{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Monsters and their makers","description":"It seems we've always had monsters among us. We've long been enthralled by dragons and giants, by the likes of Frankenstein and Godzilla and Dracula, by witches and werewolves and countless others. They roam our maps and creation myths; they crop up in our dreams, in our children's books, in our political rhetoric. Where do these beings spring from? What do they do for us? How have they changed over time? And, ultimately, what do our monsters say about their makers? My guests today are Dr. Natalie Lawrence and Dr. Surekha Davies. Both are historians of science and authors of recent books on monsters: Natalie's book is Enchanted creatures: Our monsters and their meanings. Surekha's book is Humans: A monstrous history. Here, Surekha, Natalie, and I talk about monsters as category breakers and boundary walkers\u2014and about how monstrosity is in the eye of the beholder. We walk through a menagerie of monsters\u2014from the apocryphal blemmyes of old travelogues, to a hairy-faced girl in 16th century France, to the figure of Caliban in The Tempest. We discuss the psychological and cultural forces that generate monsters. And we talk about whether anyone would want to live in a world without them. Along the way, we touch on the "monstrification" of social groups; psychoanalysis; our primal fear of snakes; curiosity cabinets; therianthropes and the Cave of the Three Brothers; the relationship between monstrosity and geography; our long fascination with so-called monstrous births; the Muppet Show; dinosaurs and sea creatures; and the question of what monsters might do for children in particular. Alright friends, it's the monstrous season and this is a fun one to help you celebrate. Enjoy!   Notes 3:00 \u2013 Grendel's mother has often been a subject of critical discussion and adaptation. See, for instance, the 2018 novel, The Mere Wife. 12:30 \u2013 For a classic history-of-science treatment of \u201cwonders\u201d (including monsters) and our conceptions of nature, see here.  18:30 \u2013 For those unfamiliar with muppets, an episode of the Muppet Show, which premiered in 1976. 24:00 \u2013 The blemmyes were often the subjects of illustration\u2014for examples, see here. 26:00 \u2013 For more on Sir Walter Raleigh and the blemmyes, see Dr. Davies\u2019 recent newsletter post. 29:00 \u2013 One example of monsters at the margins of maps can be seen in the Psalter World Map. 32:00 \u2013 For more on Cave of the Trois-Fr\u00e8res and the Sorcerer, see here.  34:00 \u2013 For more on shamanism, see our recent episode with Manvir Singh.  37:00 \u2013 Therianthropes are relatively rare in cave art, but have nonetheless been widely discussed. For an example, see here. 39:00 \u2013 For more on Antonietta Gonsalvus and her family, including examples of how she was represented in paintings of the era, see here.  45:00 \u2013 The trope of monsters in creation stories is often called \u201cchaoskampf.\u201d 47:00 \u2013 The meanings of Medusa have been widely discussed and debated. See here for an example.  52:00 \u2013 For more about Caliban, and the racial and colonial dimensions of the Tempest, see here.  57:00 \u2013 The Steinbeck quote comes from his book, The Log from \u2018The Sea of Cortez.\u2019   Recommendations The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous, edited by Asa Simon Mittman & Peter J. Dendle Spectacle of Deformity, by Nadja Durbach The Modern Myths, by Philip Ball The Monsters and the Critics (and other essays), by J.R.R. Tolkien No Go the Bogeyman, by Marina Warner Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social). ","author_name":"Many Minds","author_url":"https:\/\/disi.org\/manyminds\/","html":"