Willing & Fable

Rowan Hall and Tracey Harrison

Looking for a new, inclusive take on history and mythology? Look no further than 'Willing and Fable,' a woman-run, feminist, and LGBTQ+ podcast hosted by Rowan Hall and Tracey Harrison.

Each week, Rowan and Tracey bring to light the often overlooked and underrepresented stories of men, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals, challenging traditional and biased accounts of the past.

From ancient civilizations to modern times, 'Willing and Fable' offers engaging discussions, in depth research, and original stories that will inspire you to make a positive impact in your own community.

Don't miss out on this unique podcast – subscribe to 'Willing and Fable' today and join Rowan and Tracey on their journey through history, mystery, and mythology.

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Top 10 Willing & Fable Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Willing & Fable episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Willing & Fable for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Willing & Fable episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Ep 120 The Bermuda Triangle Pt. 2 - Time Travel and TS Eliot

Willing & Fable

01/16/24 • 65 min

This week is part two of The Bermuda Triangle. We will debunk some myths, and Rowan will tell us a tale.

We talk about some theories related to the Bermuda Triangle and why they may or may not hold water (see what we did there)

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Wilhelm_Scheele

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereus

https://martinifisher.com/2023/10/04/the-old-man-and-the-sea-the-mythology/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockin%27_Around_the_Christmas_Tree#:~:text=6%20References-,Original%20recording%20by%20Brenda%20Lee,was%20only%2013%20years%20old.

NOAA

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermudatri.html

History Channel

https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/bermuda-triangle

NYTimes

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/fodors/top/features/travel/destinations/bermudaandcaribbean/bermuda/fdrs_feat_29_8.html?n=Top/Features/Travel/Destinations/Bermuda

NatGeo

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/bermuda-triangle-mystery-disappearance

Popular Mechanics

Energy 5

https://energy5.com/the-bermuda-triangle-conspiracy-or-coincidence

Travel Channel

https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/articles/the-mysteries-of-the-bermuda-triangle

Marine Bio

https://www.marinebio.org/creatures/mysteries/ocean-mysteries-the-bermuda-triangle/

Wiley Online Library

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1559-3584.1974.tb03689.x

Discover Magazine

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-bermuda-triangle-what-science-can-tell-us-about-the-mysterious-ocean

Space

https://www.space.com/bermuda-triangle-in-space.html

EricEd

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ758450

1 Listener

Ep 37 - Jack the Ripper Part 1- Feat. Harry Horror

Willing & Fable

03/16/21 • 116 min

This week we bring you a special guest to go along with an extra spooky story.

Harry Horror joins us to discuss the story of Jack the Ripper.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders#Legacy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Kosminsk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Sickert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert_Victor,_Duke_of_Clarence_and_Avondale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Nichols

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Chapman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Stride

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Eddowes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Kelly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_Macnaghten#Macnaghten_and_Jack_the_Ripper

Biography

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jack-the-ripper

Historic UK

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Jack-the-Ripper/

JacktheRipper.org

https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/police-investigation.htm

StrawberryTours

https://strawberrytours.com/london/blog/the-5-most-likely-jack-the-ripper-suspects-and-the-facts-against-them

All That’s Interesting

https://allthatsinteresting.com/jack-the-ripper-suspects

Jack The Ripper Tour

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/london-in-1888/

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/t-p-oconnor-the-star/

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/the-hunt-for-the-ripper/

The Jack The Ripper Tour

https://thejacktherippertour.com/blog/what-was-it-really-like-to-live-in-whitechapel-london-in-1888/

All That’s Interesting

https://allthatsinteresting.com/prince-albert-victor

History.com

https://www.history.com/news/who-was-jack-the-ripper-6-tantalizing-theories

Whitechapel Jack

https://whitechapeljack.com/the-ripper-letters/

Digital Scholarship In the Humanities

https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article/33/3/621/4824843

Smithsonian Mag

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/were-ripper-letters-fabricated-journalists-180968004/

Casebook

https://www.casebook.org/official_documents/memo.html

BBC America

https://www.bbcamerica.com/blogs/whitechapel--51228

Strawberry Tours

https://strawberrytours.com/london/blog/jack-the-ripper/what-was-life-in-whitechapel-like-during-the-jack-the-ripper-murders

1 Listener

Ep 50 - Listener Legends - Spooky Real Estate

Willing & Fable

06/29/21 • 53 min

To celebrate our 50th episode, Tracey and Rowan are reading stories submitted by you!

Get ready for Italian witches, more than one haunted Victorian mansion, and a...Goatman boyfriend?

If you would like to send your Listener Legend to Willing & Fable, please use our submission form:

https://www.willingandfable.com/contact

Or email us at: [email protected]

Ep 84 - Listener Legends and Q&A

Willing & Fable

06/14/22 • 81 min

In this relaxed post COVID-19 episode (Yup, our hosts caught it. Don’t forget to stay up on your COVID vaccine and boosters! W&F is team science!), Rowan and Tracey take it easy and chat with all of you. We read your Listener Legends as well as answer the questions you sent into us!

To submit your own Listener Legends, visit:

https://www.willingandfable.com/contact

Sources

Sant Cruz Ghost Hunters

https://www.santacruzghosthunters.com/sporup-sanitarium.html

CDC Local COVID-19 Guidance

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Ep 85 - Quetzalcoatl - Part Bird, Part Snake, All Ancient God

Willing & Fable

06/21/22 • 82 min

This week, Tracey is sharing what she learned about the ancient Mesoamerican god Quetzalcoatl. His story survived centuries, spanning the rise and fall of nations to make him one of the most famous shape-shifting gods of the modern world.

Quetzalcoatl is part bird, part snake; sometimes a god’s terrifying pet, sometimes a man and creator god in his own right. “Buckle up, Buttercup”, this mythological history is an exciting ride.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Sun

Overly Sarcastic Productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=451jzIesWoU&ab_channel=OverlySarcasticProductions

Spanish Language School

https://spanishschool.uninter.edu.mx/Legend-of-Quetzalcoatl

CS McGill

https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/q/Quetzalcoatl

World History

https://www.worldhistory.org/Quetzalcoatl/

Thought Co

https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-quetzalcoatl-2136322

Mythopedia

https://mythopedia.com/topics/quetzalcoatl

Mythus Fandom

https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

Crystal Links

https://www.crystalinks.com/quetzalcoatl.html

Gods and Demons Fandom

https://gods-and-demons.fandom.com/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

Archeology at Tula

https://inah.gob.mx/academia/investigacion-academica

Indigenous Mexico

https://indigenousmexico.org/state-of-mexico/the-nahuatl-language-of-mexico-from-aztlan-to-the-present-day/

Ep 87 - Elizebeth Friedman - The woman who took on Al Capone, Nazis, and J Edgar Hoover

Willing & Fable

08/23/22 • 75 min

This week Tracey brings you the story of one of America's most brilliant code breakers. She was a mother, a wife, and nemesis to multiple men

Sources

NCPedia

https://www.ncpedia.org/history/20th-Century/1920s-women#:~:text=Women%20found%20their%20lives%20changed,woman%E2%80%9D%20was%20on%20her%20way.

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizebeth_Smith_Friedman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone

Historynet

https://www.historynet.com/elizebeth-friedman-hidden-heroine/#:~:text=Elizebeth%20broke%20these%20codes%20and,unit%20within%20the%20Coast%20Guard

Time

https://time.com/5928583/elizebeth-friedman-codebreaker/

Cracking the Code Episode 1 - The Mob Code - Curiosity Stream

https://www.drive-tv.co.uk/programme/144/cracking-the-code

National Geographic

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/elizebeth-friedman-codebreaker-nazi-spy-fagone

Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5001868/Elizebeth-Friedman-forgotten-founder-code-breaking.html

The Mob Museum

https://themobmuseum.org/notable_names/elizebeth-friedman/

WITF

https://www.witf.org/2021/01/04/the-fascinating-story-of-elizebeth-smith-friedman/

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171009-the-female-code-breakers-who-were-left-out-of-history-books

Vice

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7x4qdg/elizebeth-smith-friedman-forgotten-codebreaker-defeat-nazis

Women in Stem

https://womeninstem.org/

AAUW

https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/

Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markkantrowitz/2022/04/07/women-achieve-gains-in-stem-fields/?sh=5e3f9e085ac5

Why So Few?

https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2020/03/why-so-few-research.pdf

Implicit Bias Test

https://implicit.harvard.edu

Ep 16 Whiskey and Fable - Irish Whiskey

Willing & Fable

09/15/20 • 66 min

Use code WILLINGANDFABLE10 for 10% off your order at Diament Jewelry.

A lot of Satan in this one. This week Rowan and Tracey sit back, relax, and sip on some whiskey while guest Tim Black shares tales about Irish Whiskey.

He talks about St. Patrick and a famous story of a stand off between a drunken Scotsman and the devil himself.

Sources

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sl%C3%A1inte#:~:text=Sl%C3%A1inte%20is%20the%20basic%20form,to%20your%20health%20as%20well%22.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bushmills_Distillery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway

Irish Central

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/top-10-best-irish-toasts-for-christmas-and-new-year-79793302-237359311

Good Food Ireland

https://www.goodfoodireland.ie/blog/history-bushmills-whiskey

Bushmills Whiskey

https://bushmills.com/intl/history/

Whiskey.com

https://www.whisky.com/whisky-database/distilleries/details/bushmills.html

The Whiskey Exchange

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/2833/bushmills-black-bush

Toastmaster Irish Toasts

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toastmasters-top-ten-irish-toasts-300810282.html

Writer’s Tears Tasting Notes

https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/walsh-whiskey-distillery-co/writers-tears-copper-pot-irish-whiskey/

Lords of the Drink

https://lordsofthedrinks.com/2018/02/05/the-highlander-and-the-devil-a-scottish-folk-tale-about-whisky/

Flaviar

https://flaviar.com/blog/irish-whiskey-tales

Listener Story Links

http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/texts/richmen.html

https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/mainlinetimes/life/history-leading-the-way-in-architecure-and-retail-strawbridge-clothier/article_7a83331f-dcf5-5216-aaaa-f6c480c0bbef.html

VOID

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow4nvvrA-qc

Ep 96 - Haunted Castles Around The World - Dungeons, Seances, and How to DIY a Poltergeist

Willing & Fable

10/25/22 • 79 min

This week Tracey and Rowan combined forces to bring you a Halloween-themed variety episode. Join our hosts to learn about the ghosts that occupy the great castles of the world (and stick around to learn how to DIY your own haunting!)

The team explores the histories and ghost stories of Leap Castle, Castle Eltz, Predjama Castle, Himeji Castle, and Chillingham Castle. Haunted stories include: a castle in a cave, a fierce lady night, a terrifying sheep elemental, a mind-reading yokai, more than one dungeon...and “just a little, light murder”.

Sources

CN Traveler

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/haunted-castles-around-the-world

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eltz_Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predjama_Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chillingham_Castle#Chillingham's_ghosts

Discovering Ireland

https://www.discoveringireland.com/haunted-castles-in-ireland/

Kinnitty