The traditional myth about Medusa is that she was the monster—a fearsome snake-haired gorgon who could turn men to stone with a glance—and her killer, Perseus, was the hero of the tale. But give the story a closer look, and it’s not even clear the Greeks always saw it that way.

Ancient depictions of this myth don’t always show Perseus as the hero. And there’s evidence that gorgons originally had a protective role in Greek iconography. In this episode, Natalie Haynes—bestselling author of Stone Blind—guides us in retracing the clues the ancients left us to reclaim our Gorgon Girl. 

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This week, we welcome internationally bestselling author Joanne Harris to our podcast. Joanne is the author of over 29 novels and novellas for adults and children, including Chocolat, which was turned into an Oscar winning film, and the fantasy series Runemarks and Runelight; The Gospel of Loki and The Testament of Loki, and many others.

Join us for a wild conversation that will break down all your preconceptions about Norse mythology, its ancient roots and hidden goddesses, and women’s place and power in ancient pre-Christian Nordic cultures.

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Both Greek and Hindu mythology are populated with fascinating women—goddesses, heroines, and monsters alike. Award-winning and best-selling author and poet Nikita Gill incorporates both into her work, forging a compelling connection between ancient narratives and personal mythologies of place and family.

Nikita’s poetry is haunting, fiercely feminist, and filled with insight and heartbreak. Join us for a conversation about the women of Hindu and Greek mythology, the feminist themes in both, and which “monsters” we identify with most. 

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This week we thought we’d do something a little different–and bring you a sneak peek of our audiobook version of Women of Myth. This version is available for preorder, and we recorded it ourselves, along with Liv from Let's Talk About Myths Baby! who recorded her introduction.

We picked three entries to share, from three different areas of the world. These women are so fascinating and awesome that we're sure you'll love them as much as we did.

We hope you enjoy!

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We’re joined today by Sara Richard—our Eisner and Ringo Award–nominated illustrator for the Women of Myth series. Sara worked with us to create the amazing illustrations for Women of Myth.

Join us as we take you behind the scenes to discuss what it was like illustrating these incredible characters; which women of myth Sara felt the strongest connection to; Sara and Jenny's shared love of SKULLS and historic graveyards; and what's in Sara's Cabinet of Curiosities.

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This episode originally appeared on our Patreon! We're releasing it on our main feed because we also include Atargatis in Women of Myth. We hope you enjoy!

The Spartacus of the First Servile War--a man named Eunus--was a worshipper of Atargatis, an ancient goddess of the sea often depicted as a mermaid.

Atargatis was one of the most important goddesses of ancient Syria--with roots that went all the way back to the Bronze Age. Her temple in Hierapolis had a lake hundreds of fathoms deep, filled with fantastical fishes, and a bejewelled statue of the goddess whose eyes followed your every movement.

But in Rome, Atargatis' religion was one of underdogs, foreigners, and the marginalized--much like the religion of Dionysus. And, like the cult of Dionysus, it threatened the Roman status quo. 

Find out what made this Syrian mermaid goddess so phenomenal, powerful, and dangerous to the Roman aristocracy.

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This week, we explore monster mythology from countries all over southeast Asia—and we invited Nikki and Kalai from the Creepy Conversations podcast to come on our show and creep us out. Hailing from the Philippines and Singapore, they cover all things creepy from southeast Asian mythology, including monsters, urban legends, ghost stories, true crime and serial killers, and more.

Today we try to answer the age-old question: which Southeast Asian country has the creepiest female monsters? Is it the Philippines, home of the bone-chilling manananggal? Or maybe Japan, home of the terrifying kuchisake-onna of urban legend? What about those nightmare-inducing Shadow People who always seem to be creeping around? Or perhaps the most fearsome monsters of all are the real-life female serial killers who walk among us?

Join us as we try to get to the bottom of it all.

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We are SO excited that we have a book coming out in February 2023! Our book, Women of Myth, will be available worldwide from Simon and Schuster. 

Listen in as we talk about our favorite Women of Myth from around the world with Liv Albert from Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!

Our book is about epic women in mythology from around the world. We cover a diverse range of cultures, from Greek and Roman mythology to important figures from regions such as Africa and African Diaspora countries, the Pacific Islands, Asia and the Middle East, indigenous cultures from North, South, and Central America; and more.  

We cannot wait to share these tales with you. Preorder here! https://linktr.ee/ancienthistoryfangirl

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It's the end of Season 8! It's been a wild, weird and wonderful season of ancient mysteries and we are so glad we got to tell you these tales!

We'll be plunging right into our next season the week after this drops--no break this time. Listen in to hear our thoughts about the previous season and our plans for the future. Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us?

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Imagine a desert stretching over 1,500 miles along the Peruvian coastline, between the high Andes to the east and the vast Pacific coastline to the west. A place of brilliant colors and contradictions. This is the driest desert in the world. Astronauts use it to simulate conditions on Mars.

This is the home of the Nazca Lines: huge, beautifully made 2,000-year-old geoglyphs, visible only from the sky. Some are elaborate images of animals, plants, and people. Others are perfectly straight lines that stretch for miles in the empty desert. 

What were they for? What did they mean? Their story–and the story of the people who made them–is so much more than it seems.

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