New York is an old and storied city, built by generations of people who lived and died in the places we consider cornerstones of our NYC experience. So what can we learn about the past of our city from the ghosts of New York past? From the construction workers who died gruesome deaths building the Brooklyn Bridge, to the peg-legged specter of Peter Stuyvesant ambling along St. Marks, to believe in ghosts is to believe our history lives among us. Andrea Janes, founder of the ghost-tour company Boroughs of the Dead, and author of a book of the same name, joins us to talk about the lingering spirits of the city's history, and where you might meet them.

Edgar Allan Poe published his spooky classic, "The Raven,” while living at Brennan Farm, located approximately where West Eighty-Fourth Street and Broadway intersect today. Scott Peeples, professor of English at the College of Charleston and author of the book, The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City, joins us to discuss how Poe’s writings were shaped by the cities in which he resided.

WNYC host Sean Carlson reads Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Raven."

UCLA librarian and former journalist Megan Rosenbloom joins us to discuss her new book, Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin.

[REBROADCAST FROM DECEMBER 27, 2019] Author Dexter Palmer joins us to discuss his novel, Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen, which is a fictionalized account of the true story of Mary Toft.

What’s scarier than goblins and vampires? It’s a text from your ex. As the pandemic has made many of us rethink our past regrets and actions, it’s no surprise that some romantic ghosts are making their way back to our lives. To help better understand this spooky occurrence, founder and clinical director of Tribeca Therapy Matt Lundquist joins the show.