Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-24
Books mentioned on Spend Some Time with Fairies
Most people think of Tinkerbell when we think of fairies, but the Disney versions capture only the last century or so of what we’ve conceived fairies to be. Over millennia they’ve gone from ugly and scary to pretty and helpful and everything in between.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Grimm's Fairy Tales (Brothers Grimm)
Discussed“Um, of course, central to a lot of these stories were the Brothers Grimm, uh Jacob and Wilhelm, who we did I think a two-parter on the Grimm brothers, uh didn't we?”
Where to get it
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Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry
Discussed“Uh, also late in the 19th century, none other than William Butler Yeats published, I don't know if it was the first one but maybe one of the first big guidebooks almost about fairies. It was called Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry, uh published in 1888.”
Where to get it
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Foundation
Foundation by Isaac Asimov is a classic science fiction masterpiece that chronicles a group of scientists working to preserve knowledge and shorten a dark age following the collapse of a galactic empire.
Discussed“Yeah, well you know what that reminds me of, Chuck, is do you remember that big coffee table gnome book from the 70s, like Garden Gnomes?”
Where to get it
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Backyard fairies
Discussed“Well, I'm looking, yeah, yeah, 'Backyard Fairies' by Phoebe Wahl.”
Where to get it
