The Folklore Podcast

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 …

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…

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 utilis…

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 …

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 ye…

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 wi…

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 mean…

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 tre…

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 daughte…

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 playin…

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 …

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 landsc…

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 o…

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 Edwardia…

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 …

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…

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…

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 '…

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…

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 s…