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 and environmentalist Virginia Phiri. The Green Belt Movement website is here. You can watch Wangari Maathai’s Nobel Prize speech here. Virginia Phiri is an author and …
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 …
In an abandoned house in St. Anne, 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 wilder – than even that headline-grabbing discovery could show, and her astonishing contributions to classical music are finally getting the praise they deserve. Our …
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 …
Jane Marcet wasn’t a chemist. She wasn’t a physicist or a biologist or an astronomer – but she probably made a bigger contribution to science than anyone else in the 19th century. So why do none of us know her name? Olivia’s guest Miranda Garno Rossa explains what made Jane Marcet’s contributions so unique and so important, and why so many of us might be thinking about science – and scientists – all wrong. Miranda …
