The Ballad Of Anne & Mary

It's 1721, and London is abuzz with news of notorious pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, currently languishing in Newgate Prison. It’s the perfect time for debt-ridden journalist Nathaniel Mist to exploit the public appetite and ghost-write a sensational (and hopefully best-selling) history of pirates. But as the balladeers and gossips on the streets of London build myths around the blood-thirsty, perverse lady pirates, Mist is forced to reckon with the real Bonny & Read... Featuring musical sensation Christina Bianco, actress and comedian Sooz Kempner, Hamilton star Karl Queensborough, drag legend Le Gateau Chocolat, and more. BBC Audio Drama Awards 'Best Podcast' and British Podcast Awards 'Best Fiction' Nominee 2022.

Episodes

The Ballad Of Anne & Mary - Trailer

February 1, 2021 • 1 min

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1. Take The Steel

April 29, 2021 • 41 mins

Researching for his book on piratical history, cash-strapped journalist Nathaniel Mist arrives at Newgate Prison to interview the two notorious survivors of the captured ship Revenge. He finds Mary Read delirious with fever, and Anne Bonny in no mood for smalltalk. What will he have to bargain in exchange for their stories? Featuring Christina Bianco as Anne Bonny, Sooz Kempner as Mary Read, Karl Queensborough as Nathaniel Mist, Jo...

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2. True Edge

May 6, 2021 • 35 mins

Previously: Journalist Nathaniel Mist arrives at Newgate Prison to interview Anne Bonny and Mary Read for the book he is co-writing with Jonathan Barnet, the privateer who captured the pirates' ship Revenge. Unexpectedly, Barnet decides not to visit the pirates, and the two agree to meet at King's Coffee House later that night. Mist discovers that Read is ill with a fever, so he turns his attention to Bonny. After much clashing, Bo...

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3. Boar's Thrust

May 13, 2021 • 36 mins

Previously: Anne’s story continues with her arrival at Nassau, and her discovery that her new husband John Bonny is a government informant. She promptly leaves him, and enlists with Captain “Calico” Jack Rackham, who, she is amazed to discover, allows women in his crew. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Mist’s deal with pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet grows murkier, as Barnet insists Mist press the pirates into revealing the whereabouts of their ...

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4. Broken Time

May 20, 2021 • 30 mins

Previously: On board the Revenge, the frosty-but-curious relationship between Bonny and Read comes to a head, as they clear the air with a heated sparring match. Read decides to reveal that she was born Mary, not Mark. Meanwhile, some weeks have passed, and Nathaniel Mist is on good terms with the pirates. Read, who has rallied from fever, chastises Mist for endangering himself with his seditious newspaper, Mist’s Weekly Post, whic...

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5. Redoublement

May 27, 2021 • 42 mins

Previously: Bob appears to Mist in a dream, and shows him the capture of The Revenge by pirate-turned-privateer Jonathan Barnet. Anne and Read fight to the last, Bob is shot in battle, and dies in Mist’s arms. Mist then awakes, incarcerated in Barnet’s house, where a raging Barnet tells him that he is planning to torture Anne and Read for the location of Rackham’s treasure - but, Scratby insists, only after 4 o’clock tomorrow, as t...

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Our New Show! Magenta Presents... Ghosted

February 21, 2023 • 25 mins

Subscribe to Magenta Presents on your podcast player of choice! Hey folks, Laurence here... And today we are so excited to introduce OUR new show. We have a new podcast that's just started, it's called MAGENTA PRESENTS. It's a horror anthology series, in the tradition of classic anthology shows like Tales From The Crypt and Elvira, in which Madame Magenta is your horror hostess and guide to the unnatural and the bizarre. And the fi...

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Important: Please stop using Spotify

November 7, 2025 • 1 min

Hello, Laurence & Lindsay here. We've got a big problem, and we need your help. If you're listening to this on Spotify, we're asking you to stop, and switch to another podcast player. As I'm sure most of you know, there's plenty of evidence that Spotify is a terrible company with a long history of exploiting and underpaying artists, but that's only part of why it's so bad. It's been reported that Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, has re...

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The Ballad Of Anne & Mary

Episodes

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}1. Take The Steel

2. True Edge

3. Boar's Thrust

4. Broken Time

5. Redoublement

Our New Show! Magenta Presents... Ghosted

Important: Please stop using Spotify

Popular Podcasts

The Ballad Of Anne & Mary - Trailer

1. Take The Steel