The Real Exorcist

Hey! We would love to hear your thoughts, send us a voice note. January 1949, just outside Washington, D.C. A thirteen-year-old boy starts exhibiting behavior no one in his family can explain — scratching in the walls, furniture moving on its own, welts spelling out words on his skin. A Lutheran pastor witnesses it first. Then two Jesuit priests at Saint Louis University get involved, and over the following weeks perform what's become one of the most famous exorcisms in American history — the real case that inspired the novel and film. Eli says there's not a single neutral witness in the entire record. Simone says you don't get this many independent, credible people converging on the same specific claims by accident. Along the way: a diary that sat sealed in an abandoned hospital room for decades, and a detail from a single, less-reliable source that — if true — reframes the entire case. Want to see for yourself? The case file has the full story in writing, and the source list shows which claims are confirmed, which are disputed, and which rest on a single account. Case file: https://precisionandinstinct.com/cases/real-exorcist-roland-doe/ Source list: https://notes.precisionandinstinct.com/episodes/02-the-real-exorcist.html A note before you press play: this episode covers real events involving a minor experiencing significant psychological and physical distress. We approach it with the same care we'd want if it were someone we knew. The hosts are fictional characters created by Verb Editorial, with AI-generated voices designed specifically for each one. Each episode is researched and written with AI assistance, then fact-checked, edited, and produced by a human team.