What The Folklore?
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What The Folklore?
A comedy podcast that exposes the absurd side of folklore. Each week we read a story, fix plotholes and create new ones, and invent unintended connections between tales.
Episodis Recents
612 episodis
Episode 472: Ancient Chinese Old Spice Commercial
We cut it VERY CLOSE this year, but it wouldn't be a year of What The Folklore without us dipping in to another chapter of The Journey West.
Tha...
Episode 471: The Purge, but for Plumbers
After a quiet December of very little posting, we've returned with a gift for the holidays as we read The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff.
Suggeste...
Episode 470: Wine, Horse, and Husband Insurance
Content Warning: The story this week revolves around the central plot point of a dog's death.
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Dog an...
Episode 469: The Corn is a Metaphor for Corn
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Lambikin, originally an Indian story, retold as an Irish story, that we then wrestle into the shape of a Thanksgi...
Episode 468: The Five-Second-Rule for Poison
This week on WTFolklore, we read Vukub-Cakix, a Mayan tale that purports to be about "Twin Hero-Wizards". We purport they are neither.
Suggested...
Episode 467: Two Birds, One Stone, and Also One is a Cat
It's back to business-as-usual this week on WTFolklore as we re-calibrate our fairy tale senses with some good ol' fashion eastern european fare, The...
Episode 466: Thanks for the Sandwiches, My Whole Family Died
DISCLAIMER: Gordie lost about half of his audio recording this week, so we had to improvise. See if you can guess the parts that got re-recorded!
Episode 465: Bed Bath & Unnamed Dread
Spooklore 2025 continues this week, with a bit of a twist. Rather than continually avoiding every instance of a "This is a THING, and here are it's SC...
Episode 464: The Joann Fabrics Power Vacuum
Spooklore begins in earnest this week, as we read what may well be the earliest-recorded Found Footage ghost story, The Haunting of Athenodorus, or as...
Episode 463: The Legend of Pork City
On what is TECHNICALLY the first Spooklore installment of the year...we got a little distracted. Thankfully, our spooky instincts kicked in and we acc...
Episode 462: Give us Uppies, or Give us Death!
This week we return to our good friend Carl Sandburg for a Rootabega-adjacent story, The Haystack Cricket, and How Things Are Different Up in the Moon...
Episode 461: So Now You're a 12-Headed Dragon: A User's Guide (with T. Kingfisher)
We are joined this week by very special guest T. Kingfisher! We had to call in back-up to wade our way through Princess Miranda and Prince Hero, a Pol...
Episode 460: David Blaine Eats 40 Cows
After talking about some crucial current events (read: Stuart Little Lore), we dive into The Little Purse with Two Half-Pennies, a Romanian tale with...
Episode 459: Freaky Friday'd with a Corpse
This week on What the Folklore, we read FOUR different explanations for where the heck all these god-dang mosquitos came from. As is our want, we take...
Episode 458: All Cherry Men are Weird Guys, But Not Every Weird Guy is a Cherry Man
This week on What the Folklore, we read two different stories, The Eye Juggler and Gobbleknoll, which inadvertently creates our most Body Horror-orein...
Episode 457: I’m Not Constipated, I’m WISHING
This week on What the Folklore, we read The Nodding Tiger, a Chinese story that introduces us to the humble beginnings of a beloved friend.
Sugg...
Episode 456: Skateboarded Too Close to the Sun
This week on What the Folklore, we read the Spanish tale The Bird of Truth, which has some serious texture pop-in issues. Either that, or the protagon...
Who Says Solutions Can't Cause More Problems?
This week on What the Folklore, we're reading Ligur the Water Giant, an obscure German-language tale with a wizard that rivals even the mighty Gaznak!...
454: Unstoppable Business Glacier of Success
This week on WTFolklore, we head back to our old stomping ground of France for Blanche and Vermeille. You can tell it's a riveting tale, because we sp...
Episode 453: Hell Dad is Real Sad
I'll be honest, it's a doozy of a story this week. We are subjected to the whimsical mind of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, AKA Lord Dunsany, who...
Episode 452: Goose at Heart
It's a Tale of Two Tales, this week on WTFolklore, again! Again! This time, at least, there's some connective thematic tissue.
First up is A Ma...
Episode 451: The Department of Vibes
It's a Tale of Two Tales, this week on WTFolklore, again!
First up is The Snake Who Became the King's Son-in-Law, followed up by God's Godson
Episode 450: I Don't Even Like Murder
It's a Tale of Two Tales, this week on WTFolklore, as we read both The Tale of the Silver Saucer and the Crystal Apple and The Tale of the Silver Sauc...
Episode 449: A Wish Too Dumb for the Monkey's Paw
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Story of the Black Cow, and as with most things, we try to contort it into a Willy Wonka-esque shape.
Sugge...
Episode 448: All Bangers LLC
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Legend of Coatlicue & Coyolxauhqui, which are two Aztec names we can absolutely pronounce without mangling them!...
Episode 447: Interrupting the Raven Orgy
Well, hey there, stranger! Been a minute, hasn't it? We're back, and already up to our old antics again as we read The Three Citrons: The Story of Pri...
Final Folktale 06
Alright, gang. It's time to finally talk fantasy again, with the tragic tale of Clive Rosefield, and...oh, hold up. Did I miss a digit in the title?
Episode 446: Extraordinarily Beautiful, Extraordinarily Rude, Extraordinarily Eight Years Old
After the "celebration" that was reading d'Aulnoy for a month, it's time to get back to basics. And by "basics", I mean Hans Christian Andersen. This...
Episode 445: Probably Fairies Did It (The Princess Mayblossom, Part IV)
This week we finally claw our way to the end of The Princess Mayblossom, and learn much more about Lucky Charms lore than anyone could've anticipated....
Episode 444: Classic Girl-Smells-Boy Story (The Princess Mayblossom, Part III)
This week we conclude our reading of The Princess Mayblossom! W..wait? We don't? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON'T??
Suggested talking points: You WILL...
Episode 443: Breaking Punzel Protocol (The Princess Mayblossom, Part II)
We resume our reading of The Princess Mayblossom this week, down one man from the last. d'Aulnoy just takes and takes and takes from us, doesn't she?<...
442: Dungeons and d'Aulnoys (The Princess Mayblossom, Part I)
Ten Years.
Ten Years of doing this, and d'Aulnoy is STILL punking us...
Suggested talking points: Entering The Eraser-Free Zone, NU...
Episode 441: Get Out Of Here, Wife, It's Karate Time!
This week on WTFolklore we read two versions of The Wedding of Mrs. Fox, one of which was considered a favorite by Jacob Grimm. One features dick joke...
Episode 440: Abs Shaped Like a QR Code
This week on WTFolklore we read the Ukrainian tale, Oh: The Tsar of the Forest, and are legitimately shocked at how resilient it's canon proves to be,...
Episode 439: The Episode With Ten Minutes of Uninterrupted Silence
EDITORS NOTE: THERE IS A 10 MINUTE STRETCH OF INTENTIONALLY UNEDITED SILENCE FROM 9:09-19:09
This week on WTFolklore, after a very good j...
Episode 438: Good Morning, It's Time For Crime
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Tale of Ming, a relic of significant cultural importance to China. We have perhaps...different takeaways than the...
Episode 437: Chili-Dog Delivered Via Gun
This week on WTFolklore, we read The Snow Daughter and the Fire Son, AKA the story of the first two X-Men, Heatmiser and Snowmiser, a tale that begins...
Episode 436: Bedtime Stories For Sleep Paralysis Demons
This week on WTFolklore, to make up for missing you on Christmas Eve, and to kick off 2025 in style, we're in for a "Rootabaganing". In layman's terms...
Episode 435: Graffiti Kills Wizards and Saves Lives
This week on WTFolklore we read The Stones of Plouhinec, a "seasonal" story from "France" (but not THAT France...)
Suggested talking points: We'...
Episode 434: Men Are Like Failed Potatoes
This week on WTFolklore we read the Irish tale How The Wise Women Got Their Farm of Land Rent-Free from Lord Kilmaine, a title whose brevity matches t...