Main content

4. The Cathedral

Vicky Baker investigates the story of fraudulent medium Lamar Keene, as he comes face to face with the capo di tutti capi of Spiritualist resort Camp Chesterfield.

If you wanted to speak with the dead in 1960s America, there was one man who was ready to help. For more than a decade, Lamar Keene was at the top of his game, becoming known as the Prince of Spiritualists. Then, quite suddenly, he turned his back on it all.

Lamar Keene went public and revealed his whole operation had been one big con. He not only implicated himself but claimed that he had been part of an underground network, which had conspired to defraud the unsuspecting public. He called it the 鈥減sychic mafia鈥, and said that his confession made him a marked man.

In a series that mixes documentary with drama, Vicky Baker (Fake Heiress) takes a deep dive into Lamar Keene鈥檚 stranger-than-fiction life story.

Episode 4 Cast:

Lamar . . . . . Edward Hogg
Raoul . . . . . Tom Mothersdale
Mable . . . . . Susan Brown
Daisy . . . . . Barbara Barnes
Joe . . . . . Nathan Osgood
Stirling . . . . . Shaun Mason
Don . . . . . Michael Begley
Realtor . . . . . Neil McCaul

Written and reported by Vicky Baker
Drama written by Nick Perry
Sound design by Peter Ringrose
Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko
A 大象传媒 Audio production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

Release date:

Available now

50 minutes

Podcast