The Folklore Podcast

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 cha...

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 cha...

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.amyjeffsh...

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 pr...

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...

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...

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 visi...

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 pr...

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 a...

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 Ga...

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...

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. Car...

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...

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 magic...

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...

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,...

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 archaeolo...

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 archaeolo...

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 archaeolo...

The legend of the Selkie, a woman or man who comes ashore as a seal before shedding their skin to turn human, is common in the Scottish Islands, but has parallels in other cultures. In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman summarises a little of the Selkie folklore, before introducing an in-depth look at the new independent film 'Mara: The Seal Wife' which has the story of the Selkie Wife...

The legend of the Selkie, a woman or man who comes ashore as a seal before shedding their skin to turn human, is common in the Scottish Islands, but has parallels in other cultures. In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman summarises a little of the Selkie folklore, before introducing an in-depth look at the new independent film 'Mara: The Seal Wife' which has the story of the Selkie Wife...

The legend of the Selkie, a woman or man who comes ashore as a seal before shedding their skin to turn human, is common in the Scottish Islands, but has parallels in other cultures. In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman summarises a little of the Selkie folklore, before introducing an in-depth look at the new independent film 'Mara: The Seal Wife' which has the story of the Selkie Wife...

The investigation of alleged physical medium Kathleen Goligher by the engineer William Jackson Crawford is both fascinating and strangely tragic, but remained until recently a 'lost case' of Edwardian Spiritualism. In the episode of The Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman is joined by the author A.J. West whose research into the story has led to the highly praised gothic novel 'The Spirit Engineer'...

The investigation of alleged physical medium Kathleen Goligher by the engineer William Jackson Crawford is both fascinating and strangely tragic, but remained until recently a 'lost case' of Edwardian Spiritualism. In the episode of The Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman is joined by the author A.J. West whose research into the story has led to the highly praised gothic novel 'The Spirit Engineer'...

The investigation of alleged physical medium Kathleen Goligher by the engineer William Jackson Crawford is both fascinating and strangely tragic, but remained until recently a 'lost case' of Edwardian Spiritualism. In the episode of The Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman is joined by the author A.J. West whose research into the story has led to the highly praised gothic novel 'The Spirit Engineer'...