In a podcast first, we are interviewing a Moomin fan who is still a teenager and discovered the Moomins through Pinterest!
Mary talks us through the cottagecore appeal of the Moomins and the popular but non-mainstream place they occupy in the USA. There's a fair bit of chat about the Japanese animated cartoon adaptations. We talk about the way we love queer-coded things but wish that the queerness could be explicit in these beloved texts. Mary gives out excellent advice as Little My.
Check out our instagram to see pictures of Mary's shrinkydink keychain and her mom's Little My embroidery. We're all for making your own merch around here!
Mary recommends Ivy and Bean, the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place and Katie the Ordinary Witch.
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Bonus #11 Mendel Skulski
This episode's special guest is Mendel Skulski, a podcaster, mushroom-enthusiast and musician who wore an excellent Snufkin costume to a fancy dress party.
We chat about climate collapse as depicted in Comet in Moominland, and the different characters' attitudes to it. We also chat about the different mushrooms Little My picks in The Invisible Child, and how one might go about identifying and preparing them for eating. Mendel is wonderfully enthusiastic about free food growing all around is and recommends the Falling Fruit maps to find foraging opportunities near you. Nina has added the fig trees she mentioned in Ouseburn, if you're a local!
Be sure to check out our instagram to see Mendel and their partner's Snufkin and Little My cosplays.
Mendel recommends Bee and PuppyCat and Butt Out Baby, Their podcast is Future Ecologies, it is beautiful and thoughtful.
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Bonus #10 Helen Zaltzman
For this Christmas-adjascent bonus, we're welcoming Helen Zaltzman, a podcaster and thinker about words.
Helen came to the Moomins as a young child while she was devouring the entire contents of her local library and volunteered to re-read Moominland Midwinter for us. We talk about how lovely the writing is, the art of translation, and what a relief it is when you revisit a beloved childhood story and find that it's still good. So many good quotes are pulled up and lovingly read aloud. The praises of Too-Ticky are lavishly sung.
We also asked Helen to read the Fir Tree, which was new to her. We're still delighted with how much of a stone cold classic this story is. Helen notices the particular pagan and pre-Christian notes, and we're all appalled at Moominpappa's cavalier attitude to his neighbour's trees.
Helen recommends Field Recordings by Eleanor McDowall and Twice upon a Time, with Janet Ellis. Helen's own very good podcast is The Allusionist. We particuarly recommend the Christmas episodes, if you want to think about how weird Christmas is!
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Bonus #9 Hanna Wołoszyn
Our guest for this out-of-season bonus episode is Hanna: a lifelong Moomins fan and reader of the books in Polish!
We talk about faithfulness in adaptation, the differences between the Polish and English translations, and being out on the raw shore of the Baltic sea.
Hanna has a unique perspective on the Hemulen Who Loved Silence, which we read last season. A case is made for quiet people who don't want to have to bite to be heard.
Hanna's Spirit recommendations are bang on topic! Her Spirit of the Moomins is London Drawing Group's online class Tove Jansson: drawing Moomin landscapes. Her Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat isthe BBC documentary Moominland Tales: the life of Tove Jansson.
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Cedric
And just like that, it's the end of the season! We're going out on a story that actually shows us what happens when someone has a problem and wonders "What would Snufkin do?"
Sniff is inconsolable over the loss of his favourite toy, a small dog called Cedric, with bejewelled eyes (?!). Even Moominmamma can't help him, so he wanders down to Snufkin's camp and gets told a story. It's a very classic story-shape about belongings not making you happy, but you know what we say? There's nothing wrong with playing the hits well!
This story is a real two-hander between Snufkin and Sniff. It really wouldn't be the same without Sniff's many, pertinent, exasperating interruptions. We have a go at filling some plot holes, like: when did Sniff get back from wherever it was he went? Who gave him the toy dog, and why did this put jewels in its eyes?
Next season we'll be reading the Moomin comics, so dig out your copies if you want to read along!
Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester. Dave has sneaked three (three!) Spirits of the Podgoblin's hat in this season finale to keep you going until we get back: Cane and Rinse, Girl Mode and Rainbow Road.
The Podgoblin’s Hat is a Moomins read-through show. Tune in for weekly synopses, discussions, analysis and feelings by Dave, who has been reading Tove Jansson their whole life, and Nina, who’s just started. We’ll be wending our way through the peaks and troughs of the stories, discussing, thinking and feeling about Tove Jansson’s books for children. Listen in if you like stories about soft round creatures being brave and flawed. Write in if you’ve ever wondered, What Would Snufkin Do?
Ireland