Willing & Fable

In Episode 106, Rowan tells us the history of Hans Christian Andersen and the many people he longed for the course of his life. Our hosts discuss his fairy tales, anxiety, queer identity…and that time he pissed off Charles Dickens.

Was he bisexual? Was he ace? Did he compare himself to a snowman in love with a stove? (The world may never know.)

Sources 

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind

Andersen’s Stories

http://hca.gilead.org.il/

Biography.com

https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/hans-christian-andersen

Smithsonian Magazine

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hans-christian-andersen-museum-asks-you-step-fairy-tale-180977123/

‘The Gay Love Letters of Hans Christian Andersen’

https://rictornorton.co.uk/andersen.htm

Politiken

https://politiken.dk/newsinenglish_/art5435657/Local-historian-finds-Hans-Christian-Andersenrsquos-first-fairy-tale

American Literature

https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen

JSTOR

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44377659

Andersen’s Fairytales

https://www.andersenstories.com/en/andersen_fairy-tales/list

Literary Hub

https://lithub.com/dear-internet-the-little-mermaid-also-happens-to-be-queer-allegory/

CBR

https://www.cbr.com/hans-christian-andersen-gay-allegory-little-mermaid-disney/

The Hans Christian Andersen Centre

https://andersen.sdu.dk/liv/tidstavle/vis_e.html?date=1844-01-00&kvartal=1&mark=424&sord=penis#1

https://andersen.sdu.dk/forskning/konference/tekst_e.html?id=10923#:~:text=The%20correspondence%20between%20Andersen%20and,and%20ends%20with%20Andersen's%20death.

The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/his-dark-materials-8437.html

AV Club

https://www.avclub.com/read-this-how-divine-inspired-ursula-the-sea-witch-1798243255

The Mary Sue

https://www.themarysue.com/little-mermaid-queer-subtext/

BookRiot

https://bookriot.com/queerness-little-mermaid/

Bustle

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-little-mermaid-was-inspired-by-hans-christian-andersens-unrequited-love-for-another-man-18217818

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6378.Hans_Christian_Andersen?page=4

Patrick C Flemming

https://www.pcfleming.com/2018/08/28/andersen_sexuality/

The Marginalian

https://www.themarginalian.org/2020/01/31/the-heartbreak-of-hans-christian-andersen/

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/10/charles-dickens-hans-christian-andersen-letters-correspondence-auction

Gay History and Literature by Richtor Norton

https://rictornorton.co.uk/andersen.htm

This week Tracey talks about the (in)famous John Radclyffe Hall, a woman who defied gender norms and wrote a famously banned book: The Well of Loneliness.

We also discuss the state of LGBTQ+ youth in America today and what can be done to protect the queer community

Sources 

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radclyffe_Hall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_inversion_(sexology)

Literary Ladies

https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/radclyffe-hall/

Spartacus Educational

https://spartacus-educational.com/Wradclyffe.htm

Legacy Project Chicago

https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/radclyffe-hall

National Portrait Gallery

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp01984/radclyffe-hall-marguerite-antonia-radclyffe-hall

Voices and Visibility

http://voicesandvisibility.org.uk/timeline/radclyffe-hall/

Encyclopedia

https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hall-radclyffe-1880-1943

University of Texas

https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/teaching/radclyffe-hall-una-vincenzo-lady-troubridge/biography/

https://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15878coll106/id/44436/

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221121-the-well-of-loneliness-the-most-corrosive-book-ever

PBS

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2019/4/1/radclyffe-hall-well-of-loneliness-legacy

The BNA

https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2020/06/15/the-well-of-loneliness/

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jan/02/books.gayrights

The Trevor Project

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/article/facts-about-lgbtq-youth-suicide/

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/

NPR

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/05/1096920693/lgbtq-youth-thoughts-of-suicide-trevor-project-survey

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161452175/anti-drag-show-bill-tennessee-trans-rights-minor-care-anti-lgbtq-laws

Newport Academy

https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/mental-health/lgbt-suicide-rates/

Williams Institute 

https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/impact-dont-say-gay-parents/

Georgetown Law

https://www.law.georgetown.edu/gender-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/The-Dangerous-Consequences-of-FLs-Bill-on-LGBTQ-Youth-M.-Johnson.pdf

HRC

https://www.hrc.org/resources/myths-and-facts-battling-disinformation-about-transgender-rights

CBS

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lgbtq-youth-suicide-the-trevor-project-mental-health-2022/

Vox

https://www.vox.com/politics/23631262/trans-bills-republican-state-legislatures

ACLU

https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights

For our final Storytime episode in this series we are discussing four of our favorite LGBTQ+ stories that we've written over the last three seasons.

This week we talk about out and proud lesbian icon: Anne Lister, the bible’s kinkiest love story: Samson and Delilah, a goddess with gender fluid priests: Inanna, and the definitely-not-just-roommates gay couple from the Trojan war: Achilles & Patroclus.

Willing and Fable Episodes:

Episode 32 - Be Gay, Do Crime - Julie D’Aubigny & Anne Lister

Episode 48 - Biblical Crimes - Samson and Delilah & Sodom and Gomorrah

Episode 67 - Inanna - The Girls, the Gays, and the Theys

Ep 71 - Achilles and Patroclus - Love, Life, and Loss in Ancient Greece

In this episode, Tracey is taking us on a tour of her past stories about amazing women from history. This week’s episode includes the stories of groundbreaking baroque painter: Artemesia Gentileschi, iconic Black woman in Georgian society: Dido Elizabeth Belle, “The Terror of the South China Seas” pirate Ching Shih, and CIA’s Moscow Rules made famous by Jonna Mendez.

For the full history behind each story, check out the full Willing & Fable Episodes listed below:

Sources

Willing and Fable Episodes:

Episode 47 - Artemisia Gentileschi - If It’s Not Baroque, Don’t Fix It

Episode 81 - Dido Elizabeth Belle - Black Representation in Georgian Society 

Episode 25 - Swashbuckling Ladies - Anne Bonny & Ching Shih

Episode 52 - Espionage - Mata Hari & The Moscow Rules

For our second Storytime episode, Rowan compiled a collection of her stories all centered around the topic of the artistic muse in history and mythology. This week’s episode includes W.B. Yates’ Leanan Sidhe, the Green Fairy of absinthe, the tragic death of the Unknown Woman of the Seine, and the tale of a science fiction unicorn.

For the full history behind each story, check out the full Willing & Fable Episodes listed below:

Sources

Willing and Fable Episodes:

Episode 7 - Gods vs Mortals - Hou Yi & Leanan Sidhe

Episode 98 - Absinthe - Hallucinations, the Green Fairy, and the Belle Epoch

Episode 93 - L’Inconnue de la Seine Part 1 - The Most Kissed Woman in the World

Episode 86 - Unicorns - Mythical Creatures, Rhinoceroses, and Death by Virgin

To start off Season 4, we’re introducing Storytime Episodes! Join Rowan and Tracey for a look back on the last three years of mythology. This week’s episode includes the tales of Pennsylvania’s State cryptid the Squonk, a gargoyle from the Notre Dame, a nurturing kraken mother, and our favorite ‘bro from West Virginia: Mothman.

For the full history behind each story, check out the full Willing & Fable Episodes listed below:

Sources

Willing & Fable Episodes

Episode 20 - Cryptids - The Jersey Devil & Mothman

Episode 23 - Stories From The Sea - Sedna the Inuit Goddess & The Kraken

Episode 26 - Monster Mash - The Squonk & Gargoyles

For our 100th episode we decided it was time to address the Zeus in the room.

We bring you two tales about Zeus and his exploits as an animal with women in the Greek pantheon.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(consort_of_Zeus)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leda_and_the_Swan

The Collector

https://www.thecollector.com/zeus/

Greek Mythology

https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Zeus/zeus.html

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Zeus's_Lovers/Europa/europa.html

Theoi

https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html

World History

https://www.worldhistory.org/zeus/

Mythopedia

https://mythopedia.com/topics/zeus

Greek Reporter

https://greekreporter.com/2022/07/16/zeus-greek-mythology/

https://greekreporter.com/2022/08/18/europe-name-europa-myth/

Greeka

https://www.greeka.com/crete/heraklion/myths/europa/

Historia Europa

https://historia-europa.ep.eu/en/focus/myth-europa

Owlcation

https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-story-of-Zeus-and-Europa-in-Greek-mythology

Josh O Brouwers

https://www.joshobrouwers.com/articles/zeus-europa/

World History

https://www.worldhistory.org/Europa/

Space

https://www.space.com/15498-europa-sdcmp.html

Nasa

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/in-depth

https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/about/

Pride

https://www.pride.com/identities/2016/4/05/popular-gay-slang-inspired-animal-kingdom#rebelltitem26

Rape in Antiquity: Sexual Violence in the Greek and Roman Worlds

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wZ2fDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA65&dq=+Bestiality+and+Bestial+Rape+in+Greek+Myth+J+Robson&ots=JNdhcei3fK&sig=F6jPKJDSZxgc4nPi08mJsrQmmsw#v=onepage&q=Bestiality%20and%20Bestial%20Rape%20in%20Greek%20Myth%20J%20Robson&f=false

Ancient Times

https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2021/02/leda-and-swan-bestiality-in-ancient.html

Art and Popular Culture

http://www.artandpopularculture.com/History_of_zoophilia

Cornell Chronicle

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2011/09/annetta-alexandridis-lectures-bestiality

Roman Times

https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2021/02/leda-and-swan-bestiality-in-ancient.html

ArtFix Daily

https://www.artfixdaily.com/blogs/post/2983-leda-and-the-swan-throughout-art-history

CNN

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/leda-and-the-swan-pompeii-mural/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/fresco-erotic-pompeii-leda-and-swan-intl/index.html

43 Works of Leda and the Swan

https://zaidanca.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/43-works-leda-and-the-swan-art-from-a-greek-myth-with-footnotes/

World History

https://www.worldhistory.org/Circus_Maximus/

For the second to last episode of this season, we’re hosting a double episode. Join us to discuss The Great Molasses Flood of Boston & The History of Moonshine in the Appalachias.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch-Irish_Americans

History Channel

https://www.history.com/news/the-great-molasses-flood-of-1919

https://www.history.com/news/great-molasses-flood-science

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmdEzJWgNfM&ab_channel=FascinatingHorror

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T33CvXUUKY&ab_channel=NationalFireProtectionAssociation

Boston Discovery

https://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/great-molasses-flood.html

NPR

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/15/685154620/a-deadly-tsunami-of-molasses-in-bostons-north-end

Scientific American

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50336051/?terms=nancy%20the%20moonshiner&clipping_id=847400

Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95502749/

Mental Floss

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71993/brief-history-moonshine

Serious Eats

https://www.seriouseats.com/moonshine-history-women-nascar-illegal-whiskey-distilling

Cool Material

https://coolmaterial.com/food-drink/the-violent-history-of-american-moonshine/

Moonshine University

https://moonshineuniversity.com/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-moonshines-history/

CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/us/national-moonshine-day-facts-trnd/index.html

Winning Homebrew

https://winning-homebrew.com/history-of-moonshine.html

Low Country Style & Living

https://lowcountrystyleandliving.com/the-history-of-moonshine/

How Stuff Works

://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/moonshine.htm#pt2

Join us this week to explore the myths (and mythos) that surround the famed French spirit: absinthe. We’re diving deep into the culture of art and alcoholism following the French Revolution. The artists of the Belle Epoch may have been sad bois on a lot of drugs, but we promise there will be at least one Green Fairy.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe

Science History Institute

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-devil-in-a-little-green-bottle-a-history-of-absinthe

All That’s Interesting

https://allthatsinteresting.com/what-is-absinthe

The Good Life France

https://thegoodlifefrance.com/the-history-of-absinthe-the-once-forbidden-drink/

Difford’s Guide

https://www.diffordsguide.com/g/1102/absinthe/origins-of-absinthe

https://www.diffordsguide.com/g/1102/absinthe/why-absinthe-was-banned

Reader’s Digest

https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/food-drink/drinks/a-brief-history-of-absinthe

Thrillist

https://www.thrillist.com/spirits/absinthe-pastis/what-wormwood-does-to-absinthe

Keg Works

https://content.kegworks.com/blog/national-absinthe-day-learn-something-drink-something

Legal Information Institute

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/twinkie_defense

New York Times Archive

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0714.html

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13159863

Artsy

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-electricity-transformed-paris-artists-manet-degas

NPR

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/17/167488498/elixirs-made-to-fight-malaria-still-shine-on-the-modern-bar