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
Twitter

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.

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.
ㅤ
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

10/19/2025

Frivolity as a path to imagination.
ㅤ
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?
ㅤ
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…

Address

Fleischmanns, NY
12430

Opening Hours

9am - 10am

Telephone

+18008113351

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Myth America posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category

The Stories We Tell, 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. 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. After four years and almost 200 shows on a local NPR affiliate, Myth America is taking a brief hiatus to finally get ourselves organized as a real, live podcast to share with the world via iTunes and other services. We’re finally building out the website and looking forward to being able to share Myth America on demand, so you can listen when you’d like to! Coming soon: Podcasts from mythamericaradio.com Twitter @myth_america The ancient Greeks said that myths were 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? About Leigh Melander, Ph.D.

Leigh has a doctorate in Cultural Mythology and Psychology, with an emphasis in Imaginal Studies. Her undergraduate degree is in performance, literature, and history from Penn State, and she studied writing by invitation with Nobel Poet Laureate Derek Walcott at Boston University. She has a doctorate in cultural mythology and psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and wrote her dissertation on frivolity as an entry into imagination. She has published articles in Spring Journal, The Routledge International Handbook of Jungian Film Studies, The Mythology CD-ROM, and has appeared in various media outlets, including the History Channel, as a mythology expert. She edits the Joseph Campbell Foundation MythBlast series, article series and has served on the Joseph Campbell Foundation Board since 2013.

She is the Founding Fomenter/Partner of Spillian: A Place to Revel, a creative center offering programming in imagination, story, myth, sustainability, and community; as well as its various media & educational efforts, including Myth America. Leigh has two books in the works, hoping to have them ready to hit the presses later in 2018, and offers workshops, lectures, and coaching on mythology/story, creativity, and women’s empowerment both at Spillian and at venues across the US. Learn more here!