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 and guest Rory Copplestone on location 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. Here is that charming vintage …
Her pioneering work on solar heat and solar energy would change science forever – but it was her passionate dedication to humanity that made her a true visionary. Meet the remarkable Maria Telkes, subject of the amazing American Experience documentary The Sun Queen with Olivia’s guests, Writer/Producer Gene Tempest and Director Amanda Pollack. You can watch The Sun Queen from The American Experience here, or you can find the trailer here. You can read more …
Luisa Spagnoli overcame childhood poverty – and the infamously misogynistic fascism of Mussolini’s Italy – to become one of the most famous and influential chocolatiers (and fashion designers!) in European history. But how did she do it?! Olivia interviews Dr. Diana Garvin, author of Feeding Fascism. A complete transcript of this episode is available here. Diana Garvin is an Assistant Professor of Italian at the University of Oregon. Her first book, Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women’s Food …
Do we live in the best of all possible worlds? Émilie du Châtelet thought so, and set out to prove it with empirical evidence three hundred years ago. Raised at the lavish court of Louis XIV, she stood out like a sore thumb: while the women around her were glamorous, graceful and illiterate, she was clunky, fierce, and bookish. The story of her world-changing contribution to science is as delightful as it is surprising: part …
Hundreds of years ago, Caroline Herschel lived a real-life Cinderella story. Except instead of marrying a handsome prince, she became a world-renowned astronomer! Her brutal childhood was one of servitude, suffering and loneliness. Childhood diseases piled on the misery, stunting her growth, disfiguring her face and blinding her in one eye. But Caroline Herschel’s story is an incredibly beautiful tale of triumph and achievement. Her meteoric rise to fame for her astonishing astronomical discoveries led …
Loved this episode? Join us on our Lost Women of New England Tour in Oct 2023! We’ll visit Mary Lemist Titcomb’s birthplace in New Hampshire, her newly-marked grave at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and so much more! Mary Lemist Titcomb was a pioneering librarian at the turn of the 20th century, when public libraries were first appearing in America. Believing strongly in the power of books, especially for children in far-flung places, she invented America’s first …
