Good Night Stories
I have been a podcast listener for many years now, but recently I have become much more interested in the breadth and range of podcasts out there, due to the potential upcoming LCA podcast. I’ve already featured some of my favourite podcasts on the Sound section of LCA, which are all extremely dear to my heart - please go check them out!
When searching for new and noteworthy podcasts, I often keep my eye out for feminist centred and left-political leaning podcasts, as relevant to my interests and general vibe… However, bar the explicitly feminist podcasts, many that I came across were hosted by men and centred on specifically white, male, straight perspectives. No surprises here, but that made me pretty annoyed. Many of the podcasts I saw on the main Apple charts also just looked pretty boring to be honest. Or, they were just that little too heavy for certain circumstances. Don’t get me wrong, I adore ‘Stuff Mom Never Told You’ and 'Griefcast’ to no end, but I craved something I could mindlessly drift off to before I went to sleep. I eventually found two new favourite podcasts that fulfilled this need perfectly.
Myths and Legends -
The myths and legends podcast (available on all major podcast platforms incl. itunes) is hosted by Jason and produced by Carissa, and the premise is pretty simple: Jason recounts myths and legends from around the world, and usually offers different and unique perspectives applicable to each story. Most of them are fairy tales or cautionary tales told to children, and we learn that many of them have rather dark and twisted versions and originations. My favourite ones I’ve listened to so far are folklore stories from Native American tribes - especially the true story of Gouyen (ep. 98), I won’t spoil it, but I would highly recommend listening to a story of one tough woman who defied all expectations and traditions to avenge her dead husband.
Jason is calm, mindful of respecting other cultures and really quite funny. There are tons of episodes to choose from, so if you need a bed time story with a twist or fancy something distracting to listen to, I highly recommend Myths and Legends.
2. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Many of you may have already hear of this series, which is an illustrated childrens book by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. The book series defies normal fairy tale stories and takes readers on the journeys of women from around the world, featuring both true stories and folktales. I actually only discovered the podcast lastnight, but the NY Times hosted podcast tells stories (appropriate for both adults and children) of amazing women who did amazing things. The stories are read by equally amazing women, and the pace and tone of the podcast is so relaxing and comforting it really makes you feel like you’re being told a feminist lullaby to go to sleep. Last night, I fell asleep to the episode about Grace O’Malley, the amazingly dangerous pirate-queen-mother who was based in my Mum’s families home county in Clare, Ireland in the 1500’s. The stories are very therapeutic as they take the place of all the stories we should have heard supporting strong and independent women when we were younger.
