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Episode 113: Word of Mouth

Aaron Mahnke, is an author of many fascinating podcasts one of them being Lore which

includes “Word of Mouth” episode. This episode is based on various cases in history dealing

with medicinal cannibalism. Medicinal cannibalism was practiced in ancient Europe. According

to the cannibalism belief, living people would be cured from consuming mummified bodies or

other corpse body parts. The episode narrates an incident that was recorded as it occurred by two

writers in Germany. According to one of the writer, a local farmer was beheaded and

immediately some of the onlookers surrounded his corpse to take the blood. They took his blood

because they believed that drinking the blood of a criminal could cure epilepsy and other

diseases (Mahnke).

Different aspects make this podcast to be interesting. To begin with, the interesting aspect

I that the author explores haunting stories. It is really enjoyable listening to haunting stories.

However, even though the stories are haunting, they are all true stories. The interesting thing is

that the author uses most of his time studying and researching history and ancient believes to

figure out what these stories in his podcasts reveal about us in the modern world.

Secondly, entertainment makes the podcast to be enjoyable. The podcasts are entertaining

as I listened to them. Every story in the podcast is beautifully narrated and linked to a deeper

human behavior pattern. Besides, the rather scary stories keep someone awake, adding the urge

of wanting to listen more and being the month of Halloween, they give the scary spirit.
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The voice and the music used makes the podcast to be enjoyed while listening to and it is

very alluring. The music breaks monotone which could result in boredom. Another interesting

thing about the podcast is its educative nature. Each episode in the podcast does not consist of

fabricated stories. It is a good source of learning history. The content in the stories is well-mined

from documented stories and historical occurrences. Some of these factual stories are recent and

others are ancient having been reported by people and believing in them. However, even with the

historical educative aspect, they tend to hide some darker chapters in history.

Detailed information from this podcast shows that ancient people believed in

consumption of blood and human fat as a source of the cure. This was their way of exploring the

field of medicine in the search for a cure. In the twenty-first century, medicinal cannibalism

practice is not carried out but the tradition is not dead (Constantine, 47). For instance, some

mothers and even fathers in some communities do prepare the placenta of their newborns and

consume it. This practice of consuming the placenta is a result of believing in the curative

abilities of human flesh. Still, there is continued research on plants as a source of curative.

Today, many communities and cultures believe in herbal medicine, which is an ancient culture.

Another instance of cannibalism for survival is the 1972 Andes mountains plane crash.

According to a report, out of the forty-five passengers, only sixteen were able to survive the

ordeal that lasted for seventy-two days which involved cannibalism. Those who got rescued

compared that act of cannibalism to having Holy Communion.

In conclusion, the scope and content of the podcasts are unique. The author is a little clear

as he tries to be a great modern narrator. Aaron Mahnke has employed irony by using quips.

From the scary nature of the podcast to the educative aspect it has, the podcast is amazing and

every episode forces someone to dig deeper.

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Works Cited.

Constantine, Nathan. A History of Cannibalism: From ancient cultures to survival stories and

Modern psychopaths. Arcturus Publishing, 2018: 34-61.

Mahnke, Aaron, and Aaron Mahnke. "Episode 113: Word Of Mouth — Lore". Lore, 2019,

https://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/episode-113-word-of-mouth.

Sugg, Richard. Mummies, cannibals and vampires: the history of corpse medicine from the

Renaissance to the Victorians. Routledge, 2015: 87-115.