Breaking Free of Psyops Ep. 14: The Dark Side of Nikola Tesla and Science in Service of the Occult

Matt Ehret keeps the Tesla file open, and this week the guest of honor is Sir William Crookes, the mentor most Tesla fans have somehow never heard of. Expect a deep dive into spirit photography, levitating mediums, and a scientist who somehow found time to run the British Royal Society and preside over the Ghost Club simultaneously. Ehret traces how the "invisible college" of 19th century spiritualism, from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to the Society for Psychical Research, fed directly into the myths surrounding Tesla's genius, and asks some uncomfortable questions about where credit for famous discoveries actually belongs. There's a rogue's gallery of hoaxers, a surprisingly funny Tesla poem mocking Einstein, and a preview of next week's showdown over the ether. If you like your science history with a side of seance, this one delivers.