The Truth About Tall Tales
American Folklore from Johnny Appleseed to Paul Bunyan
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The Truth About Tall Tales
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Narrated by:
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Chris R. Fee
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By:
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Chris R. Fee
About this listen
What can we learn about our culture from the stories we tell? Join master presenter Christopher Fee to learn what our heroes and monsters - both real and imagined - have to tell us about who we are as Americans.
American folklore is as vibrant and diverse as Americans themselves. Some tales offer embellished accounts of real historical figures, and in others, figures are invented to serve a cultural or commercial purpose. Often didactic and always fantastic, in one way or another these tales help us make sense of the world.
Join Christopher Fee, co-editor of An Encyclopedia of American Myth, Legend, and Folklore, for an entertaining and revealing look at our nation’s folkloric imagination. In this compelling 24-lecture audio series, you’ll meet figures such as Daniel Boone and John Henry, and learn the stories of characters such as Water Jar Boy and the Woodcutter and the Fairy. Specters also abound, and you’ll encounter frightening figures ranging from the Headless Horseman to La Llorona.
Having explored traditional forms of folklore, myth, and legend in America, you will turn to new storytelling methods, discussing genres such as conspiracy theory, urban myth, and “fakelore.” Finally, you will conclude by asking how these kinds of stories represent a search for deeper truths, which suggests why American folklore still matters so much to so many.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
©2020 Now You Know Media, Inc. (P)2020 Now You Know Media, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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This superb collection of larger-than-life folk heroes aptly represents America’s robust early days, perfectly capturing the vitality of the men and women who carved a new country out of the North American wilderness. Author Mary Pope Osborne supplies a fascinating introduction to each tale and then gives her own original twist to the telling of it. Scott Snivley takes the listener on a wild ride from sea to shining sea in this classic collection, which includes Davy Crocket, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Johnny Appleseed, Stormalong, Mose, Febold Feboldson, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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The fields of folklore have never been more popular—a recent resurgence of interest in traditional beliefs and customs, coupled with morbid curiosities in folk horror, historic witchcraft cases and our superstitious past, have led to an intersection of ideas that is driving people to seek out more information. Tracey Norman (author of the acclaimed play WITCH) and Mark Norman (creator of The Folklore Podcast) lead you on an exploration of those more salubrious facets of our past.
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4 out of 5 stars
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American Tall Tales
- By: Mary Pope Osborne
- Narrated by: Scott Snively
- Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
This superb collection of larger-than-life folk heroes aptly represents America’s robust early days, perfectly capturing the vitality of the men and women who carved a new country out of the North American wilderness. Author Mary Pope Osborne supplies a fascinating introduction to each tale and then gives her own original twist to the telling of it. Scott Snivley takes the listener on a wild ride from sea to shining sea in this classic collection, which includes Davy Crocket, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Johnny Appleseed, Stormalong, Mose, Febold Feboldson, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan.
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- By Joseph kubes on 01-27-23
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Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome
- By Will Georgiadis on 04-11-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
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Misfit
- Growing Up Awkward in the '80s
- By: Gary Gulman
- Narrated by: Gary Gulman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 351
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 351
For years, Gary Gulman had been the comedian’s comedian, acclaimed for his delight in language and his bracing honesty. But after two stints in a psych ward, he found himself back in his mother’s house in Boston—living in his childhood bedroom at age forty-six, as he struggled to regain his mental health. That’s where Misfit begins. Then it goes way back. This is no ordinary book about growing older and growing up. Gulman has an astonishing memory and takes the listener through every year of his childhood education, with detailed stories that are in turn alarming and riotously funny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I get it
- By Karen Johnson on 10-02-23
By: Gary Gulman
-
Klan War
- Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction
- By: Fergus M. Bordewich
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
The Ku Klux Klan, which celebrated historian Fergus Bordewich defines as “the first organized terrorist movement in American history,” rose from the ashes of the Civil War. At its peak in the early 1870s, the Klan boasted many tens of thousands of members, no small number of them landowners, lawmen, doctors, journalists, and churchmen, as well as future governors and congressmen. And their mission was to obliterate the muscular democratic power of newly emancipated Black Americans and their white allies, often by the most horrifying means imaginable.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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a great but depressing book
- By D. Littman on 12-12-23
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The Little Book of the Hidden People: Twenty Stories of Elves from Icelandic Folklore
- By: Alda Sigmundsdottir
- Narrated by: Alda Sigmundsdottir
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
In this book, author Alda Sigmundsdóttir presents 20 translated elf stories from Icelandic folklore, along with fascinating notes on the context from which they sprung. The international media has had a particular infatuation with the Icelanders’ elf belief, generally using it to propagate some kind of “kooky Icelanders” myth. Yet Iceland’s elf folklore, at its core, reflects the plight of a nation living in abject poverty on the edge of the inhabitable world, and its people’s heroic efforts to survive, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Nicholas C Cook on 05-28-19
-
Dark Folklore
- By: Mark Norman, Tracey Norman
- Narrated by: Mark Norman, Tracey Norman
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
The fields of folklore have never been more popular—a recent resurgence of interest in traditional beliefs and customs, coupled with morbid curiosities in folk horror, historic witchcraft cases and our superstitious past, have led to an intersection of ideas that is driving people to seek out more information. Tracey Norman (author of the acclaimed play WITCH) and Mark Norman (creator of The Folklore Podcast) lead you on an exploration of those more salubrious facets of our past.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
There's a whole history of folklore and urban lege
- By Marsha L. Woerner on 12-12-22
By: Mark Norman, and others
What listeners say about The Truth About Tall Tales
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Emily D.
- 08-31-20
Fantastic presenter, meaningful take
Fee is one of those presenters you completely enjoy and instinctively trust. He has an exhaustive knowledge of his topic but also an objectivity that helps you situate each detail in context. It's fascinating to learn the reasons why certain historical figures (or legendary characters) have been memorialized in a certain way for historical or commercial benefit. I also appreciate that Fee isn't delivering a complete debunking--he shows how the true lives of famous figures like Johnny Appleseed were still remarkable even if their stories have been hyperbolized over time. I also appreciate that Fee includes indigenous, African American, Asian American, and Hispanic American and Latinx tall tales, underscoring the point that these are all American tall tales and part of our collective imagination as a nation. Also, I learned that the legend of the Chupacabra started in 1995 on the Internet--wow!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lawrence Clark
- 03-17-24
Comprehensive, Informative & Entertaining!
From storytelling to conspiracy theories, Dr. Fee’s comprehensive course is a perfect primer to differentiate between myth, folklore, legend - often used interchangeably. But Dr. Fee brings it right up until current day with explanations of how ‘Fake News’ has weaseled its way into modern folklore & mythology. This course does an amazing job of explaining just how we got here, as a country! Bravo!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael Bloom
- 09-01-20
Masterful series by a master professor
I've enjoyed several titles by Professor Fee. This is his best. We have three young kids with active imaginations and we seek out books and stories encourage their interest in learning and teach moral lessons. This series covers the major stories making up America folklore while providing real insides into the important truths they tell. Fee combines deep knowledge with enthusiasm and humor. You'll enjoy his talks and find much to discuss with your kids.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John Higgins
- 08-28-20
Fee is a Master
Really enjoyed this. It's an in-depth (24 audio lecture) course on the history of myths, legends, and folklore in American history. Folk tales carry far more significance and wisdom than I previously realized. Fee also does a great job of bringing in a diverse set of perspectives; he includes African American folklore; Native American folklore; Hispanic American folklore and more. The presenter himself is highly knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. A must listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-28-20
Brings back great memories
This book brought me back to grade school in learning about these wonderful stories. Looking back, I greatly appreciate the societal context Chris Fee provides. It shines a new light on the stories and I really enjoyed looking at them with a new perspective.
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