In this last of three interviews recorded live at the UK Ghost Story Festival in Derby, podcast host Mark Norman chats with author Lauren McMenemy, who was also one of the people helping with the organisation of the festival itself. The pair discuss ghosts, recommendations for spooky fiction and the …
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 …
On her website, [Execution Ballads](http://executionballads.com/), 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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](www.camillabruce.com) To …
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](www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) Rachel Ann's website links:
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …