The Crane Bag Podcast

The Craft of Storytelling, Part One: Approaching a Story

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Approaching a story - story as storm, song, and animal - the story is not a tool - story as forest, story as traveler to be welcomed - the skills of t...

Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part Five

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A reading and exploration of part five of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" by storyteller and poet Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad, Part Twelve: The Death of Hector

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Iliad brought to life without a script and without a net by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad, Part Eleven: The Shield of Achilles

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Part eleven of the Iliad, as told by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. A complete archive of stories performed on this podcast can be found at the ...

Lao-Tzu: Poems #76 and #1 from "the Tao Te Ching"

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

"The hard and strong will fall, the soft and weak will overcome": two poems from the Tao Te Ching, read and then explored by Jay Leeming, poet and sto...

A Reading of the Odyssey, Book One

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Poet and Storyteller Jay Leeming reads and comments on book one of Homer's Odyssey. Note: Unusually for this podcast this is not a storytelling perfor...

On the Road in Greece and Cyprus

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Notes from poet and storyteller Jay Leeming during his two-month storytelling journey through Greece and Cyprus in 2025.  

Diarmuid and the Princess From Beneath the Sea

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A story from the Irish epic of Finn MacCool (Fionn MacCumhail) brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming.com

Rilke: "Sometimes a Man Stands Up During Supper"

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the poem "Sometimes a man stands up during supper" by Rainer Maria Rilke.   www.JayLeeming.com

Iliad Deep Dive

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A deep dive into the craft of storytelling with performance storyteller Jay Leeming, exploring the creation of the opening scenes of his version of th...

Thank You

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

www.JayLeeming.com

Episode #122: Draupadi, the Princess Born From a Fire

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A princess born from a fire; a journey to speak with gods at the top of the world; a small boy who remains miraculously alive in an apocalyptic wastel...

Ezra Pound: Canto One

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Storyteller and poet Jay Leeming explores canto one of "The Cantos" by the American poet Ezra Pound. Sequoia trees, blood for ghosts, and the dance of...

If You Want to Find Out Who You Are

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"If you want to find out who you are, cut off your head and enter the forest." A story out of French alchemy, told and explored by storyteller Jay Lee...

The Iliad Part Ten: The Burning of the Ships

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's desperate times for the Greek soldiers as Hector leads his warriors against them, determined to burn their ships and maroon them on the Trojan sh...

The Iliad, Part Nine: I Will Fight No More

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Achilles out of the fighting the Trojans drive the Greeks back to the beach, where they all are faced with hard choices as the story of Troy cont...

Gary Snyder: "Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout"

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the American poet Gary Snyder's poem "Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout" by poet and storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming....

The Iliad, Part Eight: The Wrath of Achilles

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What moonlit god comes down to punish the Greeks with his arrows? What stray dog is the first unlikely victim of Agamemnon's wrath, and what the heck ...

Pablo Neruda: "The Art of Poetry"

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of Pablo Neruda's poem "The Art of Poetry" by poet, storyteller, and musician Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

Robert Frost: "Directive"

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of Robert Frost's poem "Directive" by poet, storyteller, and musician Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

Oisin in the Land of Tir Na Nog

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Irish hero Finn MacCool (Fionn MacCumhail) comes to a close in this story brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   w...

Emily Dickinson: "I heard a fly buzz when I died"

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of Emily Dickinson's poem "I heard a fly buzz when I died" by poet, storyteller and musician Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

James Wright: "Goodbye to the Poetry of Calcium"

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of James Wright's poem "Goodbye to the Poetry of Calcium" by poet, storyteller, and musician Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad Part Seven: the Greeks Arrive at Troy

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the Greek army arrives at Troy they encounter Cygnus, the indestructible man, and wrestle with the prophecy of Calchas which says that the first ...

Rumi: "The Diver's Clothes Lying Empty"

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the poem "The Diver's Clothes Lying Empty" by Jalal al-Din Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks.   www.JayLeeming.com 

The Iliad, Part Six: Achilles Among the Dancing Girls

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Before you go to war, it's probably best to spend a year living as a dancing girl on the island of Skyros. That's the wisdom which this beautiful stor...

Just Another Day Getting Struck by Lightning with Frank O'Hara

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the poems "To the Harbormaster" and "The Day Lady Died" by Frank O'Hara.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad Part Five: The Horse Sacrifice

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When I got to the whispering forest and the dark I thought of the sacrifice of the horse, and how it bound us to the god of the sea and the way the ho...

Steve Scafidi Interview: "What if Faulkner is Wrong and We Do Not Endure or Prevail"

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An interview with the poet Steve Scafidi, who reads his poem "What if Faulkner is Wrong and We Do Not Endure or Prevail" and discusses laughter, obliv...

The Iliad, Part Four: Zeus' Wild Daughter

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Achilles is born and narrowly misses his change at immortality; meanwhile a storm drives prince Paris across the sea and to the palace of a particular...

Sharon Olds: "California Swimming Pool"

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the poem "California Swimming Pool," by Sharon Olds. www.JayLeeming.com

Joel Christensen: Stories as Living Beings

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An interview with Professor Joel Christensen about Homeric Epic and the possibility of regarding stories as living beings. www.JayLeeming.com

Pablo Neruda: "Ode to My Socks"

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The odes of Pablo Neruda explored by poet and storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad Part Three: Paris, the Sea-Dragon, and the Prophecies of Cassandra

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Iliad brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad Part Two: The Judgement of Paris

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Iliad, brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Iliad Part One: Prometheus, Paris, and the Goddess of Deep Water

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Performance storyteller Jay Leeming brings the sprawling epic of the Iliad alive with all of its birds, thunder, and goddesses intact.    www.JayLee...

Episode #123: The Birth of Oisin

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Once again Finn MacCool stumbles into relationship with the Otherworld, in this story from the Irish Finn cycle brought to life by performance storyte...

Episode #121: The Mermaid in the Mirror

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do we live in a world of infinite possibilities, or of barriers and limits? A wizard, a blue snake, and a mermaid help us to explore this question in ...

Episode #120: Finn MacCool and the Spell of a Hundred Years

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Though these stories seem to focus on the exploits of Finn and his band of poetical warriors, the Goddess is always present in all her forms and liabl...

Episode #119: Finn MacCool and the Fomorians

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Here's a rowdy dream-vision involving a house thatched with feathers, pigs that never die and a sea-god for whom story is the fire that warms his hous...

Episode #118: Talking About the Mahabharata With Geetha Reddy

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Storyteller Jay Leeming and playwright Geetha Reddy discuss her recent adaptation of the Mahabharata.

Episode #117: The Boyhood of Finn MacCool, Part Two

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Irish epic of Finn MacCool, brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

Episode #116: The Boyhood of Finn MacCool, Part One

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Irish epic of Finn MacCool brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com 

Episode #115: Girl Meets Wolf: Exploring "Red Riding Hood"

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's trouble out there, big nasty toothy trouble and this life isn't just sitting with bread and honey by a warm fire. That's the truth expressed i...

The Odyssey Part One: Feasting the Sea-God

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. www.JayLeeming.com

Songbox #1: Odysseus, Guslar and the Belly of the world

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A live and unscripted riff on hunger, myth, and the origins of poetry by performance storyteller Jay Leeming, unedited and rowdy as an apple on a bran...

The Odyssey Part Ten: Once I Went Hunting

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Eleven: The Rooted Bed

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Nine: Now You Must Be Someone Else

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

Odyssey Part Seven: Blood for Ghosts

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Five: My Name is Nobody

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Four: Welcome, Stranger

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Three: Some Say He is My Father

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

The Odyssey Part Two: The Kingdom of Rust and Honey

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Odyssey brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.   www.JayLeeming.com

Odyssey Part Eight: A Song You Must Not Hear

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey as brought to life by performance storyteller and poet Jay Leeming.

The Odyssey Part Six: With a Hawk Feather in Her Hair

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jay Leeming tells Part Six of the Odyssey.

The Seven Sisters

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Could some stories really be 100,000 years old? A meditation on oral memory, story, and the constellation of the Pleiades, complete with music (played...

Storyteller Daniel Morden interviewed by Jay Leeming

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jay Leeming interviews the Welsh storyteller Daniel Morden about the Odyssey, his path to storytelling, and much more. 

The Mahabharata Part Sixteen: The Journey to the Otherworld

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The age of Kali begins, kingdoms are destroyed and Yudishtira and his brothers set out for the otherworld, all in this final episode of the Mahabharat...

The Mahabharata Part Fifteen: Tranquility

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath the river Ganges returns as the luminous, magical thread joining every part of this story, healing the survivors and joining the thre...

The Mahabharata Part Fourteen: War's End

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mahabharata Part Thirteen: The Death of Drona

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Truth and lies, elephants and chariots collide on the battlefied of Kurukshetra, where the vows and desires of every character create a pattern no one...

Mahabharata Part Twelve: The Death of Bhisma

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The epic which began with the theft of a cow continues as all the fruits of action grow ripe on the branches of what's possible, leading to a battle i...

The Mahabharata Part Eleven: Krishna's Last Efforts

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Kurus and the Pandavas hurtle towards a war which it seems cannot be stopped, though Krishna does everything in his power to prevent it in this e...

The Mahabharata Part Ten: In the Court of King Virata

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The epic of the Mahabharata brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming through the power of music and the spoken word. 

Episode 87: Persephone, Queen of the Underworld

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Down we go, down the roots of this bright flower-loud world into the depths of the winter kingdom ruled by Hades himself. "The glacier knocks in the c...

The Mahabharata Part Nine: Draupadi and the Jambul Tree

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Princess Draupadi and the five sons of Pandu confront the limits of their powers in a wilderness alive with magical beings, rakshasas, and speaking tr...

The Mahabharata Part Eight: The Search for Weapons

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Performance storyteller Jay Leeming brings to life the Indian epic of the Mahabharata through music and the power of the spoken word. In this part of ...

Episode 84: The Mahabharata Part Seven: Into the Forest

25 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Princess Draupadi and the five sons of Pandu leave their kingdom behind and begin their thirteen-year exile in the forest; the vast epic of the Mahabh...

Episode 82: Mahabharata Part Five: Draupadi's Laughter

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Orpheus and Eurydice

10 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, brought into the here and now by storyteller, poet and musician Jay Leeming.

Episode 81: The Mahabharata Part Four: The Birth of Draupadi

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Who's that stepping out of the bonfire? It's Draupadi, the princess who will change the world permanently and forever; who will witness the end of the...

Episode 57: The Norse Creation Myth

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Darkness and fire and the tree at the center of all things: storyteller Jay Leeming brings the Norse creation myth to life through music, story, and t...

Episode 83: Mahabharata Part Six: A Game of Dice

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 80: The Mahabharata Part Three: Drona

01 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Deeper into the forest we go, tracking the story of the wizard-like teacher Drona to its source in water and in fire.

Exploring the Odyssey #2 with Bethany Dixon

29 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why do the gods do what they do? What's up with all the weeping and washing in the Odyssey, and can baking five cakes in one day get us some answers? ...

Episode 79: The Mahabharata Part Two: The Birth of the Pandavas

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A blind king, a visit to the king of the fishermen, and yet another hunting trip gone wrong: it's part two of the epic of the Mahabharata, as brought...

Episode 78: The Mahabharata Part One: Origins

10 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A plunge into the mythic cosmos of the Mahabharata, an epic story in which the destinies of gods and humans intertwine and the roll of a die decides t...

Episode 77: The Birth of Bhisma

19 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A king without a queen marries a river goddess who then does a few monstrous things; that's the news straight from the start of the Mahabharata, a bea...

Episode 76: Markandeya Walks the World

21 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's tough being a sage who lives forever, especially when the world crashes and burns and you're left crawling through an apocalyptic wasteland; but ...

Exploring the Odyssey #1 with Sam Buggeln

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Theater director Sam Buggeln talks with performance storyteller Jay Leeming about myth, theater, the supernatural, and bringing the Odyssey to the sta...

Episode 75: Arawn, Lord of Annwvyn

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A story from the first branch of the Welsh Mabinogion, told and then explored by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

Episode 74: Branwen, Daughter of Llyr (Part Two)

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of the Welsh story of "Branwen, Daughter of Llyr," brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

Episode 74: Branwen, Daughter of Llyr (Part One)

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A raven king, a magical cauldron and a talking bird: the Welsh story of "Branwen, Daughter of Llyr" brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Lee...

Episode 73: Into the Underworld with the Luckiest Boy Alive

29 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The power of blind chance goes up against the king of death in this fairy tale brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

Episode 72: Exploring the Odyssey with Joel Christensen

27 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A journey into the fierce yet healing story of the Odyssey, first through storytelling by Jay Leeming and then through an extended interview with Joe...

Episode 71: The Mermaid and the Falcon Prince

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A fairy tale found in a box in an attic in Hamburg in 2012, brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

Episode 70: Opening to Story with Laura Simms

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The storyteller Laura Simms tells "The Pigeon's Bride" and explores the art of storytelling in an interview with Jay Leeming.            

Episode 68: The Theft of Sif's Hair

26 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Norse trickster god Loki steals the golden hair of Sif, the wife of Thor, and thereby releases the rowdy desires of all the gods for fabulous and ...

Episode 66: Exploring Story with Csenge Zalka

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 67: Naqqali Storytelling with Morshed Saghi and Arash Ali Farhadipour

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An exploration of the Naqqali storytelling tradition of Iran, with Morshed Saghi and Arash Ali Farhadipour.

Episode 63: Tag Team Firebird

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Four storytellers tell the Russian tale of the Firebird: a live, improvised, cross-Atlantic performance recorded in March of 2021 by Lara McClure, Wal...

Episode 65: Miguel Rivera and the Poetry of Humberto Ak'Abal

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An interview with healer, translator and ceremony-maker Miguel Rivera on the poetry of Humberto Ak'Abal and our relation to the dreaming earth, preced...

Episode #64: Interview with Clare Murphy

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A conversation between the Irish storyteller Clare Murphy and Jay Leeming in which the big rowdy questions of story and earth and the wide sky are dan...

Episode 62: The Firebird

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bang! The red feather of desire is right in front of you on the forest path; your talking horse tells you to steer clear, but do you pick it up all th...

Episode 61: "The Woman of the Sea" told by Regi Carpenter

02 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"The Woman of the Sea" told by Regi Carpenter, followed by an interview in which she and host Jay Leeming explore that story as well as her own journe...

The Stories We Live Inside

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 59: The Power of Dreams with Peter Fortunato

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we explore the power of dreams, first through a story from the One Thousand and One Nights and then through an interview with the po...

Episode 55: Orpheus, Midas and the Goat-Man in the Garden

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With Dionysus as our god we wander in the steps of a song-man fresh from the bush of ghosts, lurching perfectly through the story of Pygmalion to find...

Episode 54: "The Oldest Boy" Told by Walton Stanley

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A story from the far north brought to life by Walton Stanley, followed by an exploration of the story and storytelling by Walton Stanley and Jay Leemi...