Our newest podcast series, Future Fables, in partnership with Aesop, offers newly imagined fables that will catalyze both conversation and contemplation. Written by some of today’s most thought-provoking authors, each of these bedtime stories for adults adopts the ancient fable form to help us navigate the complexities of modern life.
Listen to a teaser below, and join us tomorrow for our first Future Fable from Amelia Abraham.
The season will include:
The Rat and the Hamster by Amelia Abraham
October 4, 2022
In a playful tale of friendship, envy and empathy, Abraham’s Future Fable features a pair of ambitious rodents. Abraham is a journalist and the author of two books—Queer Intentions (2020) and We Can Do Better Than This (2021), an anthology which brings together 35 voices on the future of LGBTQIA+ rights.
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The River Cat’s Brother by Akwaeke Emezi
October 6, 2022
Emezi’s Future Fable highlights the importance of accepting help from others. They have won a plethora of prestigious awards, and have been featured on the cover of TIME magazine as a 2021 Next Generation Leader.
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The Butterfly Man by Lydia Millet
October 11, 2022
Lydia Millet’s Future Fable explores the nature of change through the tale of a slightly stubborn insect. Millet is a prolific author of over 13 books, whose collection of short stories Love in Infant Monkeys (2010) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her most recent novel, A Children’s Bible, was published in 2020.
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The Pack by Rivers Solomon
October 18, 2022
In Solomon’s Future Fable we join a pack of wolves to discover the importance of community. Solomon is an award-winning author, self-proclaimed gender malcontent and keen bird watcher, whose novel An Unkindness of Ghosts featured in the Aesop Queer Library last year.
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Sleep Is All Hers by Mieko Kawakami
October 25, 2022
Kawakami’s Future Fable invites us to reconsider common fears, while underlining the preciousness of friendship. She was recently shortlisted for the International Booker Prize for her novel Heaven (2009), translated by David Boyd, who also translated this fable.
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Aesop—the literary-leaning skin, hair and body care brand—has launched a new podcast series which asks the question, what sort of fables might its namesake—Aesop, the ancient Greek fabulist—write in 2022? Featuring compelling stories by some of the most thought-provoking authors in contemporary literature, this series of succinct yet stirring tales may help listeners navigate life’s big questions, with morals for the modern day revealed through fables of river cats, gluttonous caterpillars and ambitious rodents. The podcast is available at aesop.com and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, listen, and enjoy each fable as we bring you Future Fables, presented by Aesop. Episodes will be available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Pandora, Google Podcasts, Castbox, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.