What you'll learn

• 1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction & Setup** - Host Jason introduces the episode, noting it's a return to the Polynesian demigod Maui, last covered in 2020. He sets up the framing device: a gathering of different Polynesian peoples on a remote island to discuss Maui's disappearance and death.
• 2 (04:11) **Maui Raises the Sky** - The first story told at the gathering: Maui finds a world where the sky hangs so low people must crawl. He lifts it with his feet, then throws it to the mountaintops.
• 3 (14:22) **The Gathering Debates Maui's Feats** - The assembled groups argue over the details of Maui's various deeds, revealing cultural differences in the myths.
• 4 (22:21) **Theories of Maui's Death** - The group shares different cultural versions of how Maui died, including death by eel, by angry islanders, and by entering the land of the dead.
• 5 (26:44) **The "Official" Maori Story of Maui's Death** - A Maori traveler tells the canonical version: Maui attempts to defeat death by entering the body of Hine-nui-te-pō (the goddess of death) to be reborn.
• 6 (33:02) **The Final Confrontation with Hine-nui-te-pō** - Maui and his brothers sail to the land of the dead. Maui transforms into a worm and attempts to enter the sleeping goddess's body to be reborn and defeat death.
• 7 (46:35) **Aftermath and Alternate Versions** - The group discusses the implications of Maui's death and shares a bowdlerized version of the story. The host reflects on the nature of the myth.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app