Cunning Folk and Practical Magic with Dr Tabitha Stanmore

Cunning Folk and Practical Magic with Dr Tabitha Stanmore

Author: Icy Sedgwick June 7, 2025 Duration: 52:30

In this first episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I'm talking to Dr Tabitha Stanmore!

She's a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Exeter on the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch Hunt Project, investigating the people affected by the 1640s witch trials in eastern England. Her doctoral research was funded by the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (part of the AHRC), and published as Love Spells and Lost Treasure: Service magic in England from the later Middle Ages to the early modern era by Cambridge University Press.

She has appeared on Radio 3’s Free Thinking and BBC Radio London discussing magic in the early modern period, written for The Conversation, and TIME Magazine and BBC History Magazine, among others. Her debut non-fiction book CUNNING FOLK was published by The Bodley Head (UK) and Bloomsbury (US) in 2024, and the paperback came out on 28 May!

In this chat, we talk about what cunning folk are and how they differ from witches, how members of different classes approached magic and what they used it for, and why Magic Studies is such a valuable approach to history!

Get your copy of Cunning Folk: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781529931563

Find Tabitha online: https://www.tabithastanmore.co.uk/

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Each week, Fabulous Folklore with Icy offers a compact, fifteen-minute dive into the strange and storied shadows of our world’s traditions. Host Icy Sedgwick, a writer steeped in fantasy and Gothic horror, brings a storyteller’s eye to the material, weaving together tales of local legends, deep-rooted superstitions, and ancient myths. The podcast moves beyond simple retellings to consider the cultural soil from which these stories grew-why people believed what they did, how these narratives functioned in society, and the peculiar, often unsettling details that make them endure. You’ll hear about the oddities and occult practices that textbooks often overlook, all delivered with a blend of curiosity and a slight chill. It’s a consistently engaging exploration for anyone fascinated by the weird corners of history and human belief, a weekly reminder that our world is far more mysterious than it seems. Sedgwick’s background ensures the tales are told with both authority and a palpable sense of wonder, making each short episode a perfect gateway into a larger, fabulously folkloric universe. This isn’t just a catalog of curiosities; it’s an invitation to look at the familiar landscapes around us and imagine the layers of story hidden just beneath the surface, all packed into a brief, compelling listen that easily fits into a daily routine.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Fabulous Folklore with Icy
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