Title of the work
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Spirits, episode 1 – Persephone and Hades – 17:55 min, February 1, 2016, bi-monthly.
Running time
Official Website
spiritspodcast.com (accessed: April 2, 2020)
Available Onllne
Apple Podcasts (accessed: April 2, 2020)
Spotify (accessed: April 2, 2020)
iHeartRadio (accessed: April 2, 2020)
Acast (accessed: April 2, 2020)
PocketCasts (accessed: April 2, 2020)
Awards
2nd Top Mythology Podcasts (accessed: April 2, 2020) by Fedspot (2020).
Genre
Educational radio programs
Internet radio programs
Podcasts
Target Audience
Crossover
Cover
The podcast’s logo, courtesy of the creators.
Author of the Entry:
Alessia Borriello, University of Bologna, alessia.borriello2@studio.unibo.it
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Daniel A. Nkemleke, University of Yaoundé 1, nkemlekedan@yahoo.com
Amanda McLoughlin (Author)
She is a podcaster and a business manager for content creators and production companies. She is the CEO of Multitude, an independent podcast collective and a production studio based in New York City. She is the founder of Beehive Resumes, a resume writing, editing and consultation business. She is a co-host of podcasts: Spirits; Join the Party; Waystation.
Sources:
Official website (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Profile at multitude.productions (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Profile at spiritspodcast.com (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Bio prepared by Alessia Borriello, University of Bologna, alessia.borriello2@studio.unibo.it
Julia Schifini (Author)
She is a historian, podcaster, sound designer, writer, voice actor. She is a founding member of Multitude. She is a co-host and producer of Spirits and a co-host of Join the Party.
Sources:
Official website (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Profile at multitude.productions (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Bio prepared by Alessia Borriello, University of Bologna, alessia.borriello2@studio.unibo.it
Eric Schneider (Author)
He is a podcaster, video editor and sound designer. He is a founding member of Multitude. He is an editor for Spirits, Beyond the Screenplay, and ICG Creator Chat. He is co-host of Spirits and Waystation. He was member of the early YouTube community.
Sources:
Profile at multitude.productions (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Profile at spiritspodcast.com (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Bio prepared by Alessia Borriello, University of Bologna, alessia.borriello2@studio.unibo.it
Summary
Spirits was named Second Top Podcast in the Top Mythology Podcasts of 2020 by Feedspot (accessed: April 2, 2020). It consists of weekly episodes, brought out every Wednesday, on mythology and urban legends from all over the world. The logo and the title of the podcast allude to the loose format of the episodes, wherein classical myths are “served up over ice”, like a cocktail in a bar, by “two tipsy history geeks”.
The tracks are listed according to thematic tags. A section tagged Greek explicitly refers to ancient Greek mythology and includes (accessed: April 2, 2020): Hercules (episode 121); Zeus (episode 51); Circe (episode 44). Other stories sourced from classical antiquity are scattered throughout the podcast and are not placed within a specific tag, e.g., Persephone and Hades (episode 1); Eros and Psyche(episode 4), and others (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Episodes run approximately from 40 to 60 minutes. Each episode comprises 5 minutes of announcements; a mid-episode ads break; end-of-episode credits to sponsors. The format varies: story-focused episodes and urban legends may be hosted alternately by either of the co-authors or by guest hosts.
Source: spiritspodcast.com/press (accessed: April 2, 2020).
Analysis
A preliminary consideration is that Spirits is set in a light-hearted radiophonic conversation format suitable as a vehicle to mythological and historical contents. Therefore, if the listeners seek “facts and figures” in plots and characters, the podcasts may appear distractive.
Nevertheless, especially in the story-focused episodes hosted jointly by Amanda and Julia, their conversation is likely to shed a new ultra-modern light on the stories. In the “Greek” episodes, myths are told by Amanda and Julia using a regular pattern. Between the two co-authors, one plays the role of an expert in terms of the knowledge of the myth, and the other tries to extract from her more juicy information, using what she knows about the stories and characters. In so doing, the story is a work-in-progress in which both hosts participate. In order to make the story more accessible to the less informed host, the other one refashions the narrative retelling myths like stories around a “camp-fire”, mainly to entertain. The myths provide a testing ground for the “expert” host, who spontaneously brings up hot modern issues and comments on sexuality, patriarchal ideologies and so forth. Is it not what myths are for: to raise questions about the present?
With regard to questions the listeners ask, the hosts – although in an indirect and sarcastic way – clearly state their approach. Namely, they want to give a voice to “the currently and historically oppressed, with an active mission to dismantle colonialist, white supremacist, and hetero-patriarchal ideologies.” (About, accessed: April 2, 2020.)
