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March 08, 2025

#112 Wise Men of Gotham and the City of Chelm

1 hour 27 minutes

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina take a trip to several different cities of fools (and feel right at home). First Katrina explains how the folkloric village of Gotham ended up turning into a city of Batman. Then the pair travel backwards in time to take a peek into one of the oldest joke books, from the 4th century AD. They discuss how common it is for people to come together to bad mouth the people one town over. Katrina takes a couple shots at LA and her own cousins, while Geoff wants to talk Florida Man and Idiotsville, USA. And then they dive into the Jewish folkloric town of Chelm for several fun stories that illustrate the power of these silly stories to showcase human nature.

Books Used:

The Jar of Fools by Eric A. Kimmel

Yiddish Folktales by Beatrice Weinreich

Favorite Folktales from Around the World edited by Jane Yolen

Book Mentioned at the Beginning of this episode:

Specters of the Marvelous by Kimberly J. Lau

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