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Felines, Females, and Fear: Witches and Their Familiars
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Felines, Females, and Fear | 8
The relationship between women, cats, and darkness is as ancient as human civilisation itself – and that’s not just the toxoplasmosis parasites in my brain talking. Tonight, we’re diving deep into the connections between cats, women, and evil… or at least, male fear.
The episode begins with a whirlwind meet-and-greet of cat goddesses of the ancient world, from Lilith to Bastet to Hecate, then shifts to early Christianity, where cats were associated with pagan practices and seen as suspicious minions of Satan.
We’ll cover the witch-hunts of medieval Europe, when many accused witches claimed to have familiar spirits in the form of a cat, and the way these superstitions persisted into the Puritan era in America, where cats and women were both seen as symbols of evil and sexuality.
But we’re not done yet. We’ll also talk about the modern stereotype of the "crazy cat lady" – and Taylor Swift's decision to pose with her cat on the cover of Time's Person of the Year issue.
Key moments
- 0:00 – Content warning
- 1:21 – Mary Shelley's "On Ghosts"
- 3:15 – Welcome to the party!
- 7:59 – Anatolian caves
- 8:59 – Inanna in Sumeria
- 10:31 – Lilith (again!) in Mesopotamia
- 11:52 – Durga in the Indus Valley
- 12:52 – Bastet in Ancient Egypt
- 15:07 – Artemis in Ancient Greece
- 16:31 – Hecate
- 20:09 – Cats and the Virgin Mary
- 22:33 – Meanwhile, in Japan...
- 23:29 – Cats are creepy little jerks... and so are cat lovers
- 26:28 – Witches and familiars
- 30:38 – Cat ladies
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View all my sources for each episode and read the episode transcipt here.
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Chapters
1. Content warning (00:00:00)
2. Mary Shelley's "On Ghosts" (00:01:21)
3. Welcome to the party! (00:03:15)
4. What's going on with women and cats? (00:04:59)
5. Anatolian caves (00:07:59)
6. Inanna in Sumeria (00:08:59)
7. Lilith (again!) in Mesopotamia (00:10:31)
8. Durga in the Indus Valley (00:11:52)
9. Bastet in Ancient Egypt (00:12:52)
10. Artemis in Ancient Greece (00:15:07)
11. Hecate (00:16:31)
12. Metal cat goddesses of creation and destruction (00:18:35)
13. Cats and the Virgin Mary (00:20:09)
14. Cats have a PR problem (00:21:00)
15. Meanwhile, in Japan... (00:22:33)
16. Cats are creepy little jerks... and so are cat lovers (00:23:29)
17. A word about my sources (00:24:24)
18. Sexism relies on dehumanisation (00:25:15)
19. Witches and familiars (00:26:28)
20. The New World (00:29:21)
21. The modern era (00:29:54)
22. Cat ladies (00:30:38)
23. Outro (00:32:59)
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