In the first episode of their new podcast miniseries looking at the lives and voices of medieval women, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley encounter Saint Mary of Egypt, who (if she existed) lived sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries. In the stories of Mary’s life she leads a wild and licentious youth before exiling herself to serve penitence in the desert. There she meets Zosimas, an ascetic monk, and teaches him the value of an imperfect life.

Irina and Mary have a new twelve-part series, Medieval Beginnings, starting in January 2023. Find out more here: lrb.me/medieval

Music by Kieran Brunt / Produced by Anthony Wilks

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