Meet The Host

Hello! I am Melanie, your female, purple haired, irreverent, queer, culturally jewish host.

Hailing from California, I grew up in a largely Jewish population, and was raised under Conservative Judaism. I never really believed what my teachers or rabbis told me about this invisible omniscient G-d, but I always love when we would talk about the stories. Over the past few years I’ve really wanted to learn more about my heritage, without the religious connotations that were drilled into my head in Hebrew School. I was taught to read Hebrew but I had no idea what it was I was saying. My Bat Mitzvah was just 3 hours of me saying nonsense (to me) so I could have a fun party.

In a medieval mythology class I took, there was a section on genies, or djinns. At the very end of the unit, my professor mentioned that they are referenced in Jewish sources. Jewish genies?! If I had been told about genies in Hebrew school, I might have paid more attention. This led me down a rabbit hole of other Jewish mythological creatures and stories that I never learned growing up.

I’ve always been in love with mythology and I am currently a Greek And Roman Studies major in Canada. I have changed majors about 3 different times officially and it took me until the Covid-19 Pandemic for me to realize what I want to do with my life. I want to study Jewish Mythology and share my passions with similar peoples. I’m hoping I can find a grad school that will help me fulfill this dream.

In the meantime, I want to use this podcast as a platform to do research for myself, as well as share this information with others. I live with my anxiety-riddled cat, my ex-Catholic girlfriend, and her dog with separation anxiety.

If you find yourself wanting to learn more about Jewish culture, you or another’s Jewish heritage, if any of this has interested you, then this is the podcast for you!