Grim Philly

Benjamin Franklin I: Bones

Episode Summary

1 of 7. The bodies of dozens of dead woman, men, and children stolen from their graves were discovered hidden in Benjamin Franklin’s basement in 1998 sparking modern inquiries and investigations. World-famous for his lightning experiments; contemporaneous anatomists and scientists were inspired to electrify the bodies of hanged criminals attempting to charge the dead with life. Inspired by Dr. Franklin; Mary Shelly has Dr. Frankenstein in her novel do the same. Join historians from Grim as we open our three and a half hour audio-biography on Philadelphia’s own Benjamin Franklin: including the young founder’s arrival to Philadelphia at the age of seventeen, falling smitten with his future common-law wife Deborah Reed, and stories of the most riveting body-snatching and electrical experiments you may just have ever heard. Historians Joe Wojie, Britnee Smith, and Ted Sisco are joined by Neil Ronk, Director of Christ Church Preservation Trust, Philadelphia. And joining remote from Boston is Lauren Krupinski, NPS Historian from Franklin sites there.

Episode Notes

1 of 7. The bodies of dozens of dead woman, men, and children stolen from their graves were discovered hidden in Benjamin Franklin’s basement in 1998 sparking modern inquiries and investigations. World-famous for his lightning experiments; contemporaneous anatomists and scientists were inspired to electrify the bodies of hanged criminals attempting to charge the dead with life. Inspired by Dr. Franklin; Mary Shelly has Dr. Frankenstein in her novel do the same. Join historians from Grim as we open our three and a half hour audio-biography on Philadelphia’s own Benjamin Franklin: including the young founder’s arrival to Philadelphia at the age of seventeen, falling smitten with his future common-law wife Deborah Reed, and stories of the most riveting body-snatching and electrical experiments you may just have ever heard. Historians Joe Wojie, Britnee Smith, and Ted Sisco are joined by Neil Ronk, Director of Christ Church Preservation Trust, Philadelphia. And joining remote from Boston is Lauren Krupinski, NPS Historian from Franklin sites there.