24 July 2020

New Many Minds Podcast: The Shaman, the witch, and the folktale

Another really fascinating podcast episode from Dr. Kensy Cooperrider. 

The latest is "The shaman, the witch, and the folktale." His guest Dr. Manvir Singh has explored common - and uncommon - themes across cultures. For instance, people can identify lullabies and dance tunes from across cultures but have more trouble identifying love songs. (There seems to be a larger lesson there about how love is more confusing than sleep or celebration.) Witches, too, are fascinating; they are held responsible for evil done in a community. About 40,000 to 50,000 witches were killed in Europe and the US into the 17th century but to this day tens of thousands of people are killed for practicing witchcraft.

Anyway, a great exploration of how reality is changed by a belief in magic.


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