The wise woman or witch archetype is one of the oldest in collective human memory, dating back far further than we can track it. Once it hovered on the edge of being a respectable, if occasionally feared, profession. Just how did the word 'witch' come to be loaded with so many varied and often negative connotations? Why is it such an enduring archetype? From the Witch of Endor to the Alewives of York, from the 'keening women' of Ireland to modern day practitioners of wicca, the dragons examine exactly what makes a witch and how the archetype is used in speculative fiction. In the petri dish this week - The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis, The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 161: That's not Historically Accurate - the Fallacy of Fantasy Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 160: The Kids are Alright - Why do we need a NA Genre as well as YA?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 159: I See Dead People - Psychics, Mediums and Communing with the Dead
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 158: Dominion, Mastery and Emancipation - Portrayals of Slavery in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 157: Chosen Ones and Fated Champions - the Phenomenon of the Special Snowflake in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 156: Childcatchers and Trunchbulls - Portrayals of Abuse in Children's Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 155: All in Your Head - Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern YA Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 154: Death and Sex Appeal - Assassins in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 153: A Pirate's Life for Me - Myths, Stories and Crime on the High Seas
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 152: The Universe in Motion - Expanding Series & Reader Opinion in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 151: Reading Like a Writer - How Critical Reading Informs the Writing Process
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 150: The Twilight Zone - When Fandoms are Attacked in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 149: 2018 - The Good, the Bad and the Utterly Bizarre
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 148: The Holly and the Ivy - The Root of the Carol
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 147: Trading Capes - When Villains become Heroes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 146: The Hollywood Treatment - What the Movies Changed
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 145: Away with the Faeries - Girls versus Supernatural Queens
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 144: Private Eyes and Underworlds - Crime Meets Urban Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 143: Making Sh!t Happen - Avoiding the Number One Writing Fail
Dissecting Dragons Episode 142: Battlefield Earth - Intergalactic Invasions in Speculative Fiction
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