Replay Event: In Defense of Witches

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many, as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, or feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused of—and often killed for— witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?

Listen to Mona Chollet, Gloria Steinem and French journalist Clémentine Goldszal as they discuss the concept and the social category of “witches.” In her acclaimed book In Defense of Witches, Mona Chollet celebrates the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution. According to Chollet, rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct heirs to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions.