Category: Writers

THE PREACHER Jarena Lee

In 1819, an itinerant Methodist preacher set off across a brand-new nation to spread the gospel to its people. Over the decades of her unique ministry, Jarena Lee would witness both incredible progress and maddening injustice – and publish the first spiritual autobiography ever written by an African American woman. But what message was her book actually meant to send? Discover the incredible life of this forgotten spiritual powerhouse with our guests, Lisa Gring-Pemble and …

19th century / Black history / First woman to... / North America / Religion / Travel / United States / Writers

THE SCANDALOUS WOMAN Uno Chiyo

Uno Chiyo rose to fame in 20th century Japan as a writer, designer, domestic goddess, and fashion icon – mostly by marketing herself as just a scandalous woman. But this “Bad Girl of Good Housekeeping” was so much more than just a writer of sexy stories. Guest Rebecca Copeland helps Olivia uncover the secrets of this enigmatic, fascinating woman. All photos courtesy of Rebecca Copeland unless otherwise indicated Rebecca Copeland is a professor of Japanese …

20th century / Artists / Asia / Japan / Writers

A WINTER OF CONTENT Laura Lee Davidson

To snowy Ontario, Canada for our 2026 Christmas Special! Living out the dream of countless exhausted women, Laura Lee Davidson retreated to an island in the middle of a lake, and lived there alone through a long Canadian winter. But she wasn’t really alone. Wild creatures became her friends, and she was constantly the recipient of neighborly kindness from folks on the mainland. Laura Lee’s 1922 book about her winter on the island is now …

20th century / Canada / Christmas Specials / North America / Travel / United States / Writers

THE BIRD OF ILL OMEN Catherine Crowe: 2025 Halloween Special

Catherine Crowe was a wildly acclaimed Victorian novelist, playwright, social critic and …ghost hunter? Her novels were as popular as Charles Dickens,’ and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Martineau, and George Eliot were her ardent fans. And her pioneering catalog of ghosts and the supernatural, The Night Side of Nature, was one of the first and most influential works to be adopted by the up-and-coming Spiritualist movement. So how did this incredibly talented, incredibly famous woman …

19th century / England / Europe / First woman to... / Ghosts / Halloween Specials / Philosophy / Religion / Scotland / Special Episodes / True Crime / Writers

THE VAGABOND PRINCESS Gulbadan Begum

At the dawn of the Mughal Empire, a bold and brilliant Princess outlived three Emperors, and managed to create an adventurous, wildly unexpected life for herself during one of the most tumultuous eras in history. And luckily for the rest of us – she wrote it all down! Award-winning historian and author Dr. Ruby Lal is back to introduce us to THE VAGABOND PRINCESS, Gulbadan Begum.     Ruby Lal is Professor of South Asian Studies at …

16th century / Afghanistan / Asia / First woman to... / Government / India / Pakistan / Politics / Religion / Saudi Arabia / Travel / Writers

THE ANCHORITE Julian of Norwich

She lived through the worst century in human history: the Black Death, famine, war, death and despair. So it was all the more surprising when Julian of Norwich rose from her deathbed saying she’d received a vision from God: All shall be well. How could that be true when the whole world seems to be falling apart? Travel with us to 14th century England, to visit famed mystic Julian of Norwich. I know it sounds …

14th century / 15th century / England / Europe / Philosophy / Religion / Writers

THE IDEALIST Mary Ware Dennett

Mary Ware Dennett was one of the most important and influential activist for women’s rights, contraception, free speech and sex education in early 20th century America. So why does her nemesis Margaret Sanger get all the attention? Returning guest Stephanie Gorton helps Olivia unravel the mystery of this fascinating, forward-thinking woman. Stephanie Gorton wrote The Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry that Brought Birth Control to America (2024), longlisted for the …

19th century / 20th century / Activists / Educators / North America / Politics / United States / Writers

THE ADVENTURERS The Wilmot Sisters

How did two ordinary 18th century Anglo-Irish sisters end up gallivanting around the European continent, fraternizing with all the most radical and revolutionary minds of the Enlightenment, and becoming BFFs with a Russian Princess? Guest Alexis Wolf introduces Olivia to the astonishing lives of Katherine and Martha Wilmot. Alexis Wolf is a writer and researcher with an expertise on women’s lives in the 18th and 19th centuries. She earned her PhD from Birkbeck, University of London …

18th century / 19th century / Europe / France / Ireland / Russia / Science / Travel / Writers

CHRISTMAS IN MAINE Sarah Orne Jewett

Travel to snowy Victorian Maine in this year’s Christmas Special, as Katie reads from the memoirs of Sarah Orne Jewett. An immensely famous and beloved novelist in her day, Sarah wrote wholesome tales of the county folk of Maine, where as a child she had accompanied her physician father on his rounds. Find a massive collection of Sarah Orne Jewett’s works collected by the Sarah Orne Jewett Text Project HERE. Music featured in this episode …

19th century / Christmas Specials / North America / Special Episodes / United States / Writers

THE DRAGON FROM CHICAGO Sigrid Schultz

When Sigrid Schultz was offered a job as a reporter in Berlin, Germany in 1919, she had no idea how her life was about to change – or how her work would change the world. Returning guest Pamela Toler introduces us to this indomitable woman, who was one of the first to raise the alarm about the Nazis, one of the last to leave as WWII made reporting impossible, and the first woman in history …

20th century / Europe / First woman to... / France / Germany / Journalists / North America / Travel / United States / War / Writers