Episodes

Following on from our last episode looking at execution ballads, we stick with the subject of the folklore of death. This time, we focus our attention on England in the 19th century. Discussing the topic with podcast host Mark Norman is author and researcher Claire Cock-Starkey whose PHD research covers this subject. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon and access extra content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

On her website, Execution Ballads, Dr Una McIlvenna writes: "Across Europe, from the sixteenth century until the early twentieth century, the news of the deeds of criminals and their subsequent executions was delivered via song, often printed on cheap, single-sheet broadsides or small, book-like pamphlets, as well as passed on orally or via manuscript. Songs were usually set to a familiar tune (often indicated at the top of the pamphlet), which allowed anyone to easily sing along. They were sol...

Odyssey Theatre is Ottowa's premiere professional theatre company, specialising in the old tradition of masked performance. So what happened when the world when into lockdown and theatre became, for a while, a think of the past? In the case of Odyssey, it became an opportunity to branch out into audio drama with 'The Other Path' - a magical podcast which reimagines traditional folk tales in a new and immersive modern setting. In this episode we meet Laurie Steven (creator and director) and wri...

The Folklore Podcast presents a recording of a panel discussion hosted at Maidstone Museum on the subject of the Kentish tradition of Hoodening and the Hooden hobby horse. This panel was presented as part of a museum exhibition entitled "Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse" which runs until June 2023. The recording was provided for broadcast by Maidstone Museum. The discussion panel is chaired by Professor Ronald Hutton and features Dr Geoff Doel (lecturer in medieval and traditional cu...

We explore the figure of the Slavic forest witch Baba Yaga in this episode of The Folklore Podcast, through the lens of a new women in horror anthology called 'Into the Forest'. Amongst the 23 stories and poems in the book are ones written by a New York Times bestselling author, a number of Bram Stoker Award nominees, and our guest Catherine McCarthy - a Welsh author of dark fiction. Catherine chats with film studies lecturer Jenny Barrett about her background and inspirations, and her take on ...

We welcome Dr Amy Jeffs back to The Folklore Podcast. After the much-lauded success of her first book, 'Storyland' we chat about Amy's new book 'Wild', published by Quercus, which examines tales from Early Medieval Britain. In the book, Amy provides new tellings of some of the stories of the period, once again giving her expert analysis on the material. Visit Amy's website at https://www.amyjeffshistoria.com/ or follow her on Twitter @amy_historia Closing music in this episode is 'Callanish - ...

In another interview recorded live at the 2023 UK Ghost Story Festival at the Museum of Making in Derby, Folklore Podcast host Mark Norman chats with Norwegian author Camilla Bruce about the folklore of her country, ghosts, witches and the inspiration for her writing. Visit Camilla's website at www.camillabruce.com To support the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive in its work preserving folklore materials for the future, and to access bonus material, please visit www.patreon...

In the next in our occasional series of episodes looking at American storytellers, theatre and film correspondent Tracy Nicholas meets teller Rachel Ann Harding. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast Rachel Ann's website links: http://rachelannharding.com/ https://storystorypodcast.com/ https://www.storieswithspirit.co/ https://www.facebook.com/storieswithspirit/

A Folklore Podcast Bonus Feature. Recorded live at the UK Ghost Story Festival 2023 at the Museum of Making in Derby, host Mark Norman chats with screenwriter and novelist Stephen Volk. To support the work of the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive is preserving folklore for the future, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

The idea of the trickster is a strong archetype in mythology and folklore in different cultures around the world. Whether a deity, a human or something more anthropomorphic, the trickster uses their intellect to create confusion, subvert rules or simply, to play tricks. Of course, the trickster is not just confined to mythology. Where folklore crosses into popular culture, we can still find the trickster looming large from older texts such as Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with Puck at t...

We shine a spotlight on an often overlooked and misunderstood part of the English folk dance tradition as we welcome special guest Lucy Wright to discuss Girls' Carnival Morris tradition. One of the most spectacular forms of English folk dance, Carnival Morris emerged and remains primarily in the North West of England and is one of the few competitive folk dance forms. In what is a truly important episode covering history, tradition, inclusion, gendering and diversity, Lucy provides an in-depth...

Guest interviewer, writer Beth O'Brien (the founder of Disabled Tales) meets with author Catherine Bloor to discuss her novel 'Soul of a Raven', a genre-defying mix of magic, folklore and mystery set across generations and steeped in real-world history and lore. This is a Folklore Podcast Book Club episode. To support the work of The Folklore Podcast and access extra exclusive content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

We meet writer/director Peter Dunne and actress Margaret McAuliffe from the celebrated Irish horror podcast 'Petrified' to discuss dark folklore from Ireland, how the horror genre and folklore utilise in-built human fear reactions and how folklore and belief can be used to write in the horror format. Support the work of The Folklore Podcast and The Folklore Library and Archive in collecting and preserving folklore for everyone on our Patreon page where you can also find more exclusive folklore ...

In the first of a short series of episodes profiling American storytellers, we meet Cooper Braun who reminds us that folk and fairy tales are not just for children. An accomplished and prize-winning slam teller, Cooper's first love is traditional tales and he discusses this in great detail. The episode ends with his telling of "The True Confessions of Prince Charming". Join our Discord server and access extra content at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast and help our work this year. Visit Coo...

Season 8 of The Folklore Podcast kicks off with an exploration of the subject of the English folk tale, with guest Neil Philip. Neil, who originally published the Penguin Book of English Folktales years ago now has a new revised edition out with Watkins publishers, full of analysis and insight into some famous and lesser known folk tales. Neil's work has been highly praised by the likes of Neil Gaiman (who supplied the foreword for this book), Alan Garner (who is discussed in this episode too) a...

In the final show of Season 7, we welcome back film director George Popov to discuss the second in his 'Sideworld' series of documentaries. This time, George explores folklore and legend connected with stories of the sea, in conversation with theatre and film correspondent Tracy Nicholas. You can visit the website for Rubicon Films on this link. To support the work of the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive in collecting and preserving folklore materials for the future, pleas...

The stories in our culture are vital to our identity. But, what happens when our history and the stories associated with it are rewritten? How has folklore been used in the past to convey hidden meaning, or weaponised in a power struggle? Discussing these important cultural points in this episode of the Folklore Podcast is journalist and broadcaster Jane Thynne, author (under the pen-name C.J. Carey) of the novels Widowland and Queen High. You can visit Jane's website at https://janethynne.com...

In 1943, a group of boys wandering the woodlands near Hagley Hall, in Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England, discovered the remains of an unknown woman stuffed inside a hollowed Wych Elm tree. To this day her identity remains unknown. In 1944, however, mysterious graffiti began to adorn the walls of the West Midlands reading WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM? This graffiti reignited interest and the theories about her were plentiful. In 2017, filmmaker Tom Lee Rutter released the award-wi...

The Folklore Podcast's literary correspondent Hilary Wilson speaks with Veronica Varlow on the subject of Bohemian Magick, also the title of the author's most recent book. Veronica is the last daughter in a line of Bohemian witchcraft practitioners who learnt her techniques from her close relationship with her Czech-Romani grandmother. In the episode we hear about her life growing up and her magical work as well as some of the contents of her book. Neil Gaiman says of Veronica: "The remarkable...

A bonus episode of The Folklore Podcast exploring the different types of divination found in cultures around the world, and looking at how these can be used through storytelling mechanisms for playing games. Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman talks to David Whitworth of The Drunken Storyteller podcast about a new book on this subject which he is developing for UK-based game company Hive Mind Games. To support the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive in their goal to...

We look into the crossover between the fields of linguistics, social history and folklore with an examination of the secret language Polari. Coming from 16th century roots, Polari is generally known in modern times as an underground gay language popular in the 1960s and 1970s, in no small part thanks to the Radio 4 comedy show Round the Horne and its characters Julian and Sandy. But, before this, other forms of the language existed between fairground workers, the theatrical community, dock worke...

Storytelling is not just about entertainment. Now, and especially in the past, the purpose of story has also been to educate, to inform, and to place us within our own culture, time, place and landscape. In a new collaboration, TV presenter and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota teams up with professional storyteller Jason Buck to provide historical interpretation of real-world artefacts and archaeological sites through story, blending the facts with creative retellings of possible events which mig...

Storytelling is not just about entertainment. Now, and especially in the past, the purpose of story has also been to educate, to inform, and to place us within our own culture, time, place and landscape. In a new collaboration, TV presenter and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota teams up with professional storyteller Jason Buck to provide historical interpretation of real-world artefacts and archaeological sites through story, blending the facts with creative retellings of possible events which mig...

Storytelling is not just about entertainment. Now, and especially in the past, the purpose of story has also been to educate, to inform, and to place us within our own culture, time, place and landscape. In a new collaboration, TV presenter and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota teams up with professional storyteller Jason Buck to provide historical interpretation of real-world artefacts and archaeological sites through story, blending the facts with creative retellings of possible events which mig...