Our Catalog
Below you’ll find links to all of our episodes, along with show notes. You can subscribe to the show using any of the following links:
Our first look at a truly fantastical hybrid creature as it moves from bestiary to natural history to art and literature.
Guest expert Caitlin Mahaffy talks to us about bearbaiting in Elizabethan London.
Sea Monsters, Monstrous Fish, Whales, and all things fishy.
The tiger begins as the most real of all fantastic beasts and ends as the most fantastic of all real beasts. How and when did this happen?
Apes and Monkeys were present in households throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance as well as being represented in literature and art.
Here are show notes.
Meet the English mastiff, the creature who made "dog" into the generic English term for all domestic canines.
We examine the Halcyon, which nests at the winter solstice with magical effect.
This is the first of several planned episodes on the most famous of all fantastic creatures.
As we begin the Year of the Rabbit, we explore the fantastical medieval and Renaissance rabbit from jousting rabbits in manuscript illustrations to the Rabbit Woman of Godalming.
We extend our dragon-lore by chatting with Laura K. Nuffer from Colby College about dragons in medieval and early modern Japan.
From charismatic megafauna, like dragons, we descend to the small and distinctly uncharismatic.
We continue our exploration of dragons by learning about Chinese dragons from guest Winston Kyan, a historian of medieval Chinese art at the University of Utah.
Guest experts Asa Mitman and Holly Dugan explore two fantastic beast manuscripts, one from the Middle Ages, one from the Renaissance.
We explore the fantastic worms and caterpillars of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
In honor of International Unicorn Day, here's a chance to explore the search for the real unicorn, from the mystery in Middle Ages to its ultimate discovery in the seventeenth century.
We investigate the most fantastic bugs of all, kermes and cochineal. These little creatures not only gave us many of our words for red but also famous symbols from British redcoats to the U.S. flag.
Transcript coming soon
Guest experts Keith Botelho and Joe Campana regale us with fantastic tales of bees in the Renaissance.
Transcript coming soon
The European Middle Ages witnessed the birth of an entirely new bird: the pelican. This is not the "water pelican" we all know but an entirely fantastic beast.
Two expert guests, Jane Buckingham and Samayita Banerjee help us understand the pre-modern tiger in India, with special attention to Bengal.
From loveable companion for monks to toxic witch's familiar, we trace the fantastic history of the cat from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
Guests Dr. Sara Petrosillo and falconer Kelly Martello of the Michigan Hawking Society join us in exploring these fantastic birds in the Middle Ages, along with Kelly's hawk Vesper.
Guest Laura Gelfand explains the pre-modern origins of our conflicted relationship with wolves.
We explore the troubled history of the Lamia, from bloodsucking monster to romance heroine to corporate logo.
Guest animal archaeologist Alan Outram lays out the evidence for the size and appearance of medieval horses.
Guest Karen Raber takes us through our paces as we explore horses and horse training in the European Renaissance.
We trace the evolution of the werewolf from deliberate transformation to mental illness.
Guest Brigitte Buettner explains how stones had living agency in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
We explore the lore of cocks and hens from manuscript illustrations to the classic weathervane.
In which we explore this beautiful and ancient non-binary creature.
Guest Alixe Bovey regales us with the perplexing history of the goose barnacle and the barnacle goose.
We explore the Albatross, unknown until just before the modern era... or was it?
Guest Sarah M. Guérin explains Medieval Europe's fascination with ivory and the differences between the early ivory trade and the savagery of modern Elephant poaching.
