Do you love fantasy dramas? Do tales of Goblins and Fox Fairies get your heart racing? Has your love of these dramas peaked your interest in learning more about Asian folklore? Our friends over at Black Girl Seoul have been promoting podcasts on their twitter lately and through them I found one that tells folktales from all over the world. This got me interested in listening to more of them. I’ve compiled some of the ones I’ve found for you, our listeners. So if you’re interested in listening to stories and learning more about Asian folklore, I’ve got some recommendations for you.
Sandman Stories Presents
Sandman Stories Presents is the podcast I found through Black Girl Seoul. Host Dustin tells stories from all over the world. The tagline is “a place to find your peace” and Dustin really tackles the subject as a sort of bedtime story ASMR. He tells the stories with a soft voice and enough inflection to keep it interesting without becoming jarring. The podcast episodes are generally pretty short , some only a few minutes long. I recommend going for the longer episodes because the stories have a lot more detail to them. Dustin usually begins each episode with a short description of the story he is about to tell. In the shorter episodes that description is often just as long and detailed as the folktale itself.
One of the things I really like about Sandman Stories Presents is the variety of stories being told. I’ve listened to Japanese, Indian, Korean, and Chinese tales so far, but there are tales from every continent and many islands which I have not yet delved into. The stories are generally as family friendly as any fairy tales are. They might get gruesome at times, but the language used is fine for younger children. I’ve been listening to them with my youngest son who loves story podcasts. One of our favourite episodes so far was the Korean story of Charan. This story would make an absolutely fabulous Sageuk… there’s even a happy ending!
Uncanny Japan
The Uncanny Japan podcast is one that I’ve been listening to on and off for a while now. The host, Thersa Matsura, lives in Japan and often records her episodes from local places to add to the ambience of the story she’s telling. The tagline for the podcast is “exploring all that is weird from old Japan”. The “Story Time” episodes are readings of old folktales. Other episodes delve more into the general facts and beliefs surrounding specific areas or animals of Japan. I’ve learned a lot of interesting tidbits from listening to this podcast. I haven’t watched a lot of fantasy Jdramas, but I think that learning more about the culture has enriched my experience and understanding of even the dramas I do watch. One of the episodes I have recently enjoyed tells the story of Kaguya Hime: The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Princess.
Myths and Legends
The Myths and Lengends podcast is another one that covers stories from all over the world. The podcast’s tagline is “stories from the folklore that shaped the world”. Host Jason retells the tales with his own spin, sometimes adding details for cohesion or completion. I’ve found episodes about Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean tales. There are also tales from Africa and Europe and they are working their way through a series on Chinese Monkey King stories. The episode on Hong Gil Dong begins with a lot of context for the characters and story. The retelling has Jason interjecting his own commentary throughout which I found amusing. This podcast is definitely more for entertainment than education, but I have found many interesting facts and people very new to Asian dramas might find the factoids given are new to them.
Mytholadies
Mytholadies falls at the other end of the education/entertainment scale. The tagline is “a weekly podcast about women in mythology and folklore” and the hosts delve into stories from all over the world. Hosts Zoe and Elizabeth dive deep into the world of all the different types of women’s folktales. Goddesses, warriors, monsters… if they are fictional women whose stories helped shape their society, the Mytholadies will look into them. These episodes include some interesting stories about the characters, but are more lecture style than storytelling and are very educational. I thoroughly enjoyed their Lunar New Year episode about Xiwangmu. I very much look forward to listening to more of their episodes.
Final Thoughts:
Podcasts are such a great way to learn things while getting other stuff done. Unlike my usual form of Asian storytelling, I don’t need to read the subtitles so these go great with knitting and making dinner 😅 I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of some of the episodes I have enjoyed, as well as a few of the Certified Noonas episodes which cover some more mythological aspects of Asian entertainment. If you have another favourite folklore podcast that I didn’t mention, please give me your recommendations here in the comments or find me on Twitter.