Way back in the summer, before Worldcon, I posted two recommendation lists, one for fiction and another for non-fiction. I intended to follow up with a list of podcast recommendations around the same time, but life happened so it took me until now. Regardless, here are some of my current favorites in podcasts.
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Stuff You Missed in History Class is a perennial favorite of mine and many others. The hosts (currently Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Frey) look at an event, person or group from history that tend to be lesser known for whatever reason. The fascinating connections between seemingly unrelated events come together in the hands of these masterful storytellers.
Galactic Suburbia
Galactic Suburbia is Alisa, Alex, and Tansy talking about speculative fiction news, reading lists, chat, and sometimes politics. Also cake. All three are Australian, so they have a unique perspective in a world that seems to be filled with American commentators. Their views are interesting and well-founded and simply put, engaging.
My Favorite Murder
My Favorite Murder is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s two true crime obsessed hosts – Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark – recounting famous and not so famous murder and other true crime. They’re empathetic and they don’t make fun of the victims, but it is a comedy podcast, so they laugh. And if you’re a macabre bitch like I am, you probably will too.
No Story Is Sacred
No Story Is Sacred continues to be one of my favorites. Four children of two speculative fiction authors/freelance wordsmiths talk about stories. From Fifty Shades of Grey to The Matrix, these four siblings will take any story apart and make it better in all the ways you might never think of. Fanfic tropes galore, good-natured sibling sniping and lots of laughter. These are a few of my favorite things.
Oh No Ross and Carrie
OH NO Ross and Carrie is a humorous skeptical podcast. From doing experiments with Flat Earthers to joining religions, Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy have done it all. (“So you don’t have to”). They look for rational solutions to seemingly supernatural problems and approach every situation with compassion and an open mind. They’re also funny doing while doing so.
Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
I mentioned Sawbones on the non-fiction list as well. I’m completely obsessed with it. Medical history in all its gruesome, nasty glory with a side-order of humor. Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband, Justin McElroy talk through a topic per week, ranging from Pliny the Elder to vaccines to garlic. Most of it with as a good time.
Hei, I was wondering if Christian missionaries were so upset with the pagan Finns’ focus on Louhi during the darkest days of the Winter Solstice that they imposed St Thomas Day into the calendar to distract the attention paid to “satanic” Louhi sacrifices ?
Hi Michael. No, I don’t think this is the case at all. I’m going to preface this with the disclaimer that I am not a folklorist nor a historian, so I may well not be aware of some research relating to this. To my knowledge, Louhi was not someone people here sacrificed anything to, mainly because in the folklore she’s more like a witch queen than anything supernatural. Her name has also had many incarnations, depending on when the source was and the area the story originates. This came so far out of left field that I even went back to go through my reference books and could find no mention there either about either Louhi having sacrifices, beyond the sorts of sacrifices you would provide to any regent when visiting or currying favor, and I also could not find any mention of Louhi being specifically connected to Christmas in any way. St. Thomas’ Day is the day that we use to declare the so-called Christmas Peace, even today. Basically, it marks the beginning of Christmas. St Thomas Day is also the longest day of the year and throughout Scandinavia, and there were sacrificial customs related to it, which is probably also where the Finnish Christmas ham came from. To me, it seems more likely that if St Thomas day was imposed due to paganic practices, it was imposed in Sweden, which Finland was a part of for many years to come after Christianity made its way throughout this country. And then for many years after it was a part of Russia for many years. But given that it’s a Catholic holiday to begin with, it seems even more likely that the origins were somewhere closer to Rome.
Kiitos.