Real Fantastic Beasts
Podcast Intelligence Profile

Real Fantastic Beasts

Alexa Sand & Ian MacInnes

English United States
Active Monthly

Business Snapshot

Episodes
52
Episodes in dataset
Apple Rating
5.0 / 5
17 Apple ratings
Cadence
Monthly
~every 24.2039 days
Since
Sep 24, 2022
First episode
Latest
May 16, 2026
Active

Partnership Signals

Established Catalog

52 episodes for longitudinal research

Content Profile

Language
English
Region
United States
Format
Episodic
Content Rating
Clean or unspecified

Content Positioning

Alexa Sand and Ian MacInnes explore the world of medieval and Renaissance animals, real, fantastic, and fantastically real.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent Content Cues

How fantastic is burning poop?
May 16, 2026
In which we swan with swans
Mar 09, 2026
The sheep hath paid for all
Jan 25, 2026

Recent Episodes

S5E52 How fantastic is burning poop?

May 16, 2026 43m

Guest expert Christine Cooper-Rompato regales us with the most excremental of all animals, the bonnacon, which defends itself by ejecting burning poo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

S5E51 In which we swan with swans

Mar 09, 2026 44m

From the OG bird of the soul to the medieval dining table, we explore the long fascination with swans and their (mostly nonexistent) song. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5E50 The sheep hath paid for all

Jan 25, 2026 43m

We're back with our 50th episode on the truly fantastic sheep of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, from the Lamb of God to environmental justice, animal rights, and the lubricants that made the…

S4E49 The Egotistical Eagle

Aug 19, 2025 45m

The quintessential imperial attention whore. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E48 Leave it to the beaver

Jul 12, 2025 49m

We journey from the clever self-castrating beaver of the Middle Ages to the near extinction of the North American beaver for the sake of European hats. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

S4E47 So. Many. Snakes.

Jun 22, 2025 44m

We explore the many versions of the Hydra. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E46 Carp e diem: Fish of the Day

May 24, 2025 48m

For 400 years, the carp was the most popular fish in Europe. What made it so fantastic? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E45 The real dog man

May 12, 2025 47m

Are dog-headed creatures people or beasts? Find out in this live podcast done at the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress. Our guest, Karl Steel, regales us with tales of the Cynocephalus. Hosted on Acast.…

S4E44 Wolf! Wolf!

May 05, 2025 43m

From Beowulf to the guerrilla rewilding of Britain, guest Elizabeth (Lizzie) Marshall regales us with wolfish lore. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E43 And your little dog too!

Apr 12, 2025 34m

Small, cute dogs that serve no practical purpose other than to make us go “awwww” turn out to have a long and fantastic history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E42 There are no baby griffins

Mar 29, 2025 39m

The griffin was both a ferocious beast and a maternal figure. Nobody took it seriously, but its image is everywhere in the pre-modern world from the Near East to Europe. Hosted on Acast. See…

S4E41 Advice from Jackals: Arab Beast Fables

Mar 15, 2025 59m

Guest expert Mustafa Banister Introduces us to the world of Arabic Beast Fables in the Kalila Wa Dimna and elsewhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4E40 The Natural History of the Beasts of Revelation

Mar 02, 2025 45m

Animals are everywhere in the end times. We explore early responses to the fantastic, terrifying, yet beautiful beasts of the Book of Revelation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

S4E39 Beasts of the Bayeux

Jan 19, 2025 48m

Guest Elizabeth Pastan explores the animals in the Bayeux Embroidery (aka the Bayeux Tapestry). If you want to see the images we're discussing, you can go to the Youtube version of the episode here:…

S3E38 The Animals of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Dec 24, 2024 43m

From partridges to "colly" birds, we explore the early history of the animals (and especially birds) of the beloved Christmas counting song. Special thanks to Evelyn Wohlbier for recording the song…

S3E37 Putting the Why in the Wyvern

Dec 14, 2024 41m

Guest Edana Kleinhans takes us through the subtle differences between wyverns and dragons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S3E36 Thoroughly Thoroughbred

Nov 10, 2024 48m

Guest expert Richard Nash takes us through the history of the thoroughbred horse, from its hybrid origins to the cult of purity that made it the background to racial narratives of the modern world. …

S3E36 When do demons get their bat wings?

Oct 28, 2024 32m

Just in time for Halloween, we explore the humble bat, whose wings suddenly became the standard for all demonic flying creatures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S3E35 Is this the Loch Ness monster?

Aug 31, 2024 31m

We explore the lore of the hippocampus, from its classical roots to its Celtic legends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S3E34 The golden age of the bestiary

Jun 17, 2024 45m

Beth Morrison, senior curator of manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum, talks about medieval bestiaries, her favorite imaginary animal, and a new exhibition at the Getty Museum. Hosted on Acast.…

Publishing Analytics

Frequency
~every 24.2039 days
Monthly
Avg Duration
44m
Consistency
73%
Format
Episodic
Since
Sep 24, 2022
Latest
May 16, 2026

Ecosystem Signals

Region
United States
Hosting
feeds.acast.com

Research Links

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