Humanity dreamed of flight for a very long time, but the reality of it was mostly failure. The first woman to truly fly went up in a hot air balloon in 1784. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee . You...
Mar 19, 2026•16 min
The Greeks invented history in the West, and to my very great surprise there was actually one female Greek historian. Pamphile of Epidaurus's work was still read and well-regarded 800 years after her death. Sadly, we lost it at some point after that. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This is a special bonus episode normally available only to subscribers, but in March 2026 available to everyone to celebrate Women's History Month. This show surv...
Mar 16, 2026•10 min
Anna Komnene is not the absolute first female historian, but she's pretty close. Plus, she wrote a full length book which still exists if you care to read it today. She also lived through the First Crusade, not to mention centuries of slander. It's Women's History Month! If you support the show during March 2026, you'll be entered into a prize drawing for Her Half of History merch. See below for links! Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This sh...
Mar 12, 2026•28 min•Season 16Ep. 6
In the 10th century Hrotsvit of Gandersheim was seriously annoyed with the classic Roman playwrights she studied at school. They were all male, and she thought some of their depictions of women were unacceptable. She responded by becoming the first female playwright in the historical record. This is a bonus episode of the type that is usually available only to Patreon subscribers, but it's Women's History Month, and it's free to everyone! Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for source...
Mar 09, 2026•12 min
The Tale of Genji is often listed as the world's first novel, but there are naysayers. Is it a novel? Is it the first? That's highly contentious, but whatever you decide, Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote this classic a very long time ago, and it is a masterpiece. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. It's Women's History Month! I'm running bonus episodes all month, plus a prize drawing for free Her Half of History merch. To get in the drawing, you can ...
Mar 05, 2026•22 min
It's March and I'm celebrating with free-to-everyone bonus episodes all month, starting with this one on why women's history will always been important. I'm also holding a drawing where a listener like you can win free Her Half of History merch. There are four ways to get entered into the drawing: Sign up as a supporter on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235). If you're already a Patreon supporter, bump up your level of support. Make a one-time donation on Buy...
Mar 02, 2026•10 min
Today's episode is in response to a question from a listener. Peter asked me who was the first non-native woman to reach the Americas? Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir was an Icelandic settler, transatlantic traveler, mother, pilgrim, and possibly the most well-traveled woman of the Viking Age. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patre...
Feb 26, 2026•22 min•Season 16Ep. 4
Fu Hao married a king, gave birth multiple times, and also commanded troops in battle. (Why not?) Living around 1200 BCE in China, she is the first recorded female military leader in history. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time dona...
Feb 12, 2026•17 min•Season 16Ep. 3
The first named author in history was Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon, conqueror of Sumeria. Her poems have been called the world's first bestsellers. But she's also been accused of not really writing them. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a...
Feb 05, 2026•22 min
Many religions and cultures have an answer to Who was the first woman? But the records of those answers were all written thousands of years after any such women lived. For historians, the more answerable question is Who was the first woman named in a record written during or close to her own lifetime? Neithhotep was a queen in Egypt's very first dynasty. Not much is known about her for certain, but what we do know is that she kicked off a very long list of women in the historical record. Visit t...
Jan 29, 2026•17 min•Season 16Ep. 1
Her Half of History turns 5 years old this month! In celebration, I'm taking questions from listeners and they range from the oldest account of childbirth to the reason I started a podcast in the first place. In this episode you will can hear the voices of some of my fellow history podcasters. Please check out their shows for more great history: Civics and Coffee The History Fix Podcast It's a History Podcast Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. ...
Jan 22, 2026•32 min
Early anthropologists and archaeologists told us that in foraging societies, women gathered and men hunted. More recent research suggests that women did hunt, but the debate will go on about how much. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-...
Jan 08, 2026•16 min
Please send me your questions for the Q&A episode to celebrate my 5-year podcast anniversary! There's a spot to do it on the website (herhalfofhistory.com). If you include contact details, there's a drawing for some free swag for you. Also, the votes are in, and the topic of Series 15 is: The First Woman Who. That will start in January. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the on the support of listeners like you...
Dec 25, 2025•3 min
They say necessity is the mother of invention, but I'm not convinced. Throughout this series on inventions, I noticed that almost all of the inventions I covered clustered in the second half of the 19th century, in a time period known as the Second Industrial Revolution. This episode is a retrospective on some of the factors that made that time period see the invention of more society-changing inventions than any other. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and...
Dec 18, 2025•26 min•Season 15Ep. 18
Sewing is at least 45,000 years ago, and it was known in nearly every culture on earth, but for millennia it was all done by hand. There are multiple claimants for the inventor of the first sewing machine, but the one who emerged with the US patent was Elias Howe. Unfortunately, his machine didn't really work. This episode tells the story of how that got fixed and how it impacted women. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the...
Dec 11, 2025•21 min•Season 15Ep. 17
Santa gets more mail every year than any other person on earth, but the earliest letters that I know of were not to him. They were from him. Later on, it became more normal to write to him and ask for what you were hoping to get for Christmas. This episode covers a sampling of letters from the 1850s to the 1950s, and then finishes off with the story behind one of the most famous lines in American journalism: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." It is time to vote in the poll to choose the to...
Dec 04, 2025•24 min
Most historical women lived and cooked in an era when cold storage meant something like the root cellar or down the well. The ability to keep food at a constant temperature radically changed our relationship with food, both before it arrives in our homes and afterwards. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy ...
Nov 27, 2025•25 min•Season 15Ep. 16
Early details are scarce, but women have been managing periods for millennia, using everything from free bleeding to tampons to sanitary napkins. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee . Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts...
Nov 20, 2025•21 min
Women may not have invented the car, but a woman took the first road trip in one (Bertha Benz) and a woman was the first victim of one (Mary Ward). And when cars came in big time they changed life dramatically for women in particular. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee . Join Into History ...
Nov 13, 2025•22 min•Season 15Ep. 20
It's a bye-week for the podcast, but I have two big announcements! First, November is a month for gratitude, and Her Half of History is donating half of all revenue this month to the nonprofit of your choice. Please visit the website ( herhalfofhistory.com ) to vote. For double the voting power. Visit my Patreon page ( https://bit.ly/4nEb6Zu ) and vote there too. You don't have to be a supporter to vote, but there has never been a better time to become a supporter... Second, in January I am comi...
Nov 06, 2025•4 min
Diaper duty isn't the funnest part of parenting. But imagine what it was like when there was no such thing as a disposable, and you were also on laundry duty... The disposable diaper was a miracle to many women. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee . Join Into History for a community of ad-f...
Oct 30, 2025•23 min•Season 15Ep. 13
Artificial lighting is an invention that has become so ubiquitous in the developed world that many of us barely notice when we use it. But it wasn’t always this way. Many a historical woman noticed big time every day. This episode tells the story from prehistorical oil lamps, to candles, to flipping a switch. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfactio...
Oct 23, 2025•22 min•Season 15Ep. 12
It's spooky season and this is my third annual Halloween episode! It's the story of Aqua Tofana, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and utterly deadly poison invented by a network of female poisoners in 17th century Italy. The music is from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, recorded by The Wichita State University Chamber Players with John Harrison on Violin and Robert Turizziani and as Conductor. The recording is licensed under the Creative Commons and available under the classicals.de websit...
Oct 16, 2025•26 min•Season 15Ep. 11
Quite possibly no invention in modern history has done more to change women's lives than the pill so important it can just be called: The Pill. Safe, reliable, relatively easy birth control was a game changer for many (but not all) women. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee . Join Into Histo...
Oct 02, 2025•25 min•Season 15Ep. 10
The ancient world recorded many means of contraception, some of them reasonable, and some of them bizarre. Many records only say that prostitutes do this well, and do not give the means at all. Records start to get better in the 19th century, but access was limited depending on what part of the world you lived in. In the early 20th century, many activists campaigned for better alternatives and information, but at mid-century the available methods still weren't good enough for Margaret Sanger. Vi...
Sep 25, 2025•27 min
The problem of what to cook for dinner has been with women for millennia, but for most women in history, the options were limited by modern standards. They ate fresh, local ,and minimally processed. Not because they were healthy and environmentally conscious, but because they had no other ingredients available. Canned goods were invented for the military, not for housewives. But after a great deal of invention, regulation, and advertising, they became a standard part of cooking dinner. Visit the...
Sep 18, 2025•25 min•Season 15Ep. 8
Historically, women carred an awful lot of water. It was so commonplace that it rarely gets mentioned in the historical record, so the details are scarce. But the search for water sparked invention 10500 years ago when the oldest wells were dug and has continued to inspire countless inventions ever since. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page ( http...
Sep 11, 2025•25 min•Season 15Ep. 7
Until the very recent past, your chances of surviving childhood were iffy. Your chances of losing one or more of your own children were high. The invention of vaccines dramatically improved children's health, but getting there was a challenge for both scientists and policy makers. Vaccine hesitancy is nothing new. The fact that so many of us have never experienced any of the major diseases ranks among the top human achievements of all time. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources,...
Aug 28, 2025•23 min•Season 15Ep. 6
Over the 19th century, a larger middle-class and better educational opportunities meant that many women had the necessary skills to work in an office. But somehow they never got the job. Instead, they were told they were "superfluous" and "redundant" if they did not get married. The typewriter was the machine that got women in the office door. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show...
Aug 21, 2025•21 min•Season 15Ep. 5
The four biggest natural fibers are wool, cotton, flax, and silk, but none of them naturally come long, continuous, or strong. To make any textile at all, the fibers have to be twisted into thread or yarn by a process called spinning. Historical women all over the world had this as their primary assignment, and it was unbelievably time consuming. Right up until machines could do it better. Then the spinners all lost their jobs. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts,...
Aug 14, 2025•24 min•Season 15Ep. 4
