In the 3rd century, a mysterious queen ruled the Kingdom of Yamatai (modern-day Japan) with a wise and steady hand. Her reign lasted almost 70 years - but what can we really know about her, when her people never wrote anything down? Anthropologist Laura Miller introduces Olivia to this elusive ancient queen. Read more about Queen Himiko's continuing "rebirth" as a powerful cultural icon in Laura Miller's fascinating articles "Searching for Charisma: Queen Himiko" and "Rebranding Himiko: The Sham...
Jul 21, 2025•47 min•Season 20Ep. 159
What if we could reopen a primordial spiritual portal, and summon peace on earth? For Eva Palmer Sikelianos in 1920s Greece, world peace wasn't a lofty dream-- it was an achievable goal. The key, Eva believed, was ancient Greek art, returned to Delphi. She had a bold plan, and if she could pull it off, she just might save the world. Join Katie on location at the Benaki Museum in Athens, with Maria Dimitriadou, Historical Archives Curator. ____________________ Fancy an EVA SIKELIANOS MUG remindin...
Jul 07, 2025•58 min•Season 20Ep. 158
At the dawn of the Mughal Empire, a bold and brilliant Princess outlived three Emperors, and managed to create an adventurous, wildly unexpected life for herself during one of the most tumultuous eras in history. And luckily for the rest of us - she wrote it all down! Award-winning historian Dr. Ruby Lal returns to the podcast to introduce us to the Vagabond Princess, Gulbadan Begum. Music for this episode provided by Farya Faraji, Doug Maxwell, E's Jammy Jams, and Aashish Khan, Pranesh Khan, an...
Jun 23, 2025•59 min•Season 20Ep. 157
The Roman Republic is collapsing and everything hangs in the balance. It's a political game of kill-or-be-killed, and Fulvia did not come to play . You've heard of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra. But have you heard of Fulvia, who was in the eye of that infamous ancient Roman storm? ___________________ Travel with us to ITALY, to walk in Fulvia's footsteps! Our new LOST WOMEN OF ITALY Tour is open for registration! Daisy Dunn is an award-winning classicist and author of The Missing Thr...
Jun 02, 2025•55 min•Season 20Ep. 156
Queen Seondeok of Silla was revered for her wisdom, her compassion, and most importantly - her ability to use nature's signs to foretell the future! And with some truly audacious international diplomacy (and a resolute refusal to bend to patriarchal bullying) she would lay the foundations for the unification of The Three Kingdoms - now known as Korea. Karen Wang Diggs, author of The Book of Awesome Asian Women , helps us uncover the life of this elusive and fascinating queen. Huge thanks to the ...
May 19, 2025•45 min•Season 20Ep. 155
150 years ago, Irish farmer Johanna O'Brien created a secret recipe for black pudding. Today, her sausage is beloved by Michelin-star chefs across the world (and the recipe is still secret!). Join Katie on location with Rory Copplestone at Clonakilty Blackpudding in Cork, to hear about a penniless girl who survived the Great Famine, built a thriving farm, and in her sunset years, created one of Ireland's iconic flavors. ____________________ Travel with us: What'sHerName TOURS are open now! Music...
May 05, 2025•50 min•Season 20Ep. 154
Nobody knows her real name. But this "Uncontested Pirate Queen of the Western Mediterranean" certainly earned her title: the Sayyida al Hurra , the Free and Independent Woman. From child refugee fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, to ruling Governor of Tetouan, to the Sultana of Morocco - Sayyida was never one to follow the path society had laid out for her. Author Laura Sook Duncome helps us uncover the mystery of the one and only actual Pirate Queen. Music featured in this episode provided by Far...
Apr 04, 2025•44 min•Season 19Ep. 153
She lived through the worst century in human history: the Black Death, famine, war, death and despair. So it was all the more surprising when Julian of Norwich rose from her deathbed saying she'd received a vision from God: All shall be well. How could that be true when the whole world seems to be falling apart? Travel with us to 14th century England, to visit famed mystic Julian of Norwich. I know it sounds crazy , she says, but trust me: everything is love . ____________ Fancy a Julian of Norw...
Mar 21, 2025•58 min•Season 19Ep. 152
Mary Ware Dennett was one of the most important and influential activist for women's rights, contraception, free speech and sex education in early 20th century America. So why does her nemesis Margaret Sanger get all the attention? Returning guest Stephanie Gorton helps Olivia unravel the mystery of this fascinating, forward-thinking woman. Music featured in this episode provided by Asher Fulero, Kevin Macleod, The Mini Vandals, Late Night Feeler, Jeff Cuno, Cooper Cannell, Dan Bodan, and the Am...
Mar 08, 2025•51 min•Season 19Ep. 151
She prevented war and death on an immense scale, in acts that could earn the Nobel Peace Prize today. But History enshrined Sisi, Empress of Austria, as a vain beauty queen. The smear campaign was personal, not political: it started with her own tyrannical mother-in-law. Can Sisi conquer her own self-doubt, and drag draconian Austria into the modern world? Our guest is Nancy Goldstone, author of The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugenie of France, Power and Glamor in the Struggle for...
Feb 21, 2025•57 min•Season 19Ep. 150
When world-famous strongman Eugen Sandow finally met his match, nobody expected it to be at the hands of an 18 year old girl. But whether it was bending metal bars, beating horses in a tug-of-war, or hefting her own husband over her head with one arm, German strongwoman Katie Sandwina would continue to shatter records (and Victorian gender norms) for another forty years. Guest Haley Shapley, author of Strong Like Her , introduces Olivia to this astonishing, unexpected heroine. Your wish is our c...
Feb 08, 2025•59 min•Season 19Ep. 149
A pirate ship jammed with treasure. The worst storm to ever hit Cape Cod. The mythical shipwreck-- 280 years later, found. Everything in this swashbuckling tale (full of impossible things that really did happen) occurred because of Maria Hallett. Did she turn witch, to curse her lover's ship, or to save it? Join us on location at Real Pirates Museum in Salem, MA. Music featured in this episode includes: Blow the Wind Southerly by Anne Norman; Blow Boys Blow and Goodbye Fare You Well from the Lib...
Jan 22, 2025•59 min•Season 19Ep. 148
How did two ordinary 18th century Anglo-Irish sisters end up gallivanting around the European continent, fraternizing with all the most radical and revolutionary minds of the Enlightenment, and becoming BFFs with a Russian Princess? Guest Dr. Alexis Wolf introduces Olivia to the astonishing lives of Katherine and Martha Wilmot. Music for this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Killarney, and Tatyana Kalmokova. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Jan 09, 2025•53 min•Season 19Ep. 147
Travel to snowy Victorian Maine in this year's Christmas Special, as Katie reads from the memoirs of Sarah Orne Jewett. An immensely famous and beloved novelist in her day, Sarah wrote wholesome tales of the country folk of Maine, where as a child she had accompanied her physician father on his rounds. Find a massive collection of Sarah Orne Jewett's works collected by the Sarah Orne Jewett Text Project HERE . Our What'sHerName SHOP is open! Every purchase supports our mission to get these women...
Dec 16, 2024•50 min•Season 19Ep. 146
Zeynab Pasha was one of the most influential voices during several crises of 19th century Iranian history. From the Bread Crisis to the Tobacco Protests and the lead up to Iran's Constitutional Revolution, she led the way in taking back the power of the people. She was legendary, and then she disappeared - literally and figuratively. Author Afarin Bellisario helps us rediscover the life of this incredible woman. Music featured in this episode provided by Farya Faraji and selections from the Wome...
Nov 03, 2024•41 min•Season 18Ep. 145
If you knew the recipe for an undetectable poison, would you use it? What about giving it to women with abusive husbands? Giulia Tofana's legendary poison Aqua Tofana was famed and feared in 17th-century Rome. But just how many terrible husbands can drop dead, before the Pope gets suspicious? In this year's Halloween Special, our guests are Gaia Aloisi and Ted Blackburn, the creators of Aqua Tofana, a new electronic opera about the life of Giulia Tofana. ________________ Travel with us in the fo...
Oct 16, 2024•55 min•Season 18Ep. 144
When Sigrid Schultz was offered a job as a reporter in Berlin, Germany in 1919, she had no idea how her life was about to change - or how her work would change the world. Returning guest Pamela Toler introduces us to this indomitable woman, who was one of the first to raise the alarm about the Nazis, one of the last to leave as WWII made reporting impossible, and the first woman in history to head an American News Bureau. Music in this episode provided by Andy Reiner, Peak Duo, Amanda Setlik Wil...
Oct 05, 2024•58 min•Season 18Ep. 143
Whenever Teresa Lim asked about a striking woman she saw in old family photos, she was told 'That's Aunt Fanny; she was unfortunate.' So naturally, Teresa Lim spent years excavating Aunt Fanny's life in 1920s Singapore. It's a story of three devoted sisters, ghost husbands, working-class Chinese feminists, and sworn spinsters. Turns out, Fanny was very fortunate indeed...until History arrived at her front door. _________________________ You can buy Teresa Lim's The Interpreter's Daughter and ben...
Sep 18, 2024•56 min•Season 18Ep. 142
Throughout the 1920s, three sisters dominated the Australian film scene. The phenomenal filmmaking team of Isabel, Phyllis, and Paulette McDonagh reigned supreme as the undisputed Queens of Silent Cinema... until the talkies arrived to turn everything upside down. Award-winning author Mandy Sayer tells Olivia all about Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters , whose lives were every bit as dramatic (and as complicated) as any Hollywood film. Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 18Ep. 141
Aleksandra Samusenko commanded a unit of Soviet tanks through some of the most brutal battles in human history. The Soviet Union never told her story. But an American paratrooper who'd escaped a Nazi POW camp never forgot her. In the final months of World War II, he joined her unit, and together they made the final push to Berlin. Guest Hayley Noble shares the story of THE TANK COMMANDER Aleksandra Samusenko. Haley Noble's website on Soviet Women in Combat is HERE , with social media links HERE ...
Aug 21, 2024•56 min•Season 18Ep. 140
For decades, her remarkable achievements as United States First Lady have been overshadowed by her husband's big mistakes. Returning guest Heath Hardage Lee is back to help change that! Olivia introduces us to the remarkable and unfairly forgotten Pat Nixon. Music in this episode provided by The Westerlies, Aaron Kenny, Josh Lippi and the Overtimers, The Mini Vandals, Cooper Cannell, Doug Maxwell, Quincas Moereira, and the US Marine Corps Band. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
Aug 09, 2024•56 min•Season 18Ep. 139
She was one of the key figures of Irish Independence, known in her lifetime as The Irish Joan of Arc. But somehow, history only remembers her as the woman who wouldn't marry WB Yeats. More recently, a BBC headline called her "Ireland's heroine who had sex in her baby's tomb." Both those things are true, but... her real story is even more bonkers - and of course, so much more amazing. Join us with guest Orna Ross to put Maud Gonne back in her rightful place, among the founders of modern Ireland. ...
Jul 24, 2024•54 min•Season 18Ep. 137
Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the most famed and respected painters in 17th century Europe, but after she died, her story - and many of her works - were lost, and over the years, Artemisia has become better known for what was done to her than for what she did . Award-winning artist Lindsay Huss helps us try to change that. (Content warning: discussions of physical and sexual violence) Music for this episode provided by Marc Nelson, Advent Chamber Orchestra, Catrin Finch, John Harrison, and th...
Jul 13, 2024•55 min•Season 17Ep. 136
What'sHerName goes live! To launch our new book, What's Her Name, A History of the World in 80 Lost Women , former episode guests convene in London from all over the world for a Night of Celebration! In rapid-fire succession, brilliant 3-minute performances of poetry, song, story and dance take us chronologically through the history of the world. The magic is punctuated throughout with short readings by Katie and Olivia from the new book. The packed house at the Vagina Museum, with the most enth...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Season 17Ep. 136
The story goes that the American Civil Rights movement started when Rosa Parks refused to leave her bus seat in 1955. But 89 years before that, Ellen Garrison refused to leave the waiting room at a Baltimore train station. When she was thrown out, she sued, in one of the first court cases to test African American civil rights. Criss-crossing America to teach former slaves wherever needed, Ellen Garrison devoted her life to lifting those who had been held down. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
May 29, 2024•52 min•Season 17Ep. 135
From arriving at the port of Constantinople as a teenage bride to the heir to the Byzantine Throne, to exiling - and blinding - her own son, Constantine IV, to boldly crowning herself the first Empress Regnant of the Byzantine Empire, Irene of Athens' life was a wildly unpredictable ride through one of the most tumultuous and fascinating periods of medieval history. Olivia interviews archaeologist and historian Judith Herrin, author of Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium and Unrivalled...
May 16, 2024•1 hr•Season 17Ep. 134
A charming Indonesian orphan danced her way to fame and fortune... except literally everything about Mata Hari was a lie. She said she wanted to live like a butterfly in the sun. So could she really have been guilty of espionage? Katie takes us to Leiden to marvel at the incredible life of Mata Hari. Music featured in this episode provided by Doug Maxwell, Jesse Gallagher, Patrick Patrikios, Amulets, Offenbach, Jimena Contreras, BizBaz Studio, Wayne Jones, Quincas Moreira, ELPHNT and E’s Jammy J...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 17Ep. 133
When Jewish mathematician Pepi Mehlberg was offered a new identity as Countess Janina Suchodolska in Nazi-occupied Poland, she took that chance and used it - to join the underground resistance, feed thousands of Nazi prisoners every week, and eventually rescue over 10,000 Poles from Majdanek concentration camp. And she was just getting started. Our guests are Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, authors of the new book The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 17Ep. 132
In 1867, a ship bound for California with 400 Chinese passengers signaled distress as it drifted in the Pacific Ocean. The ship's captain was a woman, and her mutinous crew had refused to sail the ship even though they were running out of water. How did Captain Hannah Masury Howe come to be in such a predicament, and how could she possibly save herself and the ship? Our guest is NYT bestselling author Katherine Howe, in this real-life high seas adventure. Music featured in this episode by provid...
Mar 27, 2024•53 min•Season 17Ep. 131
Frances Perkins, first female cabinet secretary in US history, was the mind (and the will) behind nearly every landmark policy of the Roosevelt administration's New Deal - so why doesn't anyone know her name? Bestselling author Stephanie Dray introduces us to this remarkable woman whose vision and relentless hard work would touch the life of every American for nearly a century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr•Season 17Ep. 130
