Patti McCracken
Patti McCracken spent fourteen years immersed in an archaeological expedition about the Angel Makers, exploring the lives of the women involved, the conditions they lived under, and the state of Hungary during that era. She meticulously combed through transcripts in the Szolnok archives, working long hours in a musty, dimly lit room that was uncomfortably hot. Her remarkable Hungarian assistant, Attila, a local historian, was by her side, helping to translate documents—some nearly a century old—while Patti typed the English translation into her MacBook.
In addition to her archival work, McCracken hired translators to assist in translating local news articles from the time of the “Arsenic Trials,” working closely with the library to obtain the relevant materials. She toured the local prison, attended trials, and interviewed a wide range of experts, including Central Europe’s leading criminal psychiatrist, medical historians, military historians, descendants of both victims and perpetrators, police officers, professors, and even meteorologists. She read extensively—village monographs, history books, Hungarian literature of the period, military memoirs, and more.
The depth and breadth of her research explained the long gestation period of The Angel Makers. McCracken’s approach was thorough, driven by the dogged persistence of a seasoned reporter. Once the research was complete, the storytelling phase began.
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00:00 - Patty McCracken on Her Biography
00:57 - The Day the Wall Came Down
03:47 - VICE News Interview
06:54 - Tom French on Becoming a Journalist
08:22 - Talking About Technology and the Way People Report
10:25 - The Angel Makers
14:50 - Why are women killing their husbands?
15:17 - In the Elevator With Arsenic
16:37 - The Purge of Auntie Susie
19:46 - How To Write a Book About the Vietnam War
21:26 - Were there descendants of the midwife in the village?
24:50 - Post-9/11: The Battle of Ypsi
28:53 - Talking to Historians
30:58 - The Curiosity of Teachers
