49-Russian Folklore: I Pity the Fool

The story of Sir Isumbras, a knight from the high Middle Ages, includes talking birds, epic battles, unicorns, and a quest for redemption where the redemption includes the knight's participation in th...

26 Feb 202035min

Fortune favors the bold. Or people willing to put up with a decade of junk. Or the best liars. On this episode, there are two stories: one from Tunisia, and the other from Italy, about people who take...

19 Feb 202037min

The story of the master thief, from Norwegian folklore, which will have you wondering what the difference is between a master thief and someone who exploits the laziness and ignorance of strangers in ...

12 Feb 202036min

Three stories of love from India. The first is what happens when a prostitute and a thief try to build a life together.  The second is what happens when a barber gets to ask a king for anything.  Th...

5 Feb 202033min

This week, we continue the story of Grettir. Last week he was driven by an intense, mysterious tendency toward self-destruction. This week, he’ll still have that…but he’s been cursed by a draugr to al...

29 Jan 202045min

This week, we’re back in the Icelandic sagas with the story of Grettir the strong, who, whether it’s by berserkers crashing his Christmas party, bears stealing his clothes, or his own obscene insult p...

22 Jan 202040min

A story from the famous Middle Eastern collection of folklore entitled 1001 Nights where, three friends go on a road trip to get so many bottles full of evil genies. There's no such thing as too many ...

15 Jan 202040min

How to win friends and influence people and also get beat up a lot in the 12th century. We've talked about Robin's origins, but who are all these other guys? Today we learn some outlaw recruiting stra...

8 Jan 202038min