The Fairy Tellers

Katrina and Geoff wander into the Russian woods to talk about the most famous Slavic witch, Baba Yaga. After a fan request to discuss this cannibalistic character after her appearance in Netflix's The Witcher, Katrina knew exactly the tale that would lead our discussion. We also look at the Russian collector of tales, Aleksandr Afanasyev who's efforts to preserve folklore might be one of the reaso...

Katrina and Geoff journey into African Dilemma Tales and note how important it is to record the context for tales when they are performed. The text of a song might stay the same, but the texture and context can change the experience completely. For instance, the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner may not change... But you wouldn't want it played on the kazoo by a circus clown at a presidential inaug...

Inspired by a listener request, and the debut of season two of The Witcher on Netflix, Katrina and Geoff get into The Law of Surprise. If you're anything like Geoff, the origins of this tradition may surprise you, as will its relationship to the story of "Hans the Hedgehog" as collected by the Grimm brothers. Come for the fun facts you can use to impress your friends, and stay for a delightfully s...

Katrina and Geoff get sent questions about fairy tales and folklore fairly frequently and this year we want to focus on answering those questions. We're starting off the year by answering the question, "Are fairy tales for children? And what are the most important fairy tales to tell my children?" It isn't a quick answer, but using Katrina's background in Early Childhood Development and Geoff's un...

Katrina and Geoff finally get to the end of the 1001 Nights! Well, sort of. It's kind of a long story. Literally. But we finally finish out our year of tales from this incredible ever changing collection of stories. It all culminates with the tale of Ma'rouf the Cobbler (whose story might share common details with a tale we never discussed by most people know). Katrina and Geoff finish off the pro...

Katrina and Geoff talk Tomte!  In a personal quest to reconnect with her cultural roots, Katrina started to explore Scandinavian folklore and was delighted to find Tomte eating her family's rice porridge. But what are Tomte and where do they come from? And what are they willing to do for a bowl of rice porridge with butter on top? Enjoy this winter time episode while Katrina and Geoff tell and ret...

Katrina and Geoff talk about dreams! This week we learn a new word, oneiromancy, the use of dreams to fortell the future, and use it as a vehicle to explore the difference between folk belief and religious mythology (and the very specific definition of myth used in the study of folklore). We cover a bunch of quick stories in this episode all related to dreams. First Katrina walks us through the Bi...

Geoff and Katrina have been podcasting for two years! In this, slightly delayed, two year anniversary episode, Katrina and Geoff retell some more Cinderella tales. This time from the Middle East! In the process, we get a chance to look back on familiar themes and story elements from other tale types besides ATU 510A (the common grouping of "Cinderella" tales from cultures around the world).  And h...

Katrina and Geoff go sailing... seven times! That's right, we're getting into the Sindbad the Sailor cycles of stories from The Thousand and One Nights. Sindbad is one of those characters with massive name recognition throughout the western world but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who could actually tell you anything about his travels. Well after today YOU can be that someone. Also hear the...

Katrina and Geoff ain't afraid of no ghosts! In this episode, we kick off spooky season by diving into the world of Japanese ghosts. We explore what different types of ghost stories we tell say about us and our culture. And we learn that stories of ghosts hitching a ride in taxis are so common that basically every taxi driver in Japan expects to experience it for  themselves at least once. This ep...

Katrina and Geoff talk caliphs, real and imagined! In this episode, Katrina and Geoff retell the tale "Harun al-Rashid and the Second Caliph" from The Thousand and One Nights. But first Katrina tells us who Harun al-Rashid was in real life (along with a cast full of real characters). The Thousand and One Nights is filled with stories featuring Harun al-Rashid and looking back to the 8th and 9th ce...

Katrina and Geoff kick off the holiday season! That's right, the holidays are just around the corner, starting with the Mid Autumn Moon Festival, an immensely important holiday throughout eastern Asia. In celebration, Katrina retells a Vietnamese folktale brought to our attention by a listener suggestion. We also discuss another tale from Vietnam about why some people believe that they see the ima...

Katrina and Geoff talk wily women (and vile viziers)! In this complex and in no way controversial cycle of tales within tales a king's seven viziers engage in a high stakes storytelling battle for the ages. On one side the viziers are trying to save the king's son from execution by convincing the king that women are not to be trusted. Meanwhile, a singing girl who has wrongly accused the king's so...

Spoiler Alert: If you don't want to have the end of The Green Knight spoiled for you, wait on this episode. Katrina and Geoff get medieval! Many have wondered how Hollywood could take the 50 page poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and turn it into a 2 hour movie. Well buckle up, because we've taken that same poem and turned it into a 2 hour podcast! To start this episode, Katrina gives us a qu...

Katrina and Geoff discuss death (again)! In this super-sized edition of our Thousand and One Nights series we dive deep into The City of Brass. What starts off as a quest to bring the caliph his very own jinni in a bottle takes a hard turn for the philosophical when the squad decides to detour through three increasingly creepy ruins of lost civilizations.

Katrina and Geoff talk Shakespeare! In this episode Katrina educates us on the tale type that was the basis of The Taming of the Shrew. Even though the tale type far predates Shakespeare's play, scholars straight up retconned the name to match his title because it was just that big of a deal! We discuss what Shakespeare changed and why and how the tradition of folklore adaptation continues to this...

Katrina and Geoff talk samurai! In this episode, Geoff leads the discussion on the legend of the 47 Ronin (masterless samurai) and their quest to avenge the death of their lord. While this story is based on actual historical events, it has achieved a legendary status as it has captured the imagination of storytellers, novelists, playwrights and audiences in Japan and throughout the world and morph...

Geoff and Katrina talk animal tales in The Thousand and One Nights! In this episode we check in with King Shahryar and Scheherazade, when the king starts actively engaging with her stories and even begins making requests. And what kinds of stories do you think the most powerful man in all the land wants to hear? Stories about animals of course! And Scheherazade is happy to oblige. Katrina retells...

Katrina and Geoff talk the best (or worst?) trade deal in the history of trade deals! That's right we're talking all about Jack tales. Who is Jack? Are all fairy tale Jacks ACTUALLY the same character? (Spoiler: No). And while you may have heard the story of Jack and Beanstalk from England, it's doubtful you've heard the tale of Jack and the Beantree from the Appalachian region of the United State...

Katrina and Geoff celebrate Mer-May! Making up for our oversight last year, we go all in with a mermaid tale from The Thousand and One Nights, "Julnar of the Sea." Besides the Nights, this story also appears in Tales of the Marvelous and News of the Strange, an older, raunchier, more racist, and "problematic" collection of tales from the Middle East that was translated into English for the first t...

In this minisode, Katrina retells her favorite Aesop Fable of all time: The Sorceress. Enjoy!

Katrina and Geoff talk tricky foxes! This week, we dedicate an entire episode to our favorite Aesop Fable character, the fox. This sometimes lovable trickster is both clever and sneaky, and easily the most nuanced of Aesop's characters. While we are often encouraged to be smart like the fox, he also occasionally uses his intelligence to the detriment of others.

Katrina and Geoff back at it again! In this episode we continue our discussion of The Thousand and One Nights by delving deep into the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. While this tale has some major name recognition, I would bet several dinars that most people don't actually know what it is about (I know I didn't). Katrina retells the "orphan tale" of Ali Baba which includes a much overloo...

Katrina and Geoff talk superheroes in antiquity! In this tale from the Ming Dynasty, we are introduced to the original super-humans, the Ten Chinese Brothers. Before Katrina tells their story, Geoff retells a surprisingly similar story from the Grimm's brother collection called "How Six Got on in the World." Forget the Snyder Cut, these are the superhero stories that you need to hear.

Katrina and Geoff dive back into The Nights and find "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni" and it's many tales within tales. But first Katrina fills us in on all the things we didn't learn about King Solomon in Sunday school, or watching Indiana Jones. Through these stories Scheherazade really hits us HARD with the theme of enacting justice on the appropriate people for the appropriate crimes....