Spirits: Mythology, Legends, & Folklore

We haven’t gotten existential about death in a while, so let’s talk about past lives! We touch upon the religious and philosophical origins of rebirth and reincarnation, and discuss the modern interest and study of past life regression.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, parapsychology, pseudoscience, child death, religious persecution, war, Worl...

Bro! Gather round the mead hall, because we’re gonna tell the story of Beowulf, talk the nuance of translation, and gush over warrior queens with author Maria Dahvana Headley.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of murder, violence, toxic masculinity, misogyny/sexism, rape/sexual assault, and xenophobia.   Guest Maria Dahvana Headley is the New Yo...

It’s time to turn to the gods for some divine advice. We welcome Moiya McTier back to the show to channel the gods like the oracles of old and answer questions about long distance relationships, working from home, and keeping your plants alive!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of Covid-19, drug use, self-mutilation, debt, sex, mental health, and relation...

We’re all over the place in this one, both in terms of content and geography. From Scandinavia to Alaska, we’re questioning your choices left and right when dealing with the supernatural. It’s a fiesty one, folks!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of possession, death, disturbed graves, science experimentation, zombies, violence against women, animal deat...

Right this way! We’ll be your tour guides through the Greek Underworld this episode as we talk about the new game, Hades, as well as the chthonic gods, hot Furies, sleepy lads, and who this Zagreus guy is, anyway.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of ritual sacrifice, animal death, death, cannibalism, child death, dismemberment, implied drug use, war/batt...

October might be over, but when you’re Mary Shelley, every day is a great day to talk about death. That’s why we were so excited to have guest Rose Eveleth, who walked us through the scientific origins behind Frankenstein and his monster, and the life and times of Mary Shelley.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions sex, misogyny, miscarriage, child death, Cov...

Only on Spirits do we get really into the logistics and philosophy of a Disney Channel Original Movie. We’re talking Halloweentown, and stress that there’s no such thing as witch DNA, and magic should go back to being more democratic.   Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of elitism, biological essentialism, religious persecution, societal inequity, and...

It’s Halloween month, which means we are breaking out some of the best urban legends in our inbox. Cursed buildings, cursed objects, cursed woods. You name it, we’ve got scary urban legends about it! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of the USSR, loans/debt, possession, spirit binding, curses, pranks, revenge, death, Covid-19, sacrilegious acts, grave robbing,...

Your state might be spookier than you thought. For Halloween, we’re rounding up the scariest urban legends from all 50 states! Listen to find out what state is haunted by a horse, which is haunted by a pickup truck, and which is most likely the plot of a Scooby Doo episode. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of infancide/child death, abduction, starvation, death...

200 episodes. Wow. We answer your questions, follow up on past episodes, and rate the sexiness of several mythological and folklore beings. Thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you.  Here’s a few of our favorite Orisha dance videos mentioned in the episode: Yemayá , Oshun , and Shango .  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of killing/murder, se...

Fair warning: This is a butt-heavy episode. Also featuring frequent haunted sleepovers, a wild scooter ride, and why Bluetooth technology is suddenly very cool to us. We also get VERY confused about Kevin Bacon.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of cemeteries, trances/possession, insomnia, Covid-19, death, earthquake/natural disaster, mild road accident,...

After making too many jokes about Virgo season, Julia is making it up to Amanda by giving her a tour of the Western Zodiac! We still know too much about Zeus’s love life, but we would buy from Castor & Pollux’s new clothing line if they advertised to us on Instagram.    Here’s the Mixology Astrology chart .  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or ment...

Do you hear some otherworldly banjo music coming from the pines? Don’t worry, we’ve brought on author Erica Waters to guide us through her new book, the ghosts of her childhood, and murder ballads. Also humidity? Just ghosts.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, familial death, racism, social/financial inequity, generational trauma, murder, violenc...

Who would have guessed that Scooby Doo would have us go deeper than Loch Ness itself? Was the Loch Ness Monster just a marketing scheme? And what, exactly, is the definition of cryptid? We’re gonna answer these questions, without terrible Scottish accents.  Pick up Colin Dickey’s book The Unidentified for more amazing insights! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or men...

Is your house really energy efficient, or do you have ghosts? What genre do singing sands rock out to? Has this whole podcast been a conspiracy to get Amanda to admit she’s guilty of breaking and entering? Your Urban Legends reveal a lot.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of anxiety, home invasion, animal death, murder, domestic violence, animal sex, carb...

Avast! What’s that on the horizon? Unlucky bananas, gold hoop earrings, and sons of guns; it must be sailor superstitions! Trim the sails and come on this voyage with us as we suss out the origins of legends taught to every sailor.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, drowning, misogyny, boating accidents/capsizing, labor violations, funerals/buria...

Science and folklore make a wonderful shot and chaser for our guest, Moiya McTier, who is here to regale us with facts about space as she maps the lands of Norse mythology onto our solar system.  Link to The Final Member documentary .  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of suicide, death/afterlife, mental illness, sex organs, planetary destruction, ins...

The Invisible Man has been scaring us since 1897, but invisibility has been used for nefarious purposes in myths and legends since way before that. Our survey of invisibility spans past centuries all the way to the modern day as we examine what exactly makes invisibility scary—and what might be next. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of mental institutions, gas...

We’re raising some important questions because of your urban legends: Do you have a cursed bloodline? What kind of TikToks are ghosts into? Why is Florida so spooky? We don’t promise we have all the answers, though.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of chronic pain, grandparent death, animal/pet death, grief, and depression.   Housekeeping - Rec...

What if your house was legally haunted? The Ackleys of Nyack, New York had to deal with just that. We look into the legal precedent of paranormal activity, real estate hauntings, and ask the question: At what point is it worth it to own a haunted house?  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of legal disputes, racism, The Confederate Flag, slavery, violence ag...

We are joined by Kamuela Kaneshiro of the Legends from the Pacific podcast, who gives us the lowdown on some of his favorite spiritual and paranormal stories from Hawaii. Kamu shares his firsthand accounts with the Night Marchers and his own paranormal investigations. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of murder, gender dynamics, incest, urination, war/battle, b...

Don’t have sex, camp counselors. Because Jason can sniff out horniness like a bloodhound. We discuss the history of the unlucky Friday the 13th, Jason’s journey through the franchise, and how Hollywood created its own urban legends.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, murder, stalking, hanging, electricution/struck by lightning, unwanted sexual ad...

Have you ever thought about what a ghost tastes like? We sure have now! We rank the five senses of hauntings, bemoan a secret bathroom, and yell about how breath should ALWAYS be hot because of your urban legends!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, excrement/feces, fire, child endangerment/death, blood-sucking/vampirisim, sickness, death of spous...

Who’s a good boy?! Apparently, there’s a lot of good pups across the world and throughout history. Julia takes Amanda and Eric on a tour of the best dogs of mythology as part of the Boston Museum of Science ’s Virtual Happy Hour series.  Find the slideshow for this episode here !  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, hell, murder of women and c...

We’re joined by the ever insightful Amanda LeDuc this episode to talk about the portrayal of disability in fairytales. Join us as we look at stories like Snow White and The Little Mermaid through her lens, and get inspired by Amanda’s recommended resources on learning more about disability and advocacy. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of ableism, body mutilat...