Category: Athletes

THE INAUGURAL BALLER Lusia Harris

When Lusia Harris convinced her parents to let her try out for High School basketball, she never could’ve anticipated she’d end up scoring the first basket in Olympic Women’s Basketball history. Facing unprecedented hurdles at every step of her career, she broke records, made history, and changed women’s sports forever – and that’s just the beginning! Olivia interviews Andrew Maraniss, author of Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First Us Women’s Olympic Basketball Team. …

20th century / Athletes / Black history / Educators / First woman to... / North America / Sports / United States

THE FULTON FLASH Helen Stephens

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. Helen Stephens’ world-record …

20th century / Athletes / Europe / Germany / North America / Sports / United States

THE FLY GIRL Ruth Nichols

Ruth Rowland Nichols was a pioneer of early aviation, the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance, the first woman to attempt a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the founder of the Relief Wings branch of the Civil Air Patrol and one of the most famous pilots of the 1930’s (even more famous than her friend and rival Amelia Earhart). Her courage and daring made her a national …

20th century / Athletes / First woman to... / North America / Transcripts / Travel / United States / War

THE AERONAUT Sophie Blanchard

On land, Sophie Blanchard was a timid, anxious woman who could hardly stand the noise and commotion of 18th century Paris. But after her first flight in a hot-air balloon, she was hooked, and would spend the rest of her life chasing the peace and freedom she found hundreds of feet in the air.  The first woman in the world to fly solo in a hot-air balloon, she became so famous for her skill and …

18th century / 19th century / Athletes / First woman to... / France / Performers / Transcripts

WITCHES & MEDIUMS & GHOSTS, OH MY! 2018 Halloween Special

The Pendle Witches – Pearl DeVere – Bess Houdini – Lily Cove Our very first Halloween Special brings back four of our most popular guests with four new stories of hauntings, mysterious deaths, witch hunts, and seances, to bring you many spooky returns of the season! The Pendle Witches: In 1612, ten people were hanged as witches in Lancashire, England, sentenced to death because of the testimony of a 9 year old girl. The eight …

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