A Witch Is... – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, Jayne and Emilie sit down with refugee Bahaa Dabbagh, to uncover how cooking for the masses using a cauldron became linked to witchcraft.

From the trans-atlantic slave trade to the streets of gaza, food security has always been used as a weapon.

Bahaa's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/hahawithbaha/

Sources:

https://www.wfp.org/stories/un-barred-using-hunger-and-starvation-weapons-war

https://www.museum.dp.ua/en/cauldron-scythian-time-iv-century-b-c/

https://www.hercircle.in/engage/food/food-trends/exploring-the-lavish-feasts-of-indian-royalty-a-journey-through-culinary-extravagance-6232.html

Credit: The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia

Original Author: Theodor de Bry after John White

Created: 1590

Medium: Printed hand-colored engraving

Publisher: The Mariners' Museum

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0379073814005349

https://simplysouperlicious.com/everyone-cauldron-anthropological/

https://www.concern.net/news/hunger-as-a-weapon-of-war-timeline

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/2/how-british-colonial-policy-killed-100-million-indians

https://www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/news/vietnam-war-led-to-decades-of-hunger

https://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity

https://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vandana-Shiva

https://www.instagram.com/asmamahmood3/reel/DHd5WLkstCM/?locale=es&hl=bn

https://foodtank.com/news/2013/05/food-hero-series-ruth-oniango-kenyas-voice-for-nutrition/

In this episode of A Witch Is... Emilie Biggar and Jayne Steer sit with Nicky Barry and discuss ageism in the arts. Other topics include an inspiring Samoan woman in power, Baba Yaga and the rising homeless population of older women.

Nicky Barry's instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/barrymeplease/

Sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/samoa-sexism/105035564

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/travel/flight-attendant-stewardess-sexism.html

Guthrie, Juniper (2024) "Drowned Maidens and Mother Earth: The Roots of Sexism in Russian Folklore Studies," The Corinthian: Vol. 21, Article 4.Available at: https://kb.gcsu.edu/thecorinthian/vol21/iss1/4

https://style.nine.com.au/latest/freeze-frame-kylie-minogue-gold-hotpants-spinning-around/cd43fa0f-2539-4835-bf31-d7a9e87120e2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinster

https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/journey-into-witchcraft-beliefs/

This week we are joined by a living legend, Sherele Moody, the creator of Australia Femicide Watch and the Red Heart Campaign. We dive into the alarming femicide statistics plaguing Australia and the origin of female centred hatred, the Malleus Maleficarium.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malleus-maleficarum

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/28/1040911313/anita-hill-belonging-sexual-harassment-conversation

https://youtu.be/4oPnd911FcM?si=0DqEgCOas8XJUU47

We sit down with Linkdinfluencer, actress, dancer and all round powerhouse woman, Diana Nguyen to discuss the impact that dancing has had on her life. We discuss the link between a Witches' Sabbath and modern dance classes and explore the discouragement of dancing as a gendered weapon.

Diana's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/realdiananguyen/

Sources:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/journey-into-witchcraft-beliefs/

https://www.album-online.com/detail/en/OGY3YzBkMA/virginian-s-manner-dancing-their-religious-festivals-illustration-secotan-indians-alb5411151

https://theconversation.com/from-child-stars-to-lost-theatres-capturing-our-ephemeral-history-of-live-performance-97675

https://www.history.com/news/the-exotic-dancer-who-became-wwis-most-notorious-spyhttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/elvis-presley-hound-dog-big-mama-thornton-stole-1376522/

https://elvisbiography.net/2020/02/12/elvis-presley-and-the-black-community-dispelling-the-myths/

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/sites-of-refuge-connection-creation-resistance-and-loss-the-queer-bar-and-nightclub-in-the-twentieth-century/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49592540

https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance
https://prachataienglish.com/node/9640#1

We chat with comedian, producer and all around badass Gen XXX legend, Aarti Vincent about the history of discrimination in the context of witchcraft, colonisation and how the British stole a few trillion dollars from India.

Aarti has a show coming up called “Gen XXX” with Ankita Ghosh at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from 8th - 20th April. Get your tickets here!

Make sure not to miss our own show, Toil Trouble and Trauma from 7th - 15th April. Limited time you can get 2 for 1 tickets on 13th April, by using the code 13TH.

Sources/References

• ​The Magical Negro and White Salvation in Film, Cerise L. Glenn, Howard University
• ​https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2176&context=honorstheses
• ​https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lakshmi-Bai

In todays episode we sit down with comedian, improv extraordinaire and all round fashionista, Marnie Mills. Exploring the historical context of Shapeshifting in witchcraft and it's transition into persecution for not conforming to gender binaries.

TICKETS TO OUR SHOW ARE NOW AVAILABLE

Sources:

https://www.academuseducation.co.uk/post/ancient-mesopotamian-transgender-and-non-binary-identities

https://andreamariana.com/?p=1082

https://jmcdra.medium.com/the-transition-of-lady-kayura-a-queer-interpretation-of-anubis-from-ronin-warriors-c4f242d121a8

https://www.britannica.com/place/Trois-Freres

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/circe/chapter-15#:~:text=At%20this%20point%2C%20Circe%20is,show%20off%20her%20own%20power.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-forgotten-history-of-the-worlds-first-trans-clinic/

https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/case-studies/gender/third-gender-and-hijras

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Ass

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/journey-into-witchcraft-beliefs/

https://publicmedievalist.com/transgender-middle-ages/#:~:text=Having%20to%20ask%20and%20answer,numbers%20are%20increasing%20every%20day.

https://lonemedievalist.hcommons.org/women-of-the-middle-ages/eleanor-rykener/

https://www.queerarthistory.com/love-between-women/le-roman-de-silence/

https://www.maronite-institute.org/MARI/JMS/january00/Saint_Marina_the_Monk.htm

https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/joan-of-arc-trial.htm#:~:text=True%2C%20she%20was%20burned%20at,that%20of%20wearing%20men's%20clothes.

https://www.sbs.com.au/voices/article/lavender-scare-queer-colour-theory-and-monsters-in-the-closet/tnmhtzkbb

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights

Welcome to our first episode! Get to know your maiden, mother and crone, Bell Woolley, Emilie Biggar and Jayne Steer.

Detailing the trials and tribulations that led to comedy and coming together for our first Melbourne International Comedy Show, Toil, Trouble and Trauma.

Recorded at Stupid Old Studios in Brunswick.

Shout out to Haus of Dizzy, Hail Lilith and Monique Dudley of Momo Foto.

Buy Tickets Now!! April 7 - 15 2025 at Speakeasy Theatre.