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Lore

Legends 89: Mother Dearest

Duration
31m
Broadcast on
28 Sep 2026
Audio Format
other

Folklore is often about powerful beings that deserve our fear and respect. Which is why one big category of legends around the globe is about someone very close to home.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Alex Robinson and research by Jamie Vargas.

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©2026 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

This episode is sponsored by XYZ Films and the acclaimed new documentary Capturing Bigfoot. On October 20th of 1967, Roger Patterson captured 59 seconds of film showing a creature walking through the Northern California woods, footage that became the most analyzed and debated in history. Fifty-nine years later, a reel of 16 millimeter film discovered in a safe changes everything. Capturing Bigfoot reveals the untold story behind the world's greatest mystery told for the first time by Patterson's own son and the people who were there. This is a story about family legacy, broken friendships, and how far people will go to protect a secret, featuring a brand new 4K scan of the original film taken from the Patterson family archives that some historians have called the best rendering of the footage ever seen, as well as never before seen footage shot by Roger Patterson that will change the discourse around the Patterson-Gimlin film and the legacy of Bigfoot forever, now available to rent or own on Amazon Prime Video. The first film was the first film to be released in the film, which was the first film to be, and the first film to be released in the film was the first film to be released in the film. She was only 19, and she was going to die. It wasn't like she had a lot to live for, though. Up to this point, Maria had not been blessed with a happy life. Her childhood home had been so abusive that at a mere 15 years old, she had married a stranger just to escape her father's temper, but her gamble didn't pay off, and she found herself stuck under the thumb of a violent husband. Four years after they said their vows, Maria finally saved up enough money to buy a one-way ticket out of her tiny corner of hell, but before her ship could even pull out of the harbor, her husband found her, and, judging by the speed at which he was running down the wharf, he would reach the boat well before it would set sail. Maria had limited options, she couldn't run, and she couldn't fight him off, and so she did the only thing she could think of. She jumped into the sea. Now this was Russia, the water was cold, cold enough to kill a fully grown woman within a matter of minutes, but Maria didn't care. She had quickly made her peace with death. When the other option was returning home with her husband, the choice was obvious. Within a few seconds, she lost consciousness, before waking up alive, in the hospital. She was a survivor, even though she didn't want to be, but her tenacity would be the very thing that would end up saving her, and the lives of so many others. It would take Maria many more years to escape the cycle of abuse, but when she finally did it, she would become a legend. Maria Batchkareva, the leader of Russia's first ever all-female infantry unit, the battalion of death, and Maria, who had known more pain at the hands of her family than any bullet could ever inflict, showed all of Russia, exactly what women could do. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore Legends. The men could not escape the village. They were completely trapped, but not by an army or a rock slide. No, they were trapped by a woman. And before you imagine an army of gals all kitted out for battle, think again. They were trapped by just one woman, standing against dozens of men. She didn't have any weapons, either, just her body, but that was all she needed. The men weren't at risk of dying, at least not immediately, first they would be seduced, one by one they would give in to the beautiful temptress, allowing her to take them into her arms, only when she was fully satisfied when she released them into the afterlife.

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