Dear Friends,
I’m regularly astounded at the innovative brilliance of America’s teachers. The incident that came to my attention this week involves witches. It holds a critical lesson for today. In my telling of the story, it also involves my grandmother.
More on that in a minute. Here’s an overview of THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM:
(17:55) Fighting government surveillance with surveillance; noise cameras – LISTEN
(34:25) Trump fans flames of division over Kirk’s killing; US crime in the Caribbean – LISTEN
(52:21) The food value in fruit and veggie skins, with Kathy Byrnes – LISTEN
Ed’s maternal grandmother, Charlene Wells. Homemaker. Artist. Musician. Small business owner. Not a witch.
Witches. My maternal grandmother was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1908. If she’d been born 215 years earlier, she might’ve been tried as a witch.
She was odd. Did paintings on mushrooms and burlap sacks. Played the accordion. Once performed with a birdcage on her head. Went to a pro-wresting meet with my brother and come back hoarse from cheering.
So yeah, she was odd, perhaps odd enough to have warranted the “witch” word in 1693.
Fortunately for her, and for me, she lived at a time when women were not hung as witches and were also allowed, despite plenty of obstacles, to own a business.
My grandmother ran the Lynn Conservatory of Music, where at age seven I had my first accordion lessons.
After a lesson, my dad would often take me to one of Salem’s historic landmarks, including the Salem Witch House. Now a museum, that’s where those accused of witchery were brought for trial. Those trials didn’t end well for 25 victims, again mostly women, who found themselves on the business end of a noose.
Fast forward to today. Last week, I came across an anonymous story, involving a history teacher and witches, that I found so compelling that I’ll share it in its entirety:
My daughter came home from school and said, “Mom, you’re not going to believe what happened in history class today.”
Her teacher told the class they were going to play a game. He walked around the room and whispered to each kid whether they were a witch or just a regular person. Then he gave the instructions:
“Form the biggest group you can without a witch. If your group has even one, you all fail.”
She said the whole room instantly lit up with suspicion. Everyone started interrogating each other. Are you a witch? How do we know you’re not lying?
Some kids clung to one big group, but most broke off into smaller, exclusive cliques. They turned away anyone who seemed uncertain, nervous, or gave off even the slightest hint of being guilty.
The energy shifted fast. Suddenly everyone was suspicious of everyone.
Whispers. Finger-pointing. Side-eyes. Trust dissolved in minutes.
Finally, when all the groups were formed, the teacher said, “Alright, time to find out who fails. Witches, raise your hands.”
And not one hand went up.
The whole class exploded. “Wait! You messed up the game!”
And then the teacher dropped the bomb: “Did I? Were there any actual witches in Salem, or did everyone just believe what they were told?”
My daughter said the room went dead silent.
That’s when it hit them. No witch was ever needed for the damage to happen. Fear had already done its work. Suspicion alone divided the entire class, turning community into chaos.
And isn’t that exactly what we’re seeing today? Different words, same playbook. Instead of “witch,” it’s liberal, conservative, vaxxed, unvaxxed, pro-this, anti-that. The labels shift, but the tactic is the same.
Get people scared. Get them suspicious. Get them divided. Then sit back while trust crumbles.
The danger was never the witch. The danger is the rumor. The suspicion. The fear. The planted lies.
Refuse the whisper. Don’t play the game. Because the second we start hunting “witches,” we’ve already lost.
This is such a poignant lesson — especially given how President Trump is politicizing Charlie Kirk’s murder. In a speech from the White House, Trump blamed “the radical left” and claimed the left’s “rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
Yesterday it got even worse. Vice President Vance spoke of strategies to dismantle the “incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years. … We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates, and engages in violence.”
Wow! Trump and his henchmen are using Kirk’s killing as an excuse to identify and target for oppression those of us who run non-profit organizations.
With that in mind, I’ll have a big announcement next week. It’s probably not one that either Trump or Vance will like. Stay tuned.
Thank you for reading, listening, and taking action.
Ed Fallon
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