Episode 18: South African Rain Queens
/We feel a storm coming! Find out what the X-Men, tempests, and royal succession debates have in common as we learn about the Modjadji, the long line of queens ruling the Balobedu people of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Politics is fun when it’s matriarchal and magical, people.
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Our music is "Danger Storm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Transcript
AM: Welcome to Spirits Podcast Episode 18: South African Rain Queens.
JS: Yes!
AM: We're so excited. Oh, my god, this episode's gonna be so good.
JS: You know us. We love a good, strong matriarchal mythology.
AM: I know. Erzulie, who will my love be? My love is destroying the patriarchy. Anyway, we would love to welcome all our new listeners again and to thank a few of you who have tweeted at us and sent a fan art. God, we love fan art!
JS: We really love fan art.
AM: Fan art is so good!
JS: We just want to plaster our walls with your fan art. It's so nice.
AM: I know. I know. And I have an apartment that's bigger than one room now. So, I have even more walls to put them on.
JS: Same-sies.
AM: So, shout outs to Carolyn McGuire, Ricky Spanish, Sofia Haley Thomas, Marty Williams, Todd Faulkner for the super super sweet shout out on his own podcast, Brian Guevarra, Moshi, and Zach Karloff Illig for the Selkie and Kelpie fan art.
JS: It's so cool guys.
AM: The Selkies have great teeth. Oh my gosh, I was so pumped. We're gonna put it on our Facebook page. So, find us over there @SpiritsPodcast on Facebook, on Twitter, on Patreon; all the places.
JS: If you guys love the show, please rate and review us on iTunes. It helps other people find Spirits and creates more Spiriters and more drunken mythology for us to share.
AM: And who wouldn't want to live in that world?
JS: Everyone does.
AM: Without further ado, enjoy Spirits Podcast Episode 18: South African Rain Queen.
Intro Music
JS: Amanda, as you know, I'm a big comic book fan.
AM: You are. You are the biggest comic book fan. And you’re on a first name basis with several comic book shops.
JS: That's true. I am. I frequent a lot of comic book shops. I started reading comics when I was about eight years old.
AM: Yep.
JS: My favorite comics or the comics that got me into comics were the X-Men.
AM: Yes.
JS: Do you know any X-Men, Amanda?
AM: Okay. I'm ready.
JS: All right. Let's do this.
AM: Halle Berry is an X-Men.
JS: Yes. Halle Berry is an X-Men. Do you know her character's name?
AM: I think I want to say Frosted Tips, but I know that it's in fact Storm.
JS: Frosted Tips.
AM: She's right there.
JS: I wanted to have a code name called Frosted Tips.
AM: She's right here. She – anyway, moving on. Moving on. There's a bald one in a wheelchair. There is Michael Fassbender. There is --
JS: That doesn't count. Like you're naming the actors.
AM: No. No. No. There's the big– isn't there the big like crackly the orange one?
JS: That's not an X-Men.
AM: Okay.
JS: That's The Thing.
AM: That's the Fantastic Four.
JS: Fantastic Four. Oh, good job.
AM: They're from some other franchise I suppose.
JS: The Fantastic Four.
AM: Or, are they Marvel but like they don't have the rights to it?
JS: Yes.
AM: Okay. Cool.
JS: Like Sony or Paramount owns them.
AM: Yes. And then there's Jennifer Lawrence, who is blue. That's all I know.
JS: Okay. You’re actually kind of hit the nail on the head with your first one there --
AM: Okay.
JS: -- which I'm pretty impressed by. One of my favorite characters growing up --
AM: I can't – I can't pass up Halle Berry in a leather catsuit. So, you know.
JS: Well, okay. Catsuit was a different one. She was Catwoman in one movie, which was terrible.
AM: No. No. I know. But she was like a blue like very tight jumpsuit in them. Anyway.
JS: Yes. So, her character was Storm.
AM: Yes.
JS: Storm could control the weather.
AM: Yes.
JS: Rocked a mohawk for like a solid 20 years in the comics.
AM: Awesome.
JS: Like long mohawk.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Like super, super cool.
AM: Oh, the long mohawk.
JS: Yeah.
AM: An even stronger choice than the normal mohawk.
JS: And has a super interesting backstory.
AM: Tell me all about it.
JS: So, Storm was born of a African woman. In the comics, it's – she's from a fictional land called Wakanda --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- which is the same country --
AM: Black Panther rules.
JS: -- that Black Panther. Yes.
AM: Okay.
JS: And her mother meets a photographer, reporter, one of those things.
AM: Yeah.
JS: He's American.
AM: Okay.
JS: They get together. They have Storm.
AM: Nice.
JS: They both die in an earthquake, which is kind of sad.
AM: But like tragic backstory obligatory for --
JS: Of course.
AM: -- an X-Men.
JS: Storm is orphaned.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Goes – wanders off into the wilderness.
AM: Wakandan Forests.
JS: Yes. Gets brought into a village who realized she has powers.
AM: Nice.
JS: And her powers are to control the weather.
AM: That's like sort of when like an adopted child is also a piano prodigy. And you're like, well, parents way to like --
JS: They’re like solid.
AM: -- like good choice. Way to choose the super talented one.
JS: So, Storm goes to this village. She has powers. She helps their crops grow. She makes it rain for them.
AM: Good guy, Storm. Nice.
JS: Storm's the best. They end up worshipping her as a goddess.
AM: Why would you not? Why would you not?
JS: Well, because she's fantastic. She flies around with the wind and brings rain.
AM: And like walked into their village like a foundling.
JS: And is 100% gorgeous when she's an adult.
AM: OBV.
JS: But Amanda.
AM: What?
JS: Did you know that there's historical significance to Storm's backstory?
AM: Yes. Making it even better.
JS: In South Africa --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- there is a matriarchal queendom --
AM: Okay.
JS: -- known as the Modjadjis.
AM: Currently or historically?
JS: Both.
AM: Dope.
JS: They are known as the Rain Queens. And do you know why they're called Rain Queens?
AM: Do they have a theology around gods that control rain?
JS: Sort of.
AM: Okay.
JS: The people who worship the rain queens --
AM: Yep.
JS: -- specifically believe that the rain queens can bring rain to their area – to their kingdom.
AM: So, are the Modjadji themselves rain queens? Or do they follow rain queens?
JS: No. The Modjadji are the rain queens.
AM: Amaze. Amaze.
JS: So, they're just some beautiful queens that are, you know, come from through time.
AM: Yep.
JS: And bring rain every season.
AM: Again, such a human tradition to worship, to think about to try to control the weather. I love that this is specifically, you know, theologically like a woman who controls the rain because amazing.
JS: It's fantastic. So, the Modjadji are the Queens of the – again, pronunciation is not my thing. I'm sorry.
AM: We're trying. We're trying.
JS: Balobedu. And they're the people of the Limpopo Province in South Africa.
AM: Awesome.
JS: So, the title is matriarchal. The throne is passed down from the eldest daughter. And no males can inherit the title at all.
AM: You know, I like that.
JS: I know.
AM: You're looking at me with a smile on your face – a special smile because I like that a lot.
JS: So, she specifically is able to control clouds and rainfall. But, interestingly, different Modjadji have specialties in certain areas. Like this one's very good at mist and whatnot.
AM: Really? And are those inherited as well or sort of like as you kind of see the up and coming generation like you sort of realize talents in some of them?
JS: I think it's more that – it's always the eldest daughter.
AM: Okay.
JS: So, I think it's --
AM: Well, inherited title.
JS: -- genetically – supposedly genetically.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Yeah. She has the powers.
AM: In the family.
JS: And then she becomes the Modjadji.
AM: It makes sense. It makes sense in the X-Men universe too.
JS: So, the way that the lineage for the Modjadji got started is a little complicated. So, bear with me. It also has a little bit of incest in it, which – you know, we talked about incest in Greek mythology.
AM: We did.
JS: It's not weird.
AM: Less of a – right. Not a thing.
JS: And, for the Modjadji, it's not like a thing that they're practicing often. But it's what gives her these special powers.
AM: And like, again, Harry Potter reference here. Like there is some, you know, amount of like power concentrated in the blood, power concentrated in the lineage. And, so, like, again, in the Greek case and maybe in this case, you know, it makes a certain amount of sense to like, you know, just sort of chemically like keep those things as concentrated as possible.
JS: This is like a special circumstance.
AM: Interesting.
JS: It's not something that they practice regularly.
AM: Whereas, in the Greeks, it was like, like the kind of standard like, you know, Mother, Father, child things. Like those weren't as established but only for gods.
JS: Right. But only for the gods.
AM: Exactly.
JS: Not for mortals.
AM: Yeah. And, here, there's like special circumstances where this is --
JS: Exactly.
AM: Okay.
JS: In the story, this dates back to the first Modjadjis dated back to the 16th century.
AM: Okay.
JS: So, there is a daughter of a chieftain, whose name is Dzugundini. In the story, she's either impregnated by her brother or by her father.
AM: Okay.
JS: Because the gods tell the father that she will gain rainmaking powers, which is a coveted gift for this dry region.
AM: Right. Right.
JS: And she will bear a child, who will be the first Modjadji.
AM: Okay. And, so, did the – like did the whole family sort of say like I guess this is what's happening now like a post-prophecy?
JS: Yeah. I think the father is just like, "All right, I guess – I mean the gods are telling me --
AM: Right.
JS: -- I have to do this.
AM: Right.
JS: This is what I'm going to do.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Like kind of the Abraham on the Mount sacrificing --
AM: Right. Right.
JS: -- Isaac?
AM: Yeah.
JS: Is that the right one?
AM: I – you're the scholar here.
JS: Probably. Either way, Dzugundini is held responsible for the actions of her father and brother and is shunned from the village like, shitty victim-blaming.
AM: Classic, you know, historical men blaming the victim.
JS: Right. Which, I guess the village probably either turned on her brother and father or either way, she just was like, "Why didn't you stop them?" That sort of thing, which is terrible and awful.
AM: Yeah. And like I mean I guess there's – you know, there's like a visible – there's visible evidence of, of the act.
JS: Yeah.
AM: And like that happens to be, you know, the woman's body.
JS: Yeah. Dzugundini is a smart girl. She gathers up followers as she leaves the village --
AM: Awesome.
JS: -- and establishes what would become the kingdom of Balobedu.
AM: So, it's sort of like – I'm trying to think of a specific movie, but where you like – you stand up in the lunchroom and like the bullies make fun of you. And, so, you start walking out. And everyone's like, "I'm with you." And like follows you out of lunch.
JS: It's kind of very like I am Spartacus --
AM: Right. Right.
JS: -- which is cool.
AM: Only better because it's African women.
JS: Yes. So, she establishes this village. Gives birth to a son, who becomes like a male leader called Mugodo. As the Mugodo leads – this is not a peaceful time though.
AM: Okay.
JS: She dies. He's leading. It's not really good. There's a bunch of --
AM: Sort of Prophet Muhammad situation.
JS: Yeah. So, there's a bunch of rivalries between families.
AM: Look at that historical knowledge.
JS: So, in order to continue the --
AM: Dynasty?
JS: Yeah. The matrilineal line.
AM: Yeah.
JS: The Mugodo impregnates his own daughter like the first one.
AM: Okay.
JS: And then the daughter becomes the first Modjadji, which means ruler of the day.
AM: Nice.
JS: But it is also the same term used for the rain queen.
AM: So, sort of like the, the body in which the ruler, you know, is instantiated for the moment --
JS: Yes.
AM: -- for the, for the lifetime.
JS: And, so, she, out of all of the line, is the first to show the rainmaking gift.
AM: So interesting.
JS: It is super, super cool. The interesting thing about this is that the line has been maintained until June 2005.
AM: Oh, god. What happened in June 2005?
JS: We'll talk about it in a second.
AM: Cliffhanger.
JS: Yes.
AM: Ugh.
JS: So, there's a bunch of different customs that the Rain Queen kind of has to be involved in.
AM: Okay.
JS: The Rain Queen has to shun public functions and can only communicate --
AM: Like a Supreme Court Justice. Like the other Queen of America, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
JS: Oh, Queen, notorious RBG.
AM: Yeah. Yeah. Like sits in the front row of the State of the Union. Can't clap because they're impartial.
JS: So, shun public functions, can only communicate with her people through male consulars, which is not great, but still --
AM: Like the worker bees.
JS: Yes.
AM: Sure.
JS: I like that. I like that yeah.
AM: Yeah. Yeah. they have to have a place, but it's not the highest place.
JS: Every November, she presides over the annual rainmaking ceremony.
AM: Cool. Post-harvest.
JS: Yes.
AM: Classic. Yeah.
JS: And just – you know, it's a ceremony where she invites the rain to the thing. There's also a whole thing with, when the baby is born, if it rains that day, they're going to have like special powers versus --
AM: Cool.
JS: -- versus like a traditional rainmaker.
AM: And, wait, I guess, in South Africa, that would be springtime, November.
JS: Yes. Yes.
AM: Going into – going to summer.
JS: Which I guess it would rain more then. So, that makes sense.
AM: Yeah. Or, like post-planting season you know, you want the, the rain to make the Earth fertile.
JS: That makes sense. The Rain Queen never marries, but she has many wives, which like it's not really spouses. It's more like ladies-in-waiting or servants.
AM: Nice.
JS: They're sent from the villages in the kingdom to help serve her as sort of like a form of diplomacy, which like announces, "Oh, I'm loyal to the queen."
AM: Right. Right.
JS: And they send this cute lady to go live with her.
AM: Yeah. So, I guess, if she – if she doesn't marry, she does have children, right?
JS: She does have children.
AM: She does have children.
JS: I'll explain that in a second.
AM: Oh, All right. I'm getting ahead of myself.
JS: The Rain Queen maintains a lush garden that surrounds her royal compound.
AM: Makes sense, of course. It would be kind of suspicious if the Rain Queen lived in a desert.
JS: Well, it's supposed to be a reflection of her amazing rain power.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Actually, scientists have kind of like observed this.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And they believe that the compound and that part of the kingdom are built on a rain belt. So, the area has active rain due to the hot air and the humidity of the region. But like who's to say the Rain Queen didn't pick that region because of that?
AM: Sure.
JS: Right?
AM: Yeah. I mean, if you were an ocean Queen, you would live in the ocean, right? Like you, you would go to the place where you're kind of most at home and most immersed --
JS: Right.
AM: -- in the thing that is your thing.
JS: Interestingly, there's the world's largest cicada trees, which I had to like Google and look at it. They're like these big, like spindly looking trees that – I don't know – look like they would grow in the desert, but grow really well.
AM: Like palm style?
JS: Sort of.
AM: Palm tree style.
JS: Interestingly, so, this species of tree is actually named after her, which is really cool. Like, there's – it's the oldest tree like that in the country that they found.
AM: The individual tree.
JS: Yes.
AM: Wow.
JS: That individual tree that grows on her compound. So, they --
AM: That's so cool.
JS: -- gave the scientific name for it, and named it after the Modjadji.
AM: God, I love it when that happens.
JS: Isn't that awesome?
AM: I love when that happens.
JS: It's so so cool.
AM: That'd be a very romantic gift, right?
JS: Yes.
AM: Like naming a scientific thing after a loved one. Stars. Whatever. There's, there's uncountable trillions of them.
JS: Come on. It's so cool.
AM: Yeah. But like maybe it's already dead.
JS: But there's also like a thousand or millions of different kinds of like bugs and stuff. So, the likelihood that you're going to be named after a bug if you're dating scientist --
AM: Yeah. But like – but like species on Earth are way more finite than stars in the sky.
JS: All right.
AM: I'm just saying. If I had to choose between a biologist and then astronomer to give me like a grand romantic, romantic gesture, it would definitely be like a super cute like beetle or moth that I can mount in a shadow box and put in my house.
JS: Sidebar, they just named a insect after President Obama.
AM: Really?
JS: Yeah. You have to Google it. It's super, super cool.
AM: I will. Hold on. Hold on. I'm Googling it. Oh, my god, there's a Wikipedia page, List of Things Named After Barack Obama.
JS: Oh my god, I’m so stocked about that.
AM: [Inaudible 13:30]. There’s also a list of organisms named after famous people, which is way less interesting.
JS: Yes. No. The things named after Barack Obama.
AM: Oh, there it is.
JS: Oh, it's not a insect. It is --
AM: It is, it is a turtle parasite.
JS: Turtle parasite. That was it, which I guess like is not super flattering.
AM: Baracktrema obamai is a newly named turtle parasite. And the scientist who discovered it is President Obama's cousin.
JS: Oh, cool.
AM: Cousin twice removed. The Journal of Parasitology.
JS: Oh, cool. Cool.
AM: This has been a fertile sidebar. I would not like my future scientist spouse to name a flatworm after me --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- to be clear.
JS: That’d be [Inaudible 14:05].
AM: To be clear, I want a multicellular, nonparasitic organism, please.
JS: So, African culture actually has a lot of respect for the Rain Queen. You would think – you know? Given the modern sensibilities that we have now, supposedly, you would think that we would kind of frown upon like, "Oh, this woman makes it rain." And scientists are like, "Oh, no, she doesn't."
AM: Right. Like there's a kind of modern skepticism to sort of deities and rituals that are tied to like things that we cannot explain with science in some ways.
JS: And then, again, we also have Groundhog's Day. So --
AM: We do. We do. We --
JS: So, we really are not one to talk whatsoever.
AM: We truly forecast the seasons with the emergence of a small rodent from the ground.
JS: But, interestingly, so, the fifth Rain Queen actually maintained diplomatic relations with Nelson Mandela.
AM: Amazing.
JS: The King Shaka Zulu sent emissaries to ask for her blessings.
AM: Awesome.
JS: Leaders in surrounding kingdoms attempt to avoid conflict with the region, kind of in deference to the position.
AM: Sure.
JS: Like the Rain Queen will probably take our rain away if we're not nice to her. So --
AM: Yeah. Which is like, "Hey, this is an important function for our region and our continent. So, let's not."
JS: The Rain Queen actually brings in a lot of tourist attraction. So much tourist attraction that the South African Government offered a government civil list, which basically gives them a stipend paid by the government to help defray the cost of like preserving her garden.
AM: Sure.
JS: Which is great.
AM: Like a historical – not just a relic, but like a place of cultural and historical significance.
JS: Right. Which, you know, good on the South African Government for sending them money.
AM: Good decisions y'all, in the 21st century anyway.
JS: So, going back to the kind of lineage of things, in order to maintain the lineage and dynastic status of the Rain Queen, her council basically picks people she can mate with. And they're chosen by the Royal Council. The Rain Queen is not expected to remain exclusive to these partners --
AM: Great.
JS: -- so long as they don't conceive a child with partners that aren't approved.
AM: I see. So, does she like make these choices in collaboration with her counsel?
JS: Kind of basically.
AM: Yeah. So, I mean – right. Like, in some ways, her, her lineage is – not quite a commodity, but like it's an important kind of political decision.
JS: Right, and they, they tend to pick men who are part of the dynastic line already, who have a certain --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- amount of royalty in them.
AM: Like all of politics before the 18th century.
JS: Pretty much.
AM: Yeah.
JS: But they maintain that just so that they can make sure that the next Rain Queen is --
AM: Right.
JS: -- pure and a real Rain Queen.
AM: Yeah, and not another orphan walking in from the jungle.
JS: Like Storm. Storm would be an awesome Rain Queen though.
AM: God, or Halle Berry.
JS: There's this kind of rumor – I couldn't find out if this was actually legitimate or not.
AM: Yeah.
JS: But rain queens were said to know when they were near death. And, so, they would ingest poison through ritual suicide in order to allow the next in line to take over. Again, I'm not sure how legit that is. But that was from like some dude – I don’t know – some European who was visiting the kingdom in the early 1800s. So, you know how we were talking about how the last Rain Queen was in 2005?
AM: Yes.
JS: So, that's when she died, in 2005.
AM: Okay.
JS: She only served for two years.
AM: Aww.
JS: And she died when she was --
AM: Was she young?
JS: --27.
AM: 27. Fuck.
JS: She was said to have the ability to control clouds and rivers. Like, I said, specific Rain Queens have specific control over stuff.
AM: Oh, nice. So, she's like cloud and river girl.
JS: She was cloud and river girl. Yeah. She – actually, there was a lot of controversy surrounding her death for a couple reasons. First is she died from an undisclosed illness, which was later listed as meningitis.
AM: Huh.
JS: Except, when she was in the hospital after she died, someone set fire to her coffin, which makes people think there's a little bit of foul play in there.
AM: Right.
JS: Yeah. Like that sketchy.
AM: Classic. Destroy the body before they can perform an autopsy. If CSI and Criminal Minds have taught me anything, it's that you dissolve the body in acid to remove traces of foul play.
JS: There you go. They did not do that. They decided to set it on fire.
AM: Set fire. It’s just the same. Yeah.
JS: Some person in the hospital saw it.
AM: Wow.
JS: Stopped it from happening really. And --
AM: That's intense.
JS: Yeah. She has two children; a son and a daughter.
AM: Nice. Good work for 27. That's a great life.
JS: However, both of these kids were fathered by a commoner, who was not chosen by the Royal Council.
AM: Oh, damn.
JS: She had like a boyfriend.
AM: Wow. Although, she stuck around. She sounds awesome.
JS: Well, so, she was really disliked by the Royal Council. Like she didn't want to be Rain Queen. She didn't do the like hiding from public sort of thing. She walked around in jeans, jeans. Like would go to the nearby disco. Had a cell phone. Had a boyfriend.
AM: She sounds like, like the Prince Harry of South Africa only better.
JS: She's like a better modern Jasmine from Disney.
AM: She sounds great.
JS: Yes. But she's dead now.
AM: I'm so – Jul – I know Julia. Don't rub it in.
JS: So, there's a lot of issues mostly due to the fact that she didn't leave behind a viable heir.
AM: Yeah.
JS: There's been a lot of infighting over who will take over the throne. It's really complicated to kind of go into because there's a bunch of --
AM: Sure.
JS: -- warring factions and stuff like that. But, if you're interested, you can actually Google Rain Queen succession. And there's a whole bunch of articles and stuff.
AM: So, fascinating.
JS: There's been a recent update, but it's not super verified yet I guess.
AM: Okay.
JS: This succession has supposedly been verified.
AM: Huh.
JS: Eleven-year-old Masalanabo Modjadji because she gets the Modjadji title.
AM: Nice.
JS: She'll be crowned when she's 18. She's 11 now. She will also be the first queen to be officially recognized by the South African Government as royalty rather than just a figurehead.
AM: Shit.
JS: Yeah. So that's kind of fun and cool.
AM: That's very exciting. Yeah.
JS: Yeah. So --
AM: And I like that they don't like thrust this upon her when she's 11.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Like she's allowed to hang out a little bit of out of the region.
JS: Now, the Royal Council is gonna be chillin’ with her for a while.
AM: Right. Yeah.
JS: And they're just going to wait until she's 18, and they're going to crown her.
AM: I hope that's true.
JS: Yeah.
AM: It sounds fascinating.
JS: So we'll have to wait seven years. We'll- we'll update you in seven years what's up with the new Modjadji.
AM: Episode 480: Modjadji Update.
JS: Yeah. So, it's really interesting. It's a lineage that has kind of continued on over the past 400-500 years, which is fantastic.
AM: Yeah, 500-ish.
JS: Yeah.
AM: That's amazing. I – and I – I love that this is, you know, something that persists to the current day. We'll often hear of like badass deities and, you know? Great ceremonies that have been lost over time to conquering nations or to, you know, missionaries from other religions. That the rest of it kind of had to die out in order to preserve the people's safety. But I-I love that this still exists. And that, shit, she's – she's, you know, recognized royalty.
JS: Yeah. Isn't that so cool?
AM: That is so cool.
JS: It's like the cute little 11-year-old who probably can control like mist and puddles.
AM: Oh, man.
JS: It's fucking adorable.
AM: That'll be great. And he sort of like grew over time where like at first he can kind of like just stop the leaking faucet or like bring the glass of water near to you. And then, over time, it's like, "Oh, man, she's graduated to the – to the mist.
JS: Some legit hydrokinesis and stuff in there.
AM: Hydrokinesis. What a word.
JS: Yes.
AM: Halle Berry's more hot.
Outro Music
AM: Spirits was created by Julia Schifini and me, Amanda McLoughlin. It's edited by Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Allyson Wakeman.
JS: Subscribe to Spirits on your preferred podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, @SpiritsPodcast.
AM: On our Patreon page, patreon.com/spiritspodcast, you can sign up for exclusive content like behind the scenes photos, audio, extras, director's commentary, blooper reels and beautiful recipe cards with custom drink and snack pairings.
JS: If you liked the show, please share with your friends and leave us a review on iTunes. It really does help.
AM: Thank you so much for listening, ‘til next time.
Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil