Category: Artists

THE ILLUSTRATOR Tasha Tudor: 2020 Christmas Special

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 year’s Christmas Special, we read from her Christmas classic, …

20th century / Artists / Christmas Specials / Food / North America / Special Episodes / United States / Writers

THE LITTLE WOMAN May Alcott Nieriker

Loved this episode? Join us on our Lost Women of New England Tour in Oct 2023 for a private VIP tour of Orchard House and May Alcott’s art studio, visit Louisa May’s grave at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and so much more! May Alcott failed spectacularly countless times before becoming a great artist.  Immortalized by her sister Louisa as the vain, vivacious Amy in Little Women, the real youngest “March” sister was a conscientious, creative, and …

19th century / Artists / Educators / Europe / France / North America / on-location / Travel / United States / You Think You Know Her

THE RESISTANCE Truus and Freddie Oversteegen

Freddie and Truus Oversteegen were just 14 and 16 years old when the Nazis invaded their hometown of Haarlem. Determined to do their part, the sisters joined the Dutch Resistance and began bombing trains, smuggling out Jewish children, and running refugee safehouses. But their most dangerous work was also their most unlikely: assassinating Nazi officers in broad daylight. Olivia interviews guest Sophie Poldermans, author of Seducing and Killing Nazis, to discover this astounding true story …

20th century / Artists / Europe / Military / Netherlands / Politics / Transcripts / War

THE ANCESTORS Mother’s Day Special

What’sHerName presents our very first Mother’s Day Special! Come “meet the ancestors” as six What’sHerName listeners introduce some truly remarkable women from their own family history! From Ukraine to Japan, Uzbekistan to Mexico, we’re traveling around the world, and through 275 years, to discover these amazing ancestors in this special double episode. Our guests are What’sHerName listeners Irit Namatinya, Susan Stone, Lisa Williamson, Adrienne, Sachiko Burton, and Michelle Thorley. Rosalia and her daughter Sophia survived …

18th century / 19th century / 20th century / 21st century / Artists / Asia / China / Dancers / Europe / Indigenous Peoples / Iran / Israel / Japan / Mexico / Military / North America / Religion / Russia / Scotland / Special Episodes / Syria / Travel / Ukraine / United States / Uzbekistan / War

THE MUSE Carolyn Cassady

Carolyn Cassady was an artist, costume designer, writer, and critical influence on the members of the Beat Generation. Her marriage to Neal Cassady and her friendships with Jack Kerouac and other prominent members of the Beats have long overshadowed her own life and accomplishments, but with the recent publication of new manuscripts discovered after her death that is finally beginning to change. An astonishingly talented and prolific creative force, Carolyn Cassady’s legacy of determination, strength, …

20th century / 21st century / Artists / North America / Theater / United States / Writers / You Think You Know Her

THE SCULPTOR Edmonia Lewis

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What if you had a vision for your life, but absolutely everyone around you told you it was impossible? Edmonia Lewis lived a life so improbable, that if we didn’t have the actual evidence that she really existed, we’d never believe it! The orphaned daughter of a Native American mother and Caribbean father in mid 19th century America, she set out on the most unlikely path: to become a famed classical sculptor in Rome, all …

19th century / Artists / Black history / England / Europe / Indigenous Peoples / Italy / LGBTQ+ / North America / Transcripts / United States

THE RADICAL Lola Ridge

Rose Emily Ridge was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1973. After spending her childhood in Australia and New Zealand, she fled an abusive husband for California in 1907. Arriving in America, she promptly changed her name, her age, her nationality and her marital status and launched her new life as Lola Ridge, radical poet, anarchist organizer, and editor of the influential avant-garde magazine Broom. At her popular Greenwich Village salons she welcomed the country’s most …

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