6 Degrees of Cats

Witches, Whiskers and Whisky: Re-introducing the Original Cat Lady of Halloween! [Season 2 Premiere]

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We are back for Season 2 of "6 Degrees of Cats," the world's #1 (and only) cat-themed history, culture, and science podcast just in time for Halloween! Learn about the original cat ladies and what they really were brewing in those cauldrons - as well as what the heck was up with those hats.

Learn about weird trivia, women’s history and whisky brewing with Dr. Megan Goodwin, host of hit religion and history podcast “Keeping It 101” who gets to the heart of the witch trope; food historian and author of “Endangered Eating” Sarah Lohman who explains the origins of the witch costume; and Kings County Distillery founder and writer Colin Spoelman, who introduces us to distillery cats Carlos and Jeffy. 

Celebrate the launch of season two on this special haunted holiday for an alternative history of the original crazy cat lady - the witch. 

  • uisge beatha (Middle Irish / Scottish Gaelic)  → usquebaugh (English)  → whisky 
  • Recommended listen: Witch podcast (BBC) 

    • Support the podcast, sign up for The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter and learn about way$ to help keep this ship afloat for our next season here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.

    Referenced episodes:

    • Cats Are the Consummate Domesticate: Origins and Evolution of Our Feline Friends [Pilot]
  • Did You Know the Vikings had Cats? Magic, Freya and Norse Folklore

    • About the experts:

    • Colin Spoelman is the founder of award-winning Brooklyn whisky distillery, Kings County Distillery, and co-author of DEAD DISTILLERS: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits, “A spirited portrait of the unusual and storied origins of forgotten drunkenness.” Follow Colin on Instagam @colinopolis and Kings County Distillery @kingscountydistillery
  • Megan Goodwin, Ph.D., is the host of hit podcast “Keeping it 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion” and author of “Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions” (Rutgers University Press). She can be followed on X/Twitter @mpgphd 
  • Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and author of “Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods”, one of Eater's “Best Food Books to Read This Fall”. For more information about Sarah and to access archives of her influential blog, Four Pounds Flour, visit https://sarahlohman.com.

    • Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*

    • Captain Kitty (Amanda B.)

    * with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles

    Animal voices include:

    • Binky & Snuggles _^..^_

    Music:

    • Leathered: "Look Alive" © 2022
  • Samples licensed via Loopcloud
  • Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com

    • Logo design:

    • Edward Anthony © 2024 (Instagram: @itsmyunzii)

    Research used:

    • Bennett, J. M. (1999). Ale, beer and Brewsters in England: Women’s work in a changing world, 1300-1600. Oxford University Press. 
  • Brooks, Laken. (2021, March 8). Why did women stop dominating the beer industry?. Smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/women-used-dominate-beer-industry-until-witch-accusations-started-pouring-180977171/ 
  • Guilford, G. (2018, February 13). The Dangerous Economics of racial resentment during World War II. Quartz. https://qz.com/1201502/japanese-internment-camps-during-world-war-ii-are-a-lesson-in-the-scary-economics-of-racial-resentment
  • Miller, A. (1996, October 13). Why I Wrote the Crucible. The New Yorker.
  • The explosion of Irish Whiskey Distilleries. Distiller. (2023, July 12). https://distiller.com/articles/new-irish-whiskey-distilleries 
  • The origins and history of whisky: Scotch Whisky experience. The Scotch Whisky Experience. (2023). https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/about/about-whisky/history.
  • Tucker, A. (2021, October 28). The Spooky History of how cats bewitched us. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/10/31/the-spooky-history-of-how-cats-bewitched-us/
  • Whiskey or whisky? The Water of Life Etymology. Silverback Distillery. (2021, March 25). https://www.sbdistillery.com/blog/2021/2/14/whiskey-or-whisky-the-water-of-life-etymology
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