In The Witches: Salem, 1692 (Little Brown), author Stacy Schiff re-examines the infamous Salem Witch Trials, stripped of the ideas brought to us by writers like Arthur Miller (“The Crucible”) and, as Betsy Burton says, “historians with axes to grind. […] Schiff places the events of that year squarely in the context of history, giving us the facts and also the social and political backdrop so that we come to understand the universe her characters inhabit.”
Then, Austen Diamond shares his favorite holiday music. The artists you’ll hear don’t have concerts in Salt Lake this week. But you might shake up your usual holiday merry-making with these non-traditional tracks.
Music heard on this Books & Beats:
1: “Mr. Frosty Man,” by Sufjan Stevens
2: “Sleigh Ride,” by The Ventures
3: “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto” by Snoop Doggy Dogg, ft. Daz Dillinger, Nate Dogg, Tray Deee, and Bad Azz, from the album Christmas on Death Row