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# For Fact’s Sake podcast: How did ‘fake news’ cause Scotland’s witch trials?
- URL: https://www.theferret.scot/for-facts-sake-fake-news-scotlands-witch-trials/
- Published: 2023-12-07T12:38:18.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-17T05:49:09.000Z
- Author: Ferret Journalists
- Tags: Fact Checks, #davesutton2gmail-com, Podcast, detox, detox bath, fake news, health trends, moral panic, Scottish Government, witch trials, witches, Witches of Scotland, Zoe Venditozzi, For Fact's Sake, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-10-15 12:08, #older_unmetered

**On for Fact’s Sake this week we’re taking a look back to some historical misinformation – Scotland’s witch trials.**

Ali and Paul speak to [Dr Zoe Venditozzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe%5FVenditozzi?ref=theferret.scot), a writer and teacher who presents the Witches of Scotland podcast. She campaigns for posthumous pardons for those prosecuted for witchcraft in Scotland.

We spoke about Scotland’s witch trials, how the persecution was led from the top, and the parallels between the ‘fake news’ that drove women to be persecuted then and today’s moral panics.

Elsewhere on the pod, Ali looks at migration statistics, and we dig into ‘detox’ trends on social media.

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/2025/10/screenshot-2023-12-07-122942.png)](https://player.captivate.fm/episode/728bed2a-2b1f-4a31-9c6d-e17af533bb99?ref=theferret.scot)

#### Show notes:

- Listen to all the episodes of the excellent Witches of Scotland podcast [here](https://www.witchesofscotland.com/podcast?ref=theferret.scot).
- Find out more about the campaign [here](https://www.witchesofscotland.com/about?ref=theferret.scot).
- Logically Facts have written a piece about ‘detox baths’ [here](https://www.logicallyfacts.com/en/analysis/heavy-metal-detox-bath-for-kids-unscientific-trend-catapults-into-health-advice?ref=theferret.scot).

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