S4 Ep4: Lily Dale

S4 Ep4: Lily Dale

From Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf by Astonishing Legends Productions

March 13, 2026 · 1h 6m · Season 4 · Episode 4

About this episode

Christine Wicker explores the spiritualist community of Lily Dale, challenging her skepticism and confronting personal dilemmas.

“ Compared to most people in Lily Dale, I was a raging skeptic. Compared to most of my journalistic colleagues, I was a soft-headed sap. I didn’t believe Lily Dale’s people could chat with the dead, but I was willing to concede that I might be wrong. I never intended for any of it to change me. But it did.” – Christine Wicker, Lily Dale Lily Dale is a small community of spiritualists in upstate New York. It is known as “The town that talks to the dead”. People come here from all over the world hoping to connect with loved ones who have passed on. Everyone who comes here thinks they will find “the truth” -- and know it when they see it. Up or down, true or false, real or fake. They’ll know. Christine Wicker, religion reporter for the Dallas Morning News, comes to Lily Dale convinced she’ll find out the “truth”. But the longer she stays, the harder it is to find… In the summer of 2009, Richard and Susan find themselves on opposite sides of an issue for which there can be no compromise: having a second child. All Richard wants is another TV show. A year later he’s in Shreveport, Louisiana producing ABC’s summer series The Gates. But the dream job is rapidly turning into a nightmare…

People in this episode

Hosts: Richard Hatem, Susan

Guest: Christine Wicker

Topics covered

  • spiritualism
  • skepticism
  • personal transformation
  • journalism
  • life choices

Keywords

  • Lily Dale
  • spiritualism
  • Christine Wicker
  • skepticism
  • journalism
  • The Gates
  • personal growth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dallas Morning News

Books & works: The Gates

Places: Lily Dale, Shreveport, Louisiana

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