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 is Professor Ayfer Karakaya-Stump at the College of William & Mary. Ayfer Karakaya-Stump was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. An Associate …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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, …
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! Our guest is Rebekah Clark, author of Thinking Women: A Timeline of Suffrage in Utah Read Martha Hughes Cannon’s Speech to the …
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 …
It’s often assumed that women are scarce in the Hebrew Bible because they simply weren’t allowed to be major players back then. But the life of Shelamzion (aka Salome Alexandra) proves that wrong. She ruled ancient Judea in a period of extreme ideological polarization (um, hello). She stood up to her brutal husband to protect her people; then she stood up to her people to protect her enemies. Her reign was a Golden Age in …
