{"podcast":{"title":"The Three Ravens Podcast","slug":"the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563","podcast_index_feed_id":6092563,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6404e1f4c5ea8c0011811194","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/threeravenspodcast","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/6404e1f4c5ea8c0011811194/1762731467101-0eb1042b-7eea-4cd5-b8b9-9f44f87aadbd.jpeg","author":"Three Ravens","episode_count":511,"summary":"Three Ravens is an English myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux. In each weekly episode, released on Mondays, we explore a historic county, digging into the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Across our first six series we ventured around England's 39 historic counties twice, taking turns to tell a new version of a legend from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it may have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past. Our Bonus Episodes are then released on Thursdays ( Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Forgotten Melodies about folk song types with original performances from us, and Magus , which is about the lives of the most famous witches and wizards in history). On Saturdays, we then release episodes of our interview series Local Legends, with each episode featuring a chat between us and an acclaimed folklorist, author, podcaster or historian, deepening discussions about that week's county. In b…","last_synced_at":"2026-08-02T04:21:37.212610+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563"},"episode":{"title":"Local Legends #59: Francesca Simon MBE","slug":"local-legends-59-francesca-simon-mbe","published_at":"2026-03-21T06:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563/local-legends-59-francesca-simon-mbe","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563","url":"https://www.threeravenspodcast.com/","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6404e1f4c5ea8c0011811194/e/69bd59621861d127d5ba6e40/media.mp3","summary":"For this week's Local Legends interview, Eleanor is chatting with author Francesca Simon MBE. We were pretty amazed when Francesca agreed to join us - she's very well known, the author of over 60 books, including the award-winning Horrid Henry series. Henry and his horrid exploits are hardly the only string to Francesca's bow, though.  She’s written a lot of other fiction too, often inspired by mythology, like The Sleeping Army and The Lost Gods . One of her books, The Monstrous Child , based on Norse mythology, was adapted into an opera which premiered at the Royal Opera House. What a lovely coincidence, then, that Francesca’s most recent book, Salka , is a gorgeous retelling of Carmarthenshire’s most famous legend, the tale of the faerie woman of Llyn y Fan Fach. A tragic romance dealing with the bitter consequences of not being truly understood, Salka is Francesca’s version of a tale which has been told and retold many times, and always in slightly different ways. Unusually, Francesca first adapted the story as a cantata, 2022’s The Faerie Bride , which premiered at the Aldeburgh Music Festival for two voices, choir and symphony, but the story still had a hold on her - and so Salka was born. Francesca and I had an excellent chat about writing, opera, and the magic of the place which inspired Francesca, drawing out the presence of the ocean in her work, which has captivated her since her childhood spent on the beaches of California, to Carmarthenshire’s enchanting fairy lake. So gather round the Three Ravens fire and listen in, for a chat about a tale with a very long shadow, and the life and career of a true Local Legend: Francesca Simon. We really hope you enjoy this episode, and will speak to you again on Monday for a special interview with Mark Rees of the G…","meta_description":"For this week's Local Legends interview, Eleanor is chatting with author Francesca Simon MBE. We were pretty amazed when Francesca agreed to join us - she…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3766,"processing_state":"processed","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563/episodes/local-legends-59-francesca-simon-mbe/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563/local-legends-59-francesca-simon-mbe.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}