The Folklore Podcast

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 at its heart. Podcast film reviewer Tracy Nicholas discusses the film with its writer and director, Uisdean Murray.Also featured in this episode is a telling of a Selkie Wife story by storyteller Sarah Lloyd Winder, recorded exclusively for The Folklore Podcast.Featured music is 'Tranquility' by Kevin MacLeod, used under a Creative Commons 3.0 attribution licence. To support the work of The Folklore Podcast please visit our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

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', supported by the family descendants of both the Crawfords and the Golighers. You can read much of the research into this case and view some rare photographs on the web at www.ajwestauthor.comTo support the work of The Folklore Podcast in collecting and preserving important folklore for the future, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast or make a small donation on the web at www.thefolklorepodcast.com

Hilary Wilson talks to the eminent Professor Frank Gonzalez-Crussi about his book 'The Body Fantastic' which explores some of the surprising folklore and mystery surrounding the human body. The Body Fantastic is published by MIT Press.The Folklore Podcast Book Club is an official podcast of The Folklore Library and Archive. To help us to continue our work collecting and preserving folklore materials for the future, please consider joining our Patreon page or making a small donation at www.folklorelibrary.com/fundraising

We travel through both time and space to discuss the representation of folklore in the long-running British science fiction TV show "Doctor Who". Host of the Folklore Podcast Mark Norman is joined by BBC Audio Original Dr Who writer Will Hadcroft, and Gareth Preston of the 'Very British Futures' podcast.The Folklore Podcast is the official podcast of the Folklore Library and Archive. You can find out more about the Library at www.folklorelibrary.comTo support our work preserving folklore material for the future, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast where you can also access extra content

We are joined by three-time Carnegie shortlisted author Melinda Salisbury to discuss her new retelling of the myth of Persephone in the Young Adult novel "Her Dark Wings", published by David Fickling Books.The Folklore Podcast Book Club is an official podcast of the Folklore Library and Archive. Please visit the website at www.folklorelibrary.com for more information, or click here to join the Folklore Podcast Patreon and access additional content.

We turn our attention to the medium of film in this episode of The Folklore Podcast. Host Mark Norman is joined by film director and presented George Popov to talk about his new documentary feature 'Haunted Forests of England'. This film is part of the new Sideworld project and is the first in a series which will look at different aspects of folklore, myth and legend. It is released by Rubicon Films.The Folklore Podcast is the official podcast of the Folklore Library and Archive. To support our work, please visit our Patreon page or check our support and fundraising page to help us in our quest to collect, preserve and make available folklore for the future.

In this episode, we examine the history and development of the seance, and our fascination with trying to communicate with the dead, from ancient Greek necromancy through to the Victorian parlour and beyond to the modern day.Joining us is author Lisa Morton, whose book "Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances" provides the background for her conversation with podcast book reviewer Hilary Wilson.Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, Bram Stoker Award®-winning prose writer, and Halloween expert whose work was described by the American Library Association’s Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening.” She has published four novels, 150 short stories, and three books on the history of Halloween. Her recent releases include Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction from Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923 (co-edited with Leslie S. Klinger) and Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances; her latest short stories appeared in Best American Mystery Stories 2020, Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles, and In League with Sherlock Holmes. Her most recent book is the collection Night Terrors & Other Tales. Lisa lives in Los Angeles and online at www.lisamorton.com.Support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon to help us to keep creating and making available free folklore-related content.

Mark Norman, creator of 'The Folklore Podcast' is joined by guest Dr Alessandra Pino to discuss the importance of food in gothic literature; what it can signify, how it can an important mechanic in storytelling and how its importance has moved over time from the concept of the ritualistic dinner party to something much different.Together with food journalist Ella Buchan, Alessandra has written 'The Gothic Cookbook' which analyses a number of gothic tales and creates or reproduces iconic recipes based on their content. The book is coming out via Unbound and you can get a 10% discount by using the discount code GothicPod10. Visit Unbound for more information.The Folklore Podcast is part of the Folklore Network, striving to protect and preserve folklore for the future. Please consider supporting us on Patreon or via our website to help us to continue our work.

In this episode of The Folklore Podcast Book Club, guest reviewer Carly Tremayne chats with author Leon Craig about her collection of queer gothic horror stories 'Parallel Hells', which was published in 2022 by Sceptre Books. Leon discusses her inspirations, aspects of Jewish folklore in her writing and the ways in which some of her stories, written over a seven year period, tie together.To support the work of The Folklore Podcast in collecting and preserving our folkloric heritage for the future, please visit www.thefolklorepodcast.com/support where you can join our Patreon, make a one-off donation and find out more.

In the first of a new occasional series of 'In Conversation' episodes of the podcast, we speak with TV writer and producer Rebecca Sonnenshine about her career, which includes writing for shows such as 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'Outcast' and, most recently, developing the Netflix series 'Archive 81' - based on the original podcast of the same name.To support the work of The Folklore Podcast and its other projects in collecting and preserving folklore materials for the future, please visit our Patreon page or the support pages of our website. Thank you.