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 chats with film studies lecturer Jenny Barrett about her background and inspirations, and her take on Baba Yaga.Into the Forest is published by Blackspot Books (https://vesuvianmedia.com/black-spot-books/). You can find Catherine on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/serialsemantic).To help us to keep producing this podcast, as well as supporting our non profit work through the Folklore Library and Archive, please consider joining our Patreon page (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) for extra content.

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.amyjeffshistoria.com/ (https://www.amyjeffshistoria.com/) or follow her on Twitter @amy_historiaClosing music in this episode is 'Callanish - Sacred Moon', performed by Car Dia. Find them on the web at www.pagansongs.com (www.pagansongs.com)If you find The Folklore Podcast of value to you, please consider supporting us with a small donation via our website at www.thefolklorepodcast.com (www.thefolklorepodcast.com) or join our Patreon page (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) for extra content and support our work there.

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 (www.camillabruce.com)To support the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive in its work preserving folklore materials for the future, and to access bonus material, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast)

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 (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast)Rachel Ann's website links:http://rachelannharding.com/ (http://rachelannharding.com/)https://storystorypodcast.com/ (https://storystorypodcast.com/)https://www.storieswithspirit.co/ (https://www.storieswithspirit.co/)https://www.facebook.com/storieswithspirit/ (https://www.facebook.com/storieswithspirit/)

A Folklore Podcast Bonus Feature.Recorded live at the UK Ghost Story Festival 2023 at the Museum of Making in Derby, host Mark Norman chats with screenwriter and novelist Stephen Volk.To support the work of the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive is preserving folklore for the future, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast)

The idea of the trickster is a strong archetype in mythology and folklore in different cultures around the world. Whether a deity, a human or something more anthropomorphic, the trickster uses their intellect to create confusion, subvert rules or simply, to play tricks.Of course, the trickster is not just confined to mythology. Where folklore crosses into popular culture, we can still find the trickster looming large from older texts such as Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with Puck at the centre, to Looney Tunes’s Bugs Bunny.On this episode of the podcast, special guest Dr. Shepherd Siegel, author of two books on the theme of the trickster, discusses the subject with literary correspondent Hilary Wilson.To support the work of the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast)

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 episode covering history, tradition, inclusion, gendering and diversity, Lucy provides an in-depth look into an area in which she is one of the world's very few researchers.To support the work of the Folklore Podcast and the Folklore Library and Archive is preserving material such as this for the future, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) or go to our website at www.thefolklorepodcast.com (www.thefolklorepodcast.com) and make a small one-off donation.

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 visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast)

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 preserving folklore for everyone on our Patreon page (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) where you can also find more exclusive folklore content.

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 access extra content at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast (www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast) and help our work this year. Visit Cooper's website at https://www.cooperbraun.com/ (https://www.cooperbraun.com/)