Welcome to the #metoo episode. This one’s a toughie, chock-a-block with emotional triggers. But it’s sooooo good.
We talk about how deftly this episode handles difficult subject matter—Magdalene Laundries, rape, human trafficking—while also doing a good job of fleshing out each character a bit more. Did we know Mr. Butler owned an arsenal? Nope. Have we seen Jack wrestle with his conscience to this degree? Nope. Did we know that Phryne “once knew” a Portuguese sailor? Well, ok—that wasn’t exactly a shock. 🙂
There’s a lot of hard material to talk about, but we’re so glad the show tackled these topics. And we found this little tidbit from an interview with Kerry Greenwood for Inside History Magazine, with which we could empathize:
IHM. Q. Which stories affected you the most in your research?
- Kerry: The miserable cruel lives of the women in the Magdalen Laundry. Reduced me to pulp, and I had to keep on reading.
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Just got around to listening to this episode and wanted to address the pronunciation issue raised. It’s not a regional thing, it’s a British thing. At Oxford University, there is a Magdalen College and its name is pronounced “Maudlin” as well. While touring around Oxford four and half years ago, I learned that the pronunciation is a Middle English thing which was the language spoken at the time of the college’s creation.
Hi, Little Red! Thanks for the information on the pronunciation of Magdalen. It makes sense that it’s a British thing. We’re always learning more about Australia (and, therefore, Britain) from this show! Thanks for getting in touch!
xoxo, Mary and Chandler
Hi Chandler and Mary,
Just wanted to say thank you so much for an amazing set of podcasts! I have only recently discovered MFMM (thank you too, Twitter!) and have been binge watching the series, listening to your podcast after I finish each episode. I have learned so much about clothes and period style, your attention to detail is impressive. It’s so fun hearing others obsess over it too, as I don’t know anyone else who watches it! But now I have to press on alone… oh well. I do hope you will continue through series three.
PS (though I’m sure this has been pointed out to you) ‘maudlin’ is an archaic pronunciation of ‘Magdalen’ – both the Oxford and Cambridge college names are pronounced this way, though I’m surprised it travelled to Australia as I’ve never heard it outside the university context. We would say mag-da-len laundries in the UK.
https://www.glossophilia.org/?p=11892
Thanks again,
Ruth
Hi, Ruth! Thank you so much for getting in touch and letting us know you enjoy the podcast. We’re sorry you had to finish out Season 3 without us, but we will get there! In the meantime, We hope you’re able to find others to share in the MFMM obsession. The fans have built such a rich community online, so at the very least you will be in good company there! The Tumblr community is a great one, if you haven’t already found it.
Also, thanks for letting us know about the pronunciation of Magdalen. It’s always amazing to us how long some of these traditions hang on!
All the best,
Mary and Chandler