Myth America

Myth America Mythologist Leigh Melander, PhD explores 'the stories that we tell, and the stories that tell us.'™

Join host Leigh Melander, Ph.D., and her guests from around the world as we explore the evocative mythologies that inform who we are as Americans on Myth America™. Myths are the stories that we tell and the stories that tell us.™ They are the metaphors that shape our imagination of the world around us. Podcasts from mythamericaradio.com
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The ancient Greeks said that myths wer

e the things that were most and least true simultaneously. Far from just being a lie, myths pulse in the background of all of our lives -- our selves, our families, our communities -- we tell ourselves stories about all of them. What are the myths we're living in and how are they living in us? Podcasts available on mythamericaradio.com, the new Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythmaker Podcast Network, and podcast platforms internationally. Twitter

Myth America™ was originally broadcast beginning in 2014 on WIOX Radio 91.3 FM, Roxbury NY. A project of Spillian LLC, a creative center offering programming in imagination, story, myth, sustainability, and community. spillian.com


About Leigh
Leigh Melander has a doctorate in cultural mythology and psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and has a background in writing and the performing arts, marketing and strategic planning, and strengthening communities nationally and internationally. She has served as a board member for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and on the academic advisory board for Spring Journal for several years, was featured on the on the History Channel as an expert on myth and story, and originally hosted Myth America, as a weekly radio program on myth and imagination on an NPR affiliate in New York for four years. She was the founding editor of the Joseph Campbell Foundation MythBlast essay series, and has been published in Spring Journal, the award-winning Routledge International Handbook of Jungian Film Studies, and released her first book, Psyche’s Choice, in 2019. Leigh works with individuals, communities, and organizations to imagine past what they think as possible, and she and her husband own Spillian: A Place to Revel, a regenerative center for imagination and creativity on the historic Fleischmanns Yeast family estate in the Catskills.

02/13/2026

Myth, movie-making, and real life braided together in ways none of us could have planned.

A piece I wrote originally for the Joseph Campbell.

Werewolves Within, directed by , was filmed at Spillian in early 2020 — production wrapping just days before New York shut down.

A horror-comedy about a town unraveling under suspicion met a world about to do the same.

Read more on our new Substack.
Come play!
Link in bio.

- Leigh

From Leigh. Happy Yule and may the light find you!
12/17/2025

From Leigh. Happy Yule and may the light find you!

an ancient celebration of paradox

Leigh has joined Substack! The first post about the world of Spillian and our deepest heart dreaming. We'll be diving in...
12/09/2025

Leigh has joined Substack! The first post about the world of Spillian and our deepest heart dreaming. We'll be diving into podcast mode with Myth America again in the new year. Can't wait!

something of a manifesto

On holding blessing and ache and honoring the deep contradictions of the human psyche.
11/28/2025

On holding blessing and ache and honoring the deep contradictions of the human psyche.

Happy Thanksgiving. And Holding the Day After. On making room for blessing and ache. Today is a day braided from many strands. For some, it’s a day of thanks, a moment to gather around a table, to remember abundance, to feel the

10/26/2025

Embrace Uncertainty, Find Your Way

Here's a little clip of co-founder Leigh talking on the Explorer Poet podcast about myth and metaphor. In which we challenge ourselves to accept the invitation into uncertainty - understanding that the journey is how we discover ourselves, and that not knowing where it leads is sometimes the whole point.
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Leigh has a doctorate in mythology and psychology and is a specialist in creating rituals and ceremonies that are real, meaningful, celebratory, and, yeah, about you.
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Find your way to the whole podcast in our Blogs section in our linktree!
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10/19/2025

Frivolity as a path to imagination.
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Here's a little clip of co-founder Leigh talking on the Explorer Poet podcast about frivolity as a way of being. Take a step back: When you use your imagination, how are you scaling it? Take the time and allow the moments to come to you instead of trying to push against them, and learn how to take power in staying small.

Leigh has a doctorate in mythology and psychology and is a specialist in creating rituals and ceremonies that are real, meaningful, celebratory, and, yeah, about you.
ㅤ
Find your way to the whole podcast in our Blogs section in our linktree!
ㅤ

10/12/2025

Conversations about Myth: A Never-Ending Story

Here's a little clip of co-founder Leigh talking on the Explorer Poet podcast about myth and how it can be perceived. What does myth mean to you? Is it a lie, a story, or is it something designed to help us ask the questions we need?
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Leigh has a doctorate in mythology and psychology and is a specialist in creating rituals and ceremonies that are real, meaningful, celebratory, and, yeah, about you.
ㅤ
Find your way to the whole podcast in our Blogs section in our linktree!
ㅤ

09/26/2025

Here's a little clip of co-founder Leigh talking on the Explorer Poet podcast about creating rituals that aren't just about peer pressure - past or present...

Leigh has a doctorate in mythology and psychology and is a specialist in creating rituals and ceremonies that are real, meaningful, celebratory, and, yeah, about you.

Here's the whole podcast: https://explorerpoet.com/2025/09/24/exploring-frivolity-as-a-tool-for-understanding-the-self-and-fostering-creativity-with-leigh-melander/

Myth America the podcast is stirring again, finally! We're anticipating being back live on podcast platforms in the next...
09/26/2025

Myth America the podcast is stirring again, finally! We're anticipating being back live on podcast platforms in the next month...stay tuned!

But in the meantime, Leigh had a great time as a guest on Josh Mortensen's podcast, The Explorer Poet, talking myth and frivolity and imagination and, as always, a bit of rebellion... check it out!

In this engaging conversation with Leigh Melander, we explore the profound impact of myth and storytelling on our understanding of ourselves and the world. We discuss the importance of frivolity an…

We are very excited to say that we have launched a new project from Spillian. SpillianQuest is a place to learn and play...
01/21/2025

We are very excited to say that we have launched a new project from Spillian.

SpillianQuest is a place to learn and play online, working big ideas, challenging concepts, and helping folks to figure out how they want to quest after meaning in their lives. All with a bit of reveling. We will be picking up the reins again here at Myth America as we build steam, and delivering regular podcasts again.

But, in the meantime, our first quest is now live on SpillianQuest - a dive into some of the words that are swirling in a weird moment in time, and an exploration of how we can claim them and use them to begin to find our way forward.

It's free to all. An offering, an opening, and a thanks to those who are up for exploring this new adventure with us as we learn.

Please join us!

https://spillianquest.com

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