Here we go.

Hi, I'm Lavar Burton and this is

La Var Burton needs.

In every episode I hand-picked a different piece of short fiction and I read it to you.

The only thing these stories have in common is that I love them and I hope you will tune.

Every culture has its own myths and folk tales, those stories told and re-told over time.

Those folk heroes that are a part of our collective story. I was fascinated as a kid by Johnny

Appleseed, John Henry, Paul Bunyan, those larger than life figures that sort of pointed us in the direction of what was possible for humanity, right?

Now, those heroes can defeat tyrants and impossible match-ups like David and Goliath. They can outsmart. and

Goliath, they can outsmart animals or monsters like the Inuit folk hero Kivuk.

They can be tricksters who use their wits to free themselves like John the Conqueror.

Their stories serve many purposes of course, but one of them, as I said, is to inspire,

to empower us,, give us hope.

In today's story, K.T. Briski has created a mythos and a folk hero for the land of the dead. It's called folk hero motifs in tales told by the dead and it was

originally published in Strange Horizons. Katie Briski is a Canadian author whose short fiction has appeared in many publications, including

Light Speed, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, and The Deadlands.

K. T. has been a finalist for the Sunburst, the Aurora, and the U.G. Foster Memorial

Award.

And they also co-founded and co-chair the Ephemera reading series.

If you are so inclined you will find a content advisory in the episode description.

And now, if you're ready, let's take a deep breath. Ahh.

And begin. began, folk hero motifs in tales told by the dead, our fairy tales begin at the end.

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