For too long, the story of human history has been a story of men. But how would the story change if we put the ‘lost women’ center stage? In our 100th Episode Special, we tell the whole history of the world, in one sweeping narrative, through all 100 What’sHerName women! Your purchases help support the podcast!
Mary Stuart Boyd spent Christmas 1900 in Versailles, not on a festive tour of the grand palace, but to stay with her 13-year-old son, quarantined there with scarlet fever. Her Versailles experience seems worlds away from today’s tourist mobs. The author of eight novels and three travel narratives, her delightful insights leave us amazed that no one’s ever heard of her. This year’s Christmas Special is read by Sophie Greenhalgh-Cook from Not For the Dinner …
Some say Tituba was the easy target in 1692, as an enslaved woman of color. But surprise! She confessed to witchcraft, offering elaborate descriptions of a widespread Satanic conspiracy. Her tales launched Salem, Massachusetts into an unparalleled witch mania. No one was safe…except Tituba herself. How did she start it all, and how did she escape? Join Katie on location in Salem, Massachusetts for this year’s Halloween special. For more of Tituba’s story, this …
Come along with us on a virtual version of our September 2021 “Lost Women of England” Tour! Hear highlights from the trip, with context, commentary and other fun bonus content from Katie and Olivia, and “armchair travel” your way around the history of England with us in this special bonus episode. (Watch a video version of this episode with photos and visuals of the locations we’re discussing on our YouTube channel.) To join our next …
Helen Duncan was the last person in the UK ever to be convicted of witchcraft… in the mid-20th-century! Her story is one of fraud, fakery and – just possibly – actual communications with the dead!? Hear this fascinating and extremely unexpected story with special guest Nikki Druce, host of the Macabre London podcast! Hear the full-length audio from Helen Duncan’s conversation with “Albert” here. And hear Helen Duncan’s full “appearance” at a 1983 seance by …
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, …
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 …
Late in life, Mary Donelson Wilcox recalled a magical childhood Christmas she spent at the White House with her elderly uncle, President Andrew Jackson. Her captivating memoirs paint a picture of a surprisingly global White House, with servants from around the world, and a surprisingly warm and playful President Jackson. Mary offers us a rare glimpse at Christmas in the early 19th century–when stockings, Santa Claus, and focusing the holiday on children were all delightfully …
It was a dark and stormy night, many centuries ago. In a cave on the edge of a haunted wood, a monstrous baby was born, and instead of crying, she cackled! No one would have expected the baby to thrive, but she grew to become Mother Shipton, England’s most famous witch. Hear the amazing story of the deformed, friendless child who took on the most powerful men in the kingdom, and won! Travel with us …
Ursula Bloom wrote over 560 books, earning her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most prolific female writer. Born in 1892, Ursula spent her early years in Shropshire, England, the daughter of a clergyman. Her memories of childhood Christmases at the turn of the 20th century were published many decades ago in a local periodical, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Life. What’sHerName is pleased to revive Ursula Bloom’s charming memoirs of …
