When Lois Meek Stolz became a teacher, “children as small silent robots”-style education ruled the day. But her innovative vision, empathy for her students, and bold refusal to “do what had always been done” helped change American education forever – but that was only the beginning! Meet the “model teacher” who became one of the most influential Child Development experts in a century… and then was completely forgotten. Olivia interviews Elizabeth More, Historian and Director of Programs at the J...
May 31, 2022•46 min•Season 10Ep. 99
In 1790, Judith Sargent Murray became the first American to publicly argue that men and women were equal. Hailing from seafaring Gloucester Massachusetts, she educated herself, weathered some of life’s cruelest storms, and published hundreds of bold, brave essays. She expected to rock the boat, steering her new American nation toward equality. And America went…meh. Why? Join Katie on location at Sargent House Museum in Gloucester. Guest Jen Turner is a doctoral candidate in history at UMass Amhe...
May 17, 2022•49 min•Season 13Ep. 98
Even in the wildly eccentric cabaret culture of 1920s Berlin,Valeska Gert stood out. And though it would take nearly fifty years for society to “catch up” with Valeska’s vision – this unique and irrepressible dancer would eventually (and against all odds) become revered as the “Mother of Punk”! Olivia interviews dancer and dance historian Janet Collard . Watch Janet Collard’s show Performing Valeska here, and see newly-discovered footage of Valeska Gert performing “Tanz in Orange” here . Guest J...
May 03, 2022•53 min•Season 13Ep. 97
What makes a good wife? In 1700s Virginia, there was one clear path for colonial women: Marry. Have children. Preserve the family wealth. Fail at this, and you’ve failed at life. But what if the family wealth you were tasked to preserve was an old mansion…and a slave plantation? Katie takes us on location to Bacon’s Castle, one of America’s oldest houses. You can read Elizabeth Bray Allen’s will here , and take a 3D tour of the entire house here ! You can also see more photos and information abo...
Mar 22, 2022•45 min•Season 12Ep. 96
When 21 year-old Catherine Leroy hopped on a plane in Paris, headed for Vietnam, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. Despite having no experience of either war or photography, Leroy was determined to make her mark as a world-class combat photojournalist. And somehow, against all odds – and against massive opposition from most of her male colleagues, top-ranking military officers, and the press itself – she did it. But at what cost? Olivia brings us the story of this incredible, in...
Mar 08, 2022•49 min•Season 12Ep. 95
Germany was still burning witches when Maria Sibylla Merian daringly filled her 17th-century home with spiders, moths, and all kinds of toxic plants. Bold choices saved her from accusations of witchcraft–and from a mundane life. Merian’s fascination with metamorphosis led her all the way to the rainforests of South America, where she recorded countless new species, 130 years before Darwin! Guest Kim Todd is the author of four books of literary nonfiction, including Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Meria...
Feb 22, 2022•55 min•Season 12Ep. 94
Frances Glessner Lee was 52 years old when she discovered the mission that would become her legacy – to “convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth.” After five decades as a prominent social hostess (and innovative part-time artist) this indomitable woman took on centuries of entrenched medical and legal tradition to become the Mother of Forensic Science. And she did it – at least partially – with dollhouses?! Olivia speaks to guest Bruce Goldfarb , author of 18 Tiny Deaths: The ...
Feb 08, 2022•57 min•Season 12Ep. 93
An Egyptian child bride awakens to the reality of life in a harem, and dreams of revolution. And that’s just the beginning! Huda Shaarawi led thousands of women in a movement to liberate themselves from the harem, the veil, and all inequality. But in 1920s Egypt, how far could they get? Our guest Professor Ayfer Karakaya-Stump was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. An Associate Professor of History at the College Of William and Mary, she received her Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies...
Jan 25, 2022•55 min•Season 12Ep. 92
Chand Bibi served as regent of two different Sultanates in the 16th century Deccan peninsula, and ruled over some of the most important – and tumultuous – years in the region’s history. Versions of her story have been told and retold in India for generations – but what really happened to this enigmatic queen? Our guest Dr. Sarah Waheed helps us unravel this fascinating mystery. Learn more about the important ways that ‘rediscovering’ Chand Bibi’s story could impact modern-day India in this wonde...
Jan 12, 2022•48 min•Season 12Ep. 91
Mary Stuart Boyd spent Christmas 1900 in Versailles, not on a festive tour of the grand palace, but to stay with her 13-year-old son, quarantined there with scarlet fever. Her Versailles experience seems worlds away from today’s tourist mobs. The author of eight novels and three travel narratives, her delightful insights leave us amazed that no one’s ever heard of her. This year’s Christmas Special is read by Sophie Greenhalgh-Cook from Not For the Dinner Table. Music featured in this episode pr...
Dec 21, 2021•44 min•Season 12Ep. 90
Frances Marion was one of the most important, influential, and well-paid screenwriters in Hollywood. Her films moved audiences to tears and brought out the best in every actor for whom she ever wrote. And when the switch to ‘talking pictures’ left most other silent film writers in the dust, Frances continued to astonish, creating dozens of the most famous and beloved films of the first half of the 20th century. So how come nobody remembers her name? Author Pam Munter takes Olivia on a whirlwind ...
Dec 07, 2021•52 min•Season 12Ep. 89
Celia Sánchez Manduley was probably the most important woman in the Cuban Revolution – yet outside of Cuba, almost nobody knows her name. The first woman to fire a shot in the revolution, and the brains behind the revolution’s complex logistics, she is known in Cuba as the powerful heart of a movement to “make people’s lives better.” Discover this astonishing story with our guest , Tiffany Sippial. Director of the Honors College and Professor of History at Auburn University, Tiffany Sippial publ...
Nov 08, 2021•46 min•Season 11Ep. 88
Some say Tituba was the easy target in 1692, as an enslaved woman of color. But surprise! She confessed to witchcraft, offering elaborate descriptions of a widespread Satanic conspiracy. Her tales launched Salem, Massachusetts into an unparalleled witch mania. No one was safe…except Tituba herself. How did she start it all, and how did she escape? Join Katie on location in Salem, Massachusetts for this year’s Halloween special. Our guest , army vet, playwright, and military historian David Tulli...
Oct 25, 2021•49 min•Season 11Ep. 87
She was the most powerful pirate in the history of the world – and you’ve probably never heard her name. How did this brilliant, ruthless, utterly unstoppable woman manage to dodge the Chinese, British and Portuguese navies for a decade, and still end up left out of the history books? Guest Dr. Jamie Goodall , author of Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay , introduces us to this enigmatic and fascinating figure. Dr. Jamie Goodall is a staff historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Wash...
Oct 11, 2021•43 min•Season 11Ep. 86
Come along with us on a virtual version of our September 2021 “Lost Women of England” Tour ! Hear highlights from the trip, with context, commentary and other fun bonus content from Katie and Olivia, and “armchair travel” your way around the history of England with us in this special bonus episode. (Watch a video version of this episode with photos and visuals of the locations we’re discussing on our YouTube channel. ) To join our next Women’s History Tour, watch this space for announcements on ...
Sep 27, 2021•44 min
Rani (Queen) Lakshmibai of Jhansi never wanted to be a rebel. She did everything she could to stay on the right side of the law. But when the British East India Company finally pushed her too far, she took up the sword – literally – to fight for her kingdom, her son, and her life! Return guest Pamela Toler is back to tell us about this incredible, unexpected “heroine of Indian Independence.” Armed with a PhD in history, a well-thumbed deck of library cards, and a large bump of curiosity, author,...
Aug 23, 2021•39 min•Season 11Ep. 84
What if you got to witness the birth of the American Revolution personally? If you got to hear the founding fathers debating liberty, rights, and the pursuit of happiness around the dining table? Eve heard and saw it all…because she was enslaved by one of the founding fathers. Eve kept her ears open, her eyes down, and then, she made her move. Join Katie on location in Williamsburg, Virginia for the astonishing story of Eve, GONE TO THE ENEMY. You can take an amazing virtual tour of the entire s...
Aug 09, 2021•42 min•Season 11Ep. 83
Wangari Maathai was the first woman in Central Africa to earn a PhD, the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the mother of the Ecofeminist movement — and that’s just the beginning! Discover the life of this remarkable, brilliant, world-changing woman with our guest - author activist and environmentalist Virginia Phiri. Music featured in this episode provided by Winyo , and the Friends Church Kaimosi - used by permission. Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here! Lea...
Jul 26, 2021•54 min•Season 11Ep. 82
You’ve heard of the Gold Rush. You’ve maybe even heard of the Comstock Lode. But have you heard of the penniless Scottish lass who headed west, and while running a boarding house, struck the richest silver mine in American history? Eilley Bowers became one of the country’s wealthiest women. But Fortune is fickle, and the West was Wild! Join Katie on location with Tammy Buzick at Bowers Mansion near Carson City, Nevada for this surprising, cinematic tale. Music for this episode was provided by Ha...
Jul 12, 2021•45 min•Season 11Ep. 81
Stefania Turkevych was one of Galicia’s most talented and prolific classical composers – and then the Russian Revolution turned her world upside down. When she fled the USSR to find a new home, through Italy, Ireland, and to her final home in England, her work was lauded all across the continent. But fame is fickle when nobody speaks your language! Discover this forgotten star – Ukraine’s first female classical composer – with our guest Dr. Erica Glenn . Erica Glenn is a current Fulbright Schola...
Jun 28, 2021•35 min•Season 11Ep. 80
In 1895, Annie Cohen embarked on a quest to become the first woman ever to cycle around the world. Did she make it? Yes! Were the newspapers engrossed in her story? Yes! Did she actually… um, cycle? Sometimes! By sheer grit, Annie made her life into something (literally) unbelievable. Peter Zheutlin , author of two books about Annie , tells Katie the tale of a woman who “didn’t run away to join the circus; she became the circus.” Newsreel and newspaper footage performed by James Henderson, Marc ...
May 03, 2021•47 min•Season 10Ep. 79
When most medieval Englishwomen wouldn’t travel more than five miles from home in their lifetime, Margery Kempe left behind her abusive husband and fourteen children to walk from France to Jerusalem and back – in the 1400s! Discover the amazing story of the mysterious “Weeping Mystic” who traveled the world, broke all the rules, and – luckily for us – recorded it all for history! Returning guest Mary Sharratt is on a mission to write women back into history. Music featured in this episode by Sol...
Apr 19, 2021•42 min•Season 10Ep. 78
1400 years ago, traveling through the Maya rainforest was terrifying and deadly (think snakes, jaguars, and crocodiles). Now, new LiDAR scans have revealed a network of elevated ancient roads so sophisticated, some folks give aliens the credit. But the truth is much more interesting! K’awiil, visionary ruler of Coba, one of the great cities of the Maya Golden Age, built the first roads in the Americas. But did she do it to conquer her neighbors, or to help them? Join Katie on location in Coba, M...
Mar 29, 2021•43 min•Season 10Ep. 77
Helen Duncan was the last person in the UK ever to be convicted of witchcraft… in the mid-20th-century! Her story is one of fraud, fakery and – just possibly – actual communications with the dead!? Guest Nikki Druce is the creator and host of Macabre London , the original podcast about London’s gruesome history. Created in 2016, combines the intrigue of horror and history and turns it into a unique storytelling podcast. Nikki’s stories on the show are inspired by a lifelong love of anything dark...
Mar 15, 2021•42 min•Season 10Ep. 76
Chances are, every one of us has seen Victorine Meurent. Her delicate, red-headed form appears in at least thirty paintings by the famous Parisian masters of La Belle Époque. It was long assumed that Victorine was a prostitute, who died young in some tragically romantic way. But when our guest Drēma Drudge saw Victorine staring out from Manet’s famous painting Olympia, she felt called to uncover the woman’s story. And now we know that none of the assumptions were true — her life was far more mar...
Mar 01, 2021•42 min•Season 10Ep. 75
In the late 18th century, Bibi Sahiba was one of the most important and influential people in the entire Afghan Empire. Honored as “the first and the most perfect” Sufi guide, Bibi Sahiba the Great’s spiritual and cultural influence can hardly be overstated. So how is it possible that she’s now as unknown in modern Kabul and Kandahar as she is anywhere else? Bibi Sahiba’s story is astonishing enough on its own — but mind-blowing context from guest Professor Waleed Ziad , along with special music...
Feb 15, 2021•56 min•Season 10Ep. 74
In 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon ran for state senate against her polygamist husband, and won! But becoming America’s first female state senator was only one chapter of Cannon’s story. A whirlwind of triumph and heartbreak dominated her life: wagon trains, Victorian medicine, the suffrage movement, evading federal prosecution, she lived it all! Read Martha Hughes Cannon’s Speech to the Senate Judiciary Committee , or her Senate Health Bill (including rules on quarantine and school safety!) Or read ...
Feb 01, 2021•44 min•Season 10Ep. 73
In an abandoned house in Illinois, an astonishing treasure trove of handwritten sheet music was discovered in 2009. That cache was the life’s work of composer Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her work performed by major orchestras. But Price’s story is so much bigger – and so much wilder! – than even that headline-grabbing discovery could show. Her astonishing contributions to classical music are finally getting the attention – and the praise – they deserve. Our guests ar...
Jan 18, 2021•52 min•Season 10Ep. 72
Tasha Tudor’s charming and warm-hearted illustrations of over 100 books, plus her nostalgic advent calendars and Christmas cards, earned her devoted fans around the world. But her way of life fascinated people as much as her illustrations. Even though she lived to 2008, she lived with conscious intention as if it were 1830. Her life was rooted in simplicity, creativity, and taking it slow. In this Christmas Special, we read from her Christmas classic, Take Joy! – joining her family in a nostalgi...
Dec 07, 2020•38 min•Season 9Ep. 71
When Helen Stephens was fifteen years old, a track coach saw her playing pickup basketball and asked her to run a time trial in the school driveway. In that first-ever 50-yard dash, Stephens tied the world record. Only a year later at the 1936 Olympics, she would win two gold medals and her record would stand for twenty-four years. Meet this “forgotten legend” of US track with Fast Girls author Elise Hooper . [Note: Helen Stephens’ world-record breaking time for the 100m at the 1936 Olympics was...
Nov 23, 2020•40 min•Season 9Ep. 70
