Fireside Folklore with Hades
Once upon a time, gods and goddesses walked among us, granting their favor to heroes and creating sea monsters because … well, because they could. After one too many festivals was ruined by a vengeful Poseidon who thought the sacrifice of fish upon his altar wasn’t flaky enough, a hero bravely constructed a wall so thick and impenetrable that not even the most industrious of gods could breach it. Fast forward to 2023 when, as part of a wager, Hades decided to leverage one hapless mortal’s brief misguided love of AI technology to convince her to create this podcast—a place where the gods, with their instinctively chosen voices, could recapture the ears, if not the hearts and minds, of people everywhere. Here, you’ll find gods and goddesses playfully peddling products like Ambrosia Bites—guaranteed to keep you going on all of life’s treacherous journeys—and recounting folklore from around the world. From the spooky legend of Devil’s Pool in Australia to the whimsical and obscure folktale of a clever Sheikh in Yemen, you’ll find a treasure trove of folklore, both ancient and modern, traditional and twisted, on this podcast. Hades, with his deep and somber basso profundo, narrates, while his madcap family lends their voices to the characters. In addition to the tale, each “regular” episode includes fun facts from Hermes, the psychopomp, who will share culturally significant information about each country or region visited. Persephone or Dionysus (depending on the season) will also share a recipe for something delicious to eat or drink, bringing the country’s delights straight to your dinner table. And finally, Zeus, the king of the gods, offers his Lightning Round, where you, our audience, can win a prize if you can answer correctly—no easy task when you must sift through the cacophony of these heartwarming and whimsical gods. In the beginning, this podcast posted a story each week like clockwork, but after Hades realized that AI ghostwriters were killing the fun (and frights) out of the stories, he decreed that all future stories would be human-written. Though our earlier work is here for history’s sake, we may go back and redo them, for Hades, that unrelenting taskmaster, has both patience and time on his side. In addition to the regular episodes, you’ll find hijinks from the rest of the family, and even some visits from the Roman pantheon, too. To put it simply: there will never be a dull moment here in this corner of Hades’s Underworld. A labor of love, this podcast is a way to share the world’s stories, enjoy a few laughs, and chronicle one creative writer’s journey as she was initially bewitched by AI and reunited with her creative soul. Please note that all “sponsorships” read by Zeus are completely fictional. This podcast, like storytelling by the fireside, will forever remain free from all monetization.
Episodes
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Greetings, listeners! After a long hiatus as we figured out our priorities and reconnected with our creativity, we decided to energize this feed with something lighthearted and fun. Our podcast has been classified by Spotify as being very much like those offering sleep stories. So, we thought it might be fun to lean into that a bit. Of course, as you should know by now, we can never seem to do anyth...
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Greetings, listeners. This is just a quick update regarding the podcast's direction. I'll be moving away from ElevenLabs due to some decisions they've made that go against my ethos as a creator. The new tech will mean a learning curve and a change to some of the voices. However, it is a small price to pay for my creative soul intact. Thank you to those who have been with me on this jo...
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Greetings, listeners. Though my work is grim, I do my best to keep from completely falling into the cliché of the dark and brooding Lord of the Underworld. Not all of my realm’s responsibilities revolve around damnation and torment. I may be stern but cruelty? That’s a mantle for others to don. One way I tried to bridge the divide was through this podcast. I’ve wrestled with the idea for weeks, to o...
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Greetings, listeners! A few things happened in my absence that compelled me to pause my work on The Wounded Lion, namely the TikTok ban and Amazon essentially deciding to brick Kindles without Internet access so that they could force consumers to purchase new devices they otherwise wouldn't need to buy. As a result, I decided to give my uncompromising commentary on censorship and the slippery s...
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Greetings, listeners! We received a letter from Megaera, who wasn't at all pleased by Hermes's shenanigans last time. Perhaps I should have taken offense to my basso profundo being cloned, but he did finally keep his promise by retelling The North Wind and the Sun in an incredibly clever way. His father Zeus wasn't quite as pleased when he heard that Hermes had cloned his voice and gi...
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Greetings, listeners! We hope you've been enjoying your holidays with ambrosia, nectar, and divine comedy, and 2025 has treated you well. I've been keeping myself busy, spending time with my queen and contemplating new ways to make Tartarus as terrifying as it deserves to be! On this Story Sunday, we present to you a long overdue retelling of The North Wind and the Sun which my nephew Herm...
PSA: Hades On Mortal Gratitude and Folly; A Nod to Thanksgiving and a Warning Against Phishing Scams
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Greetings, listeners!
In this completely unplanned interlude (whose true purpose will become clear shortly), I wish to take a moment to express my gratitude to the patrons of this podcast—those loyal listeners who gather by the fireside to hear the stories of old. Your time and dedication mean more to me than any mortal treasure ever could. It is your continued presence that motivates me to unea...
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Greetings, listeners! After many months, outtakes, and lost paperwork, we've done it! Here is the long-awaited episode, The Golden Pail, a tale from Palestine, adapted from Ibrahim Muhawi's collection of Palestinian folklore, Speak Bird, Speak Again. In this fairy tale, a prince must go on quest after quest, as the asks become outrageously more preposterous until the day of reckoning comes...
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Greetings, listeners! As is customary for Whoopsie Wednesday, (a segment I still question the sanity of), I present to you a song that didn't make it into the final take of The Golden Pail. Nevertheless, Persephone seemed to think that it was a work worthy of a swoon. So, against my better judgment, (because she really should be saying this about my singing instead of our nephew, Hephaestus&apo...
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Greetings, listeners! My husband is finally done with that long-awaited Golden Pail. Stay tuned because it will be released on Friday, November 22. In the meantime, I'll be sharing a song for Whoopsie Wednesday which won't be featured in the actual program. I loved it though and had to immortalize it here! Just don't tell Hephaestus or my husband though, okay?
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Greetings, listeners! Tonight, we make a sojourn into the world of true crime as we look at the true story behind the urban legends about Halloween candy being tainted with drugs or filled with razor blades. Sadly, the Pixy Stix that killed a young boy was given to him by his father. Not a stranger. His father. Why? Because he wanted to collect life insurance money and pay off his debts. Thankfully,...
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Greetings, listeners! Though Night 10 is in Pluto's hands, and Night 11 is currently unclaimed, Ares waits for no one, so we bring to you the infamous old-time radio episode, The War of the Worlds which first aired on October 30, 1938. This clever episode had the world in quite the panic. Its format, a seemingly innocuous orchestral concert interrupted by breaking news broadcasts, is what made ...
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Greetings, listeners! We know! We're late getting this one out to you, but Halloween is my favorite holiday and having an excuse to prolong my celebrations is always welcome. As we eluded to in the PSA, Pluto and his family were tasked with retelling the famous urban legend, The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs. Of course, in Plutonian fashion, this story didn't come anywhere near to being ...
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Greetings, listeners! After Death Robbery ended, my uncle turned and asked me what I meant when I said that Boris Karloff had a voice like molten silver with a sinister undertone. And, as much as I hate to admit it, he was right. This depiction was ... underwhelming. The story itself was a chilling classic, but a grieving scientist overrun by grief is a far cry from the villain I was looking for. No...
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Greetings, listeners! Thank you for sticking with us through this marathon of episodes! Tonight, my nephew Hephaestus takes the mic and tells us why he chose this old-time radio episode from Lights Out! which starred Boris Karloff as David, an ambitious scientist who thought he could conquer death. What he didn't realize was that conquering death in the context of lab monkeys, rabbits, and mice...
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Greetings, listeners! We're back again and I can't believe I've managed to keep my family together and disciplined enough to get this done! Persephone must have something to do with it. Tonight, we'll be hearing from Chronos (or is that Cronus?), and he'll be reading us the tale of Urashimataro and the Turtle from Andrew Lang's Pink Fairy Book. We'll learn that tho...
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Greetings, listeners! We've reached the midpoint of our celebration! Tonight, Hestia will be telling the old Russian tale of Morozko, otherwise known as Father Frost. In this tale, we learn that kindness actually doesn't kill, and cruelty can chill a person to the bone. Literally! Any feedback via dead letter should be sent to me, Hades@firesidefolklorewithhades.com.
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Greetings, listeners! Tonight, our very own Apollon has chosen an episode of old-time radio from the series Box 13. Here, we learn that sometimes, the mind can manifest curses more horrifying than anything seen in horror movies. We'll take a trip to the Bayou and find out what happens when a man is cursed and believes that death is nigh. If you have any feedback, as ever, those dead letters sho...
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Greetings, listeners! I, Hades, removed an episode from this feed. Yes, though the Underworld doesn't generally let anything go, this time, I struck down something I said. It was the episode offering you the chance to sit by our fireside. It now has a permanent home which can be found at firesidefolklorewithhades.com on the right side, under The Olympian Games. At present, there are four voice-...
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Greetings, listeners! Welcome back to another installment of our 13 Nights of Halloween event. What happens when an innocent grocery run turns into a harrowing game of cat and mouse? In tonight's urban legend, our star Artemis gets more than she bargains for when she goes out to buy a few bags of Halloween candy for those trick-or-treaters. And, as promised, this tale had some Underworld twists...
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