dials. Their fight for justice raises uncomfortable questions about workplace safety, corporate responsibility and what happens when people are assured that something is safe when it isn't.
We discuss a disturbing modern British criminal case involving Adina Mihai and Madalin Dumitru, in which men were incapacitated with a drug during robberies and two victims died. It's a sobering reminder that a substance doesn't have to be administered with the intention to kill for the consequences to be fatal.
But perhaps the most unsettling story is one in which there wasn't a single poisoner at all.
Welcome to Corby, Northamptonshire, the town at the centre of the story behind Netflix's Toxic Town.
Following the reclamation of the former steelworks site, families raised concerns about a cluster of children born with missing or damaged fingers and toes. Their fight for answers led to a landmark 2009 High Court judgment concerning the council's negligent handling of contaminated waste and the connection between airborne pollutants from the reclamation work and the children's birth defects.
It's a story about ordinary families questioning what was happening to their children, the power of people comparing experiences, and the devastating consequences when environmental contamination and public accountability collide.
From deliberate poisoning to accidental exposure, occupational hazards and environmental contamination, this episode takes us through the many ways toxic substances can change or end lives.
It's dark history, forensic curiosity, human behaviour and some uncomfortable modern realities, all delivered with the honesty, humour and curiosity you've come to expect from us.
Content note: This episode discusses poisoning, murder, suicide, workplace-related illness, industrial pollution and birth defects.
A note on research and accuracy: This episode is a part educational and part entertainment based conversation, based on historical records, published research and publicly available information consulted during its preparation in September 2026. We have made every effort to represent the information accurately, but historical accounts, scientific understanding and legal developments may change as new evidence emerges. Some cases and events are discussed in the context of the information available at the time of research. This episode is intended for discussion and education, not as a substitute for professional medical, toxicological or legal advice.
And that’s us for this episode of It’s A Death Sentence!
You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and the podcast is now available on all major platforms, with the video version on YouTube and Spotify. https://linktr.ee/itsadeathsentencepodcast
Thank you for listening - find us on socials @itsadeathsentencepodcast follow and like us for more episodes. Find contact info on our web page www.its-a-death-sentence.com here you can contact us, buy our merch and send us your stories.
www.its-a-death-sentence.com
YouTube- @itsadeathsentencepodcast
Get in touch - we are Dying to talk to you
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Halloween month… so naturally, Carrie has turned up to the studio as Carrie Potter.
This week, we’re heading into the magical world of Harry Potter to explore one of the biggest themes running through the entire franchise: death.
There’s just one small problem…
Carrie is a Harry Potter EXPERT.
Emma… absolutely is not.
In fact, Emma’s knowledge of the entire franchise is so embarrassingly poor that she admits she only watched the first few films before the Dementors scared her off completely. So while Carrie Potter arrives fully prepared, Emma is essentially trying to remember who everyone is.
But beneath the Harry Potter chat is something much more serious — and something we think the books and films do brilliantly: they introduce children to death, grief and loss without pretending those things don't exist.
Harry begins his story having already lost his parents. As the series develops, death becomes an increasingly important part of his world, alongside friendship, love, growing up and adventure.
We talk about whether stories can help children understand feelings they don't yet have the words for, whether fiction can provide a safe way to explore grief, and whether we sometimes try too hard to protect children from conversations about death.
We also get into some much bigger questions:
Can love outlive the person who gave it to us?
Does someone really disappear when they die, or do memories, stories and the things they leave behind keep them present?
Why are humans so fascinated by ghosts, souls and the possibility of an afterlife?
If you could defeat death, would you actually want to?
If you could bring one person you've lost back for just one perfect day, would you?
And perhaps the biggest question of all…
If accepting that we are going to die is part of what makes life meaningful, would immortality actually be a gift… or a curse?
Plus, Carrie gets to demonstrate just how frighteningly extensive her Harry Potter knowledge really is, while Emma attempts to survive an episode about a franchise she abandoned because of imaginary flying death creatures.
And of course, we finish with some Harry Potter-inspired Would You Rather questions that get surprisingly deep — and potentially very emotional.
This episode is sponsored by Walsh Funerals & Memorials.
Because ultimately, whether we're talking about witches, wizards, ghosts or real life, perhaps the biggest lesson is that death is part of life — and talking about it doesn't have to make it more frightening.
As always, we’re dying to talk to you.
And that’s us for this episode of It’s A Death Sentence!
If you’ve enjoyed it, found it useful, thought-provoking, or just found us thoroughly entertaining — which is entirely possible — please like, follow, subscribe and share. It genuinely helps us grow.
You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and the podcast is now available on all major platforms, with the video version on YouTube and Spotify.
We’re also on Patreon if you’d like to support what we do.
And if you want to find out what we’re up to beyond the podcast, come and follow Dead Curious CIC on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. That’s our Community Interest Company delivering creative death education workshops — because apparently talking about death wasn’t enough, so we decided to make a whole organisation out of it!
And finally… Halloween!
Come and celebrate the success of the podcast with us at our Halloween Masquerade Ball, Saturday 31st October at Moor Hall, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.
There’ll be food, a string quartet, live band, DJ, dancing until late and, presumably, some questionable decisions in fancy dress. Tickets are on Eventbrite — link Eventbrite Masquerade Halloween Ball ticket
Thank you for listening - find us on socials @itsadeathsentencepodcast follow and like us for more episodes. Find contact info on our web page www.its-a-death-sentence.com here you can contact us, buy our merch and send us your stories.
www.its-a-death-sentence.com
YouTube- @itsadeathsentencepodcast
Get in touch - we are Dying to talk to you
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Carrie and Emma are going somewhere they probably shouldn't go quite so enthusiastically: we're talking about bizarre deaths.
And when Carrie is an Anatomical Pathology Technician, that means Emma has an almost unlimited supply of questions.
Naturally, Emma wants to know everything.
What actually happens to the human body after a fire? Which parts of the body can burn? What does a body look like after a road traffic accident? What happens when someone decides to put something somewhere in their body that it really wasn't designed to go?
And, perhaps most importantly, how does Carrie manage to keep answering Emma's increasingly enthusiastic questions without completely losing the will to live?
In this episode, the two explore some of the strangest, most unusual and sometimes genuinely unbelievable deaths and medical situations, mixing historical cases with stories from Carrie's own career in anatomical pathology and her experiences working on the ambulance team.
As always, Carrie discusses real experiences with care and discretion, but that doesn't stop Emma from asking the questions that most people would probably think twice about asking out loud.
The conversation covers everything from bizarre accidents and unusual deaths to medical conditions that can become life-threatening when they're ignored.
That story leads into a wider discussion about elderly people, how easily serious problems can sometimes be overlooked, and why something that appears relatively minor can become much more dangerous if medical attention is delayed.
Then things take another turn as Carrie and Emma discuss body modification, foreign objects and some of the frankly questionable things people have attempted to put into — or remove from — their own bodies.
Which is where Emma has to confess to a story involving her son…
A raisin…
And a nose.
Let's just say that removing a raisin from a child's nose is not quite as straightforward as you might imagine.
Expect fascinating facts, uncomfortable questions, bizarre circumstances, some genuinely sad moments, plenty of "surely that can't be true?" stories and, of course, the dark humour and completely unpredictable conversations you've come to expect from Carrie and Emma.
Because when you combine an Anatomical Pathology Technician with someone whose curiosity knows absolutely no boundaries, you never quite know where the conversation is going to end up.
Listener discretion is advised. This episode discusses death, accidental and unexpected deaths, medical emergencies, road traffic accidents, post-mortem examination and other potentially distressing subjects. Some real-life cases are discussed in a deliberately non-graphic and respectful manner.
So, if you've ever wondered about the stranger side of death, the unusual things that can happen to the human body, or simply what on earth could possibly lead to a mortuary having to remove someone's head…
This is the episode for you.
And yes, Emma really does ask Carrie whether parts of the human body can actually burn.
You have been warned.
If you’ve enjoyed it, found it useful, thought-provoking, or just found us thoroughly entertaining — which is entirely possible — please like, follow, subscribe and share. It genuinely helps us grow.
You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and the podcast is now available on all major platforms, with the video version on YouTube and Spotify. https://linktr.ee/itsadeathsentencepodcast
We’re also on Patreon if you’d like to support what we do.
And if you want to find out what we’re up to beyond the podcast, come and follow Dead Curious CIC on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. That’s our Community Interest Company delivering creative death education workshops — because apparently talking about death wasn’t enough, so we decided to make a whole organisation out of it!
Massive thanks to Walsh Funerals and Memorials for sponsoring this episode.
Thank you for listening - find us on socials @itsadeathsentencepodcast follow and like us for more episodes. Find contact info on our web page www.its-a-death-sentence.com here you can contact us, buy our merch and send us your stories.
www.its-a-death-sentence.com
YouTube- @itsadeathsentencepodcast
Get in touch - we are Dying to talk to you
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.