Spirits

By Multitude

Comedy History

What's Spirits about?

A boozy weekly podcast about mythology, legends and folklore. Hear fresh takes on classic myths and learn new stories from around the world, served up over ice by two tipsy history geeks.

4.8

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328: Your Urban Legends LXX...

03.22.2023

Listen, kids love to join clubs. Even if it means potentially selling their souls to the ghosts haunting their homes. Also an abandoned gym, a mean ghost teacher, and Amanda becomes a Victorian ghost! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...

Spirits episodes:

03.22.2023 328: Your Urban Legends LXXVI - Add Your Name to Join the Club! Listen, kids love to join clubs. Even if it means potentially selling their souls to the ghosts haunting their homes. Also an abandoned gym, a mean ghost teacher, and Amanda becomes a Victorian ghost! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
03.15.2023 327: Hallmark Movie Golems (with Eric Silver) So Hallmark made a Golem RomCom: Made for Each Other. But is it actually a golem?? We brought back golem correspondent, Eric Silver, to remind us what defines a golem, as we explore other “made of clay” stories, and whether ...
03.08.2023 326: Dr. Faustus Buckle up, theater kids, we made a deal with the devil to cover the incredible store of Dr. Faustus. Faustus loves a monologue, Mephistopheles is a beleaguered middle manager, and Marlowe deserves a better legacy than just being compared to ...
03.01.2023 325: Baldur We’re back with It’s Norse, Of Course! We’re telling the story of Baldur, who is really defined by, of all things, how he died. Hear the story. Throw things at your friends. Enjoy Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about ...
02.22.2023 324: Your Urban Legends LXXV (with Mischa Stanton) We’re joined by audio sorcerer, Mischa Stanton, who swears they are not that spooky. Amanda tells us you’re not getting a horse in a basement, we debate whether a ghost makes a hotel sexier or less sexy, and we learn ...
02.15.2023 323: Clytemnestra (with Helena Greer) We’re joined by author Helene Greer, who is here to tell us about Clytemnestra, or as she puts it, “The Murder Queen of All of Our Dreams”. We also discuss blood curses, sapphic battle axes, and making better Hallmark holiday ...
02.08.2023 322: The Oedipus Plays We know the “Oedipal complex,” but how well do we actually know the Oedipal Plays? This set of three plays is a real Star Wars situation, with prequels and sequels and also lots of feuding. Come for the high school ...
02.01.2023 321: Advice from Folklore X (with Dr. Moiya McTier) Dr. McTier is back, and we’re once again channeling the gods. We are learning how to fail safely, talk about stealing plants from your hometown, and discourage you from throwing rocks at your future wife. Y’know, the usual advice. Content ...
01.25.2023 320: Odin We’re kicking off It’s Norse of Course with a look at the All-Father himself. Come for the history of Norse mythology’s father figure, and stay for inevitable contemplations on death and meaning! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or ...
01.18.2023 319: Legendary Popes (with Daniel Lavery) From a Jewish Pope to a woman Pope, we are hearing all about the legendary popes from author Daniel Lavery. We talk about “The Rule of Harlots”, Dan Brown novels, and we pitch a production of a Young Pope Sheldon ...
01.11.2023 318: Your Urban Legends LXXIV (with Corinne Caputo) Did you know, a ghost bird? Just a dinosaur. We’re joined by writer and comedian Corinne Caputo to explore your creepiest stories, get her opinion on Team Ignorant, and Zombie Jurassic Park. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or ...
01.04.2023 317: Pinocchio Throw out everything you know about Pinocchio. The story of this little puppet boy is wilder than you could possibly imagine. From the wild amount of fairy tale twists and turns to the surprising politics behind the tale, you’ll never ...
12.28.2022 316: The Evil Eye You’ve probably heard about the evil eye; there are so many traditions on what it does and how to protect yourself from it! We dive into evil eye traditions around the world, and talk death rays, airplanes, and mummy tattoos. ...
12.21.2022 315: Your Urban Legends - Bringing Real Linda Energy The Orangey Guy is back, aren’t you excited?? Plus we discuss the best ways to give back to a haunted historic site, secrets revealed at funerals, and exes that live in haunted lighthouses. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about ...
12.14.2022 314: The Wild Hunt As midwinter fast approaches, we explore The Wild Hunt; the spectral parade of spirits and souls that hunt across the European skies. We discover the surprising origins, the multiplicity of tales, and much more! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
12.07.2022 313: The History of Alchemy (with Sara Norja) What you know about alchemy might only be a scratch on the surface. Metal to gold? It’s so much more than that! We’re joined by Sara Norja, who is teaching us the history of alchemy. Also featuring PhD swords, philology, ...
11.30.2022 312: Poltergeist (Myth Movie Night) Con artists and harmful horror tropes and production scandals, oh my! We’re talking about the Spielberg classic, Poltergeist, the origins of these spirits, and how we can do better with our horror tropes. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about ...
11.23.2022 311: Your Urban Legends LXXII - Cheetos as a Supernatural Explanation What was that noise? Just the pipes, right? WRONG! We talk about cleaning up paranormal messes, clearing up a haunting by flushing a toilet, and of course, the supernatural explanation: Cheetos. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions ...
11.16.2022 310: The Tooth Fairy You checked under your pillow, and what’s that? A new Spirits episode? And it’s all about the Tooth Fairy?! We dig into the origins of this tradition, animals who collect teeth, and the ways we celebrate children’s milestones. Content Warning: ...
11.09.2022 309: The Monkey King and Boy Giant (with Van Hoang) We’re joined by author Van Hoang, who teaches us the story of the Monkey King, how Journey to the West MIGHT have been a romance novel, and how going through puberty turns every kid into a trickster spirit. Content Warning: ...
11.02.2022 308: Best Horror Movie Villain Halloween might be over but we’re STILL thinking about our favorite horror movies and the best villains from those movies. Join Julia and Eric as they determine via this wild bracket who the best horror movie villain is! Content Warning: ...
10.26.2022 307: Your Urban Legends LXXI - Logical Answers It’s what you’ve been waiting for. We’re finally going to solve ghosts. Answers like coffee ghosts, teenage shenanigans, and devious child lies. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of misogyny, missing persons, abduction, and death. Housekeeping - ...
10.19.2022 306: Your Urban Legends LXX - Haunted Sewing Machine Theories Parental confirmations of ghosts, theories about a haunted sewing machine, and Schrodinger’s wedding guest? This episode has a lot, because it’s an urban legends episode, baby! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of bodily functions, home invasions, ...
10.12.2022 305: Your Urban Legends LXIX - The Secret Doctor Who Episode Did you have an imaginary friend growing up? Was he a creepy shadow hanging out in the corner? Even if you didn’t, we’ve got plenty of scary stories submitted by our listeners for this urban legends episode! Content Warning: This ...
10.05.2022 304: Your Urban Legends LXVIII - Haunted Hotels There’s something that’s just spooky about a hotel, haunted or not. But these hotels? They’re definitely haunted. But don’t worry, y’all, we’re not entering our haunting phase just yet. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of illness, ...
09.28.2022 303: Dragons, Revisited We’ve got a lot of dragons in pop culture; funny dragons, scary dragons, wise dragons, vicious dragons. But who is the BEST dragon? Amanda and Julia are doing another bracket to figure it out! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
09.21.2022 302: Haunted Childhood Homes (with Mara Wilson) We’re joined by Mara Wilson, who regales us with her experiences growing up in a haunted house, living the “gothic valley” life, and what would be scarier to meet: a ghost or an alien? Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
09.14.2022 301: Liminality Liminality. Transition. Limbo. Thin places. The betwixt and between! This episode is all about one of our favorite things in mythology and pop culture: liminal spaces! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of child death, death, murder, ...
09.07.2022 New Patreon Benefits! It's Episode 300, which means we're giving Spirits some special updates and upgrades. You will notice freshened-up art and music on today's episode, but most importantly for you, we're giving you MORE and COOLER Patreon benefits. New Benefits That's right! ...
09.07.2022 300: Your Urban Legends - Too Many Ghosts Being Too Ghostly It’s our 300th episode! And to celebrate, you’re getting an extra-long urban legends episode! Ghost horses, ghost lights, office doppelgangers, ghost grandmas, and haunted houses? We’re hitting ALL the creepy and cool things this episode. Content Warning: This episode contains ...
08.31.2022 299: Little Red Riding Hood The woods might be dark and full of wolves (which yes, they’re a metaphor), but together we can follow the path of the history of Little Red Riding Hood; from the oral traditions of the French peasantry, to the Brothers ...
08.30.2022 Who Is the Most Heroic Animal of All Time? (“Head Heart Gut” Preview!) Welcome to Head Heart Gut, where the Multitude hosts argue about the best things using our head, our heart and our gut. This is a supercut of the first three Best Animal Heroes episodes, featuring Julia Schifini, Eric Schneider, and ...
08.24.2022 298: Examining Urban Legends and the Satanic Panic (with Sarah Marshall) From the Satanic Panic to the urban legends of our youth, we talk to podcaster Sarah Marshall of You’re Wrong About to get her takes on creepiest and coolest ways urban legends have changed the world. Content Warning: This episode ...
08.17.2022 297: Magical Babies Babies of unusual size, vegetable babies, animal babies, and more! This week we’re talking about the most interesting babies of mythology, folklore, and fairy tales, from the Minotaur to Thumbling and everything in between. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
08.10.2022 296: Your Urban Legends LXVI - Plumber, Electrician, and Psychic A renovated haunted house, a transforming cat god, and of course, a creepy kid. We broke out the big spooky stuff for this episode where we’re all in the same room. Ooooooh spooky! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about ...
08.03.2022 295: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Myth Movie Night) It’s Eric’s birthday on the show, so we sit down to watch one of his childhood favorite films: Bedknobs and Broomsticks. And boy, it sure is a film! We talk WWII flavored magic adventures, con men, and an incredibly long ...
07.27.2022 294: Advice from Folklore IX (with Dr. Moiya McTier) Big questions, little questions, these figures of folklore, mythology and world religion are here to answer them. We tackle camp quandaries, quitting jobs, and the world burning with their help. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of ...
07.20.2022 293: Baseball and Romance as American Legend (with KD Casey) Calling all sports fans! We’re joined by author KD Casey to talk about America’s pastime, baseball, through the lens of modern legend, romance, and inclusivity. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of sexism, ableism, anti semitism, and ...
07.13.2022 292: Dionysus It’s a party, and Dionysus has invited you! As we wrap up “It’s All Greek to Me” with the party god, we look at his unique place on Olympus, the tragic origins of wine, and bucking societal expectations. Content Warning: ...
07.08.2022 See Spirits Live July 15th in NYC or via Livestream Come see the entire Spirits Podcast team LIVE, united in person for the first time since 2020, next FRIDAY at Caveat in NYC!Join us in-person (proof of vaccination required, mask strongly encouraged) or via LIVESTREAM or VOD! So no matter ...
07.06.2022 291: Your Urban Legends LXV - Wine, Not Blood Amanda reveals she is the shower ghost, Julia demands answers and closure, and Eric comes out as anti-olive. It’s an urban legends episode and the last story is CONTENTIOUS. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of climate ...
06.29.2022 290: Māori Science Fiction and Being Joyously Weird (with Sascha Stronach) This week we’re joined by author Sascha Stronach to talk about his debut novel, The Dawnhounds. We chat about spreading Māori science fiction, mushroom cities, and being joyously weird. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of pandemic, ...
06.22.2022 289: Hestia Hestia is the living embodiment of the heart of the home. This oft-forgotten Olympian might not have gotten into the same shenanigans and antics that the other gods got into, but that doesn’t stop her from being an incredibly important ...
06.15.2022 288: Your Urban Legends LXIV - Ghosts Don’t Weigh Anything! Julia’s house might be haunted, but we’re not gonna dwell on that. Instead, we’re revisiting how haunted pasta is, yelling at you about using homemade ouija boards, and picture ourselves as extremely haunted dolls. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations ...
06.08.2022 287: Long Island Urban Legends It’s summertime and we’re revisiting our own hometown urban legends. Don’t go swimming in Lake Ronkonkoma, don’t visit the Hell House, and don’t look too deep into the military base that inspired Stranger Things. But DO grab a Long Island ...
06.01.2022 286: Hingepoints and Speculative Fiction (with B.L. Blanchard) We’re joined by author B.L. Blanchard to imagine a North America without colonization. We talk about map-making as world-building, returning home, and dancing the rice. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of murder, imprisonment, colonization, climate change, ...
05.25.2022 285: Hera As queen of the Olympians, Hera gets a bit of a bad reputation. But we’re here to tell you that not all of her stories focus on revenge and toxic relationships. She deserves some love too! Content Warning: This episode ...
05.18.2022 284: Your Urban Legends LXIII - Handwritten Hometowns! You know we live in a digital age when we’re VERY excited to be reading a handwritten urban legend. We discuss whether hot breath or cold breath on your ear is better (because…ghosts) and discuss whether or not ghosts can ...
05.11.2022 283: Ever After & Cinderella (Myth Movie Night with Jane Solomon) Was Drew Barrymore’s “Ever After” the best version of the Cinderella story? We’re joined by lexicographer Jane Solomon to determine if this 90s body glitter filled movie truly embodies this fairy tale! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or ...
05.04.2022 282: Mexican Gothic (with Isabel Cañas) We’re joined by author Isabel Cañas to talk about her debut novel, The Hacienda, and all things postcolonial gothic! And along the way we chat about Latinx Mirkwood elves, the haunted house book boom, and holding the door open for ...

Older episodes

Spirits

What's Spirits about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Spirits episodes:

328: Your Urban Legends LXXVI - Add Your Name to Join the Club!

327: Hallmark Movie Golems (with Eric Silver)

326: Dr. Faustus

325: Baldur

324: Your Urban Legends LXXV (with Mischa Stanton)

323: Clytemnestra (with Helena Greer)

322: The Oedipus Plays

321: Advice from Folklore X (with Dr. Moiya McTier)

320: Odin

319: Legendary Popes (with Daniel Lavery)

318: Your Urban Legends LXXIV (with Corinne Caputo)

317: Pinocchio

316: The Evil Eye

315: Your Urban Legends - Bringing Real Linda Energy

314: The Wild Hunt

313: The History of Alchemy (with Sara Norja)

312: Poltergeist (Myth Movie Night)

311: Your Urban Legends LXXII - Cheetos as a Supernatural Explanation

310: The Tooth Fairy

309: The Monkey King and Boy Giant (with Van Hoang)

308: Best Horror Movie Villain

307: Your Urban Legends LXXI - Logical Answers

306: Your Urban Legends LXX - Haunted Sewing Machine Theories

305: Your Urban Legends LXIX - The Secret Doctor Who Episode

304: Your Urban Legends LXVIII - Haunted Hotels

303: Dragons, Revisited

302: Haunted Childhood Homes (with Mara Wilson)

301: Liminality

New Patreon Benefits!

300: Your Urban Legends - Too Many Ghosts Being Too Ghostly

299: Little Red Riding Hood

Who Is the Most Heroic Animal of All Time? (“Head Heart Gut” Preview!)

298: Examining Urban Legends and the Satanic Panic (with Sarah Marshall)

297: Magical Babies

296: Your Urban Legends LXVI - Plumber, Electrician, and Psychic

295: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Myth Movie Night)

294: Advice from Folklore IX (with Dr. Moiya McTier)

293: Baseball and Romance as American Legend (with KD Casey)

292: Dionysus

See Spirits Live July 15th in NYC or via Livestream

291: Your Urban Legends LXV - Wine, Not Blood

290: Māori Science Fiction and Being Joyously Weird (with Sascha Stronach)

289: Hestia

288: Your Urban Legends LXIV - Ghosts Don’t Weigh Anything!

287: Long Island Urban Legends

286: Hingepoints and Speculative Fiction (with B.L. Blanchard)

285: Hera

284: Your Urban Legends LXIII - Handwritten Hometowns!

283: Ever After & Cinderella (Myth Movie Night with Jane Solomon)

282: Mexican Gothic (with Isabel Cañas)

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