What did Little Red Riding Hood really encounter in the forest?

Exploring the stories we tell about the forest, its outlaws and its beasts, I found that they were not only revealing our fear of the wild: don't go into the forest; it might be dangerous.

They were also revealing something hidden deep within us: our deepest fears and desires.

This episode explores the folktales that cradled our childhood, asking: what if these characters were not hiding in the forest, but within us?

Who are the forest characters? Why has it become the home of the outlaw and the realm of beasts? And what do the creatures hiding within these stories reveal about us, the storytellers?

⭐ If you liked the episode, please share it and rate it 5 stars on your favourite platform.

Sources:

• The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
• Disney’s film adaptation: https://d23.com/must-see-rare-artwork-from-robin-hood/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Ogre Definition & Ethymology: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/ogre?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Voices of Wilderness Episode: https://smartlink.ausha.co/voices-of-wilderness/57-with-claire-galloni-d-istria

Cover: Inside the forest in the moonlight by Caspar David Friedrich, c.1823-c.1830

Can what is broken be repaired?

This episode comes after a life episode of burnout, a moment when nothing made sense. It unfolds like fragments, pieced together, tracing the feeling of being broken—and finding meaning within it.

From fragmentation in landscapes, to the myth of Osiris in Ancient Egypt, to ancestral rites of dismemberment, to dreams, to repairing broken clay with golden dust—this podcast episode aims to show through storytelling how what is broken can be the beginning of something whole.

How can we see the light among the fractures? How do myths guide us through the stages of human life, toward adulthood? How did our ancestors understand being broken, and what can we learn from them today?

⭐ If you liked the episode, please share it and rate it 5 stars on your favourite platform.

Sources:

• https://traditionalkyoto.com/culture/kintsugi/

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Osiris-Egyptian-god

• https://gabrielamgutierrez.substack.com/p/the-ritual-of-dismemberment

Cover: Narcissus by Caravaggio, c.1597–c.1599

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How much can a tiny insect tell us about our relationship with nature?

This podcast episode unfolds as a chronicle—tracing one insect, the scarab, across time and place.

From the banks of the Nile in Ancient Egypt, to the French Alps twenty years ago, to today’s Mediterranean shores, and even millions of years back, when a scarab’s body lay buried until archaeologists uncovered it.

Why has an insect once worshipped as a god by our ancestors lost its place in our modern cities?

What made it so important that our ancestors kept it so close? What wisdom does it hold? And how can we rebuild this relationship—not only with it, but with other living beings?

⭐ If you liked the episode, please share it and rate it 5 stars on your favourite platform.

Sources:

• https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/khepri/

• https://www.naturalhistorycuriosities.com/insects/scarab-beetles-and-their-meaning-in-the-ancient-egyptian-history/

Cover: Illustration of Egyptian scarabs (public domain, from an early archaeological catalogue)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.