Archive for 2017

Anne with an E Recap: Episode 6

Posted 23 June 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

Remorse is the poison of life

directed by Paul Fox

This episode starts on a high note when Anne saves Minnie May’s life, meets her Designated Mentor, and has her Diana ban lifted… but the bad stuff is coming.         (Ken Warner, CBC)

 

What Premier didn’t get the job because of his good looks? How about Sir John Alexander Macdonald?

 

Marilla sharing the John she knew with his son, Gilbert who shares the dad he knew. Both are mourning, but Marilla is dealing with some heavy regret.

 

Billy and the Billyettes…Bud.

 

 

We’ll put that in the shownotes.”

Every week cook a snack from this book, this week’s recipe was Saucy Chicken

 

This week’s recipe needed a little ooomph.

 

Kansas City has a lot of great museums, one of them is The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures.

Have you read this yet? Anne seems to have memorized it.

If you want to read Chapter Six of Jane Eyre, by Jane Austen: Chapter Six

 

The Anne with an E Reading Challenge: (Full list will be on last episode.)

This week we’re adding David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Link goes to Project Gutenberg

Anne with an E Recap, Episode 5

Posted 20 June 2017 by
Tagged As: , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts | Leave a Comment

Tightly knotted to a similar string

Or: Love. You use that word but let me show you what it means

Directed by Patricia Rozema

This episode steps us past the halfway point of the series…but it does it in such an outstanding way we can’t help but celebrate. Does it follow along the story of the book? Nope, but we talk about the deviations- Anne’s first period, Matthew’s former crush, a peek into the home life and struggles of Gibert Blythe- and how they were beautifully worked into iconic scenes like Anne’s first tea party and the gift of a grown-up dress with puffy sleeves.

 

“We’ll put that on the shownotes”

Anne with a Martini: Gritty and Pretty

Recipe:

Marinate one can of Royal Anne Cherries (of course) in two jars, one with chocolate vodka and the other with Amaretto or Triple Sec (a slight different taste), and reserve syrup in a third. Let sit in fridge for at least a few days.

Put as many marinated cherries into glass (for a snack, of course) and shake below with ice

Gritty:

Chocolate’d cherries

2 parts chocolate vodka

1 part marinating liquid

1 part juice from can

Pretty:

Amaretto’d cherries

1 park plain vodka

1 part marinating liquid

1 part syrup

This episode had so much going on! More creepiness from Mr. Phillips, more adorableness from Gilbert, and love was, actually, everywhere.

Love was even here in a roundabout way                                                                                                                                                                                             josch13 pixabay

Say “Yes” to the dress Matthew! Fatherly love

 

Beckett talked about the Craft Lit podcast, brilliant.

Beckett recommended this movie

BECKETT WAS RIGHT about the Cuthbert kids timeline. Michael was oldest, Matthew was baby.

1833- Michael born

1844- Matthew born

plus 11 (aprox age when Matthew had to leave school)

Michael was about 21 when he mysteriously died.

 

It feels as though we’ve sent you to the Museum of Menstruation once a month…for years! (It’s not the prettiest of websites but really, that’s fitting, isn’t it?)

To add to the Anne of Green Gables reading list (entire list on last episode)

Song of the Open Road and read more about Walt Whitman (on Shmoop)

Pickled green tomatoes recipes.

And no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, this episode earned 10 glasses of Raspberry Cordial from both of us.

 

 

Episode 90: Q &A 2017

Posted 20 June 2017 by
Tagged As: , , | Categories: Episode, Podcasts | Leave a Comment

Would you ever have a fan as a guest host?”

“How on earth do you manage to read so many books so quickly?”

“Do your kids complain about the podcast?”

“How much time do you spend on research and prep a week?”

“What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” 

(And more…a LOT more.)

For the third time since we began the show in 2011 we put out a call for questions and from that delightful barrage we answered as many as possible in this episode.  We talk about a variety of subjects from how we met and The History Chick origin story, to several abstract “what if…,”, details about how we organize and research each episode and give you a little peek into the list where we pick our subjects from. Below you’ll find “We’ll put this on our shownotes” items!

How do I become a podcaster? Beckett broke it down to four things: Technical Aspects, Content, Persistence, Luck. While you’re pretty much on your own with the last three, for the first one, go to Helen Zaltzman’s website and check off her five points in her Adventures in Podcasting. Do NOT let people trick you into courses about the technical aspects of podcasting–there are plenty of successful, veteran podcasters willing to help you for free via posts like Helen’s (another must read is on Jamie Jeffers of The British History Podcast–amazing advice.)

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart

16 Personalities and Typing Fictional Characters are the two sites we suggested during the Myers-Briggs personality test question.

 

Susan’s blanket fort

Special thanks to James Harper, and his band HARPER for the music in the show!

 

Anne with an “E” Recap: Episode 4

Posted 9 June 2017 by
Tagged As: , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

An Inward Treasure Born directed by David Evans

(Or: Feminism 101)

ep 4 2

Honesty is the best not-actually-a-policy, Anne

The whole quote that the title came from goes: I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.

Every title is a Jane Eyre quote that Anne must have memorized before she turned to fire safety manuals for reading.

Every title is a Jane Eyre quote that Anne must have memorized before she turned to fire safety manuals for reading.

Right from the get go we have to put our thinking caps on! We both agreed that this quote is about doing what you think is right but we disagreed about what it meant specifically in this episode.

Here is the humor article Susan was talking about answering questions with Jane Eyre quotes. Washington Post article about Jane Eyre quotes.

Today's snack: Susan ('s daughter" made shortbread and Beckett made Poetical Egg Salad Sandwiches with an "E" because the recipe was only her inspiration

Today’s snack: Susan (‘s daughter) made shortbread and Beckett made Poetical Egg Salad Sandwiches with an “E” because the recipe was only an inspiration for the final product.

We're cooking our way through this.

We’re cooking our way through this.

If you click just one link from these shownotes (it’s cool, you won’t hurt our feelings– we put this stuff up because people’s interests vary) it should be this delightful look into the creation of the credit sequence–Buzzfeed Here’s How They Made The Stunning “Anne with an E” opening credits. 

Here is more work by the artists–Brad Kunkle, and here is more analysis at Exploring Anne Tumblr (May 31st entry has the credit sequence analysis.)

Cordelia song the Tragically Hip, Road Apples 1991

What’s a road apple? Uh…probably not this.

What's a road apple? Uuuuummm, probably not this, but this is pretty....and smells nice.

What’s a road apple? Uuuuummm, probably not this, but this is pretty….and smells nice.

(Related: here is a recipe for Dried Apples via Whole Foods) (Distantly related, very distantly related.)

Justification for the scatterbrained set. Elite Daily based on a Time article.

Yeah, that's a pretty cool light fixture. Three cheers for the design department!

Yeah, that’s a pretty cool light fixture. Three cheers for the design department!

Anne was being strong and bold and questionably smart...the ladies on the Gillis yard freak out because of it. (As they should!)

Anne was being strong and bold and questionably smart…the ladies on the Gillis yard freak out because of it. (As they should!)

I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy asking him if he wants a biscuit.

I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy asking him if he wants a biscuit. (“Have a biscuit, Potter.”)

 

I'm just a boy, standing in front of a girl trying to geth the other girl to notice me. Also, I'm flipping adorable...and chivalrous.

I’m just a boy, standing in front of a girl trying to get the other girl to notice me. Also, I’m flipping adorable…and chivalrous.

Additions to the Anne with an “E” reading list (entire list will be printed in last episode):

Patient Grisilda (link goes to text of story via pitt.edu)

The Bible, Psalm 78 (Link to NIV version because Susan is a Missouri Synod Lutheran.)

Red: A history of the readhead by Jacky Collis Harvey616yk0GDYvL._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_

Podcast Recommendations!!! Dinner Party Download and The Sporkful.

 

fire-2117239_1920

Anne With An “E” Recap: Episode 3

Posted 3 June 2017 by
Tagged As: , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

But what is so headstrong as youth?  directed by Sandra Goldbacher

(Or: Transitions)

Oh Anne, this school thing isn’t going to work out like you think. via IMDB

The second line of that Jane Eyre quote is ” what so blind as inexperience” and that is certainly a theme that runs through this episode. During this recap of Episode 3 of the Netflix show we talk about the parallel surprise realities that Anne experiences at school and Marilla experiences in motherhood. We also get creeped-out by Mr. Phillips, want to punch Billy Andrews, offer advice for adults viewing this show with their children and compare and contrast 13 year-old girls to their “progressive” mothers. (Dang, that sounds so sophisticated when we say it that way, doesn’t it?)

The bits and pieces we promised to put in our shownotes for this episode:

51SQAJg8lkL

Movie written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher, The Governess (link to IMDB page for movie)

Gord Downie’s animated film, The Secret Path (with CBC Arts Live panel). (Dear Canada, Thanks for introducing me to Tragically Hip. xo, Susan)

Tragically hip, with Michael Nesmith (yeah! The Monkey’s guy!)

(And you, too, can be Tragically Hip with your own History Chicks promotional t-shirt by clicking the link to our shop on the right.)

Want to follow AmyBeth McNulty (Anne) on Twitter for some really adorable behind the scenes pics and video? Bonus content is that she seems like a perfectly real and charming person. AMYBETH on the Twittah.

 

Mr Phillips and Snidely Whiplash: separated at birth?

Mr Phillips and Snidely Whiplash: separated at birth? via imdb and wikicommons

Ahhh, Josie Pye you meanie! (via IMDB)

Ahhh, Josie Pye you meanie! (via IMDB)

20170525_103508

Netflix’s Master of None: The capelet that started an obsession

This is Chocolate Caramel from the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook. This is, also, a plate of tasty sugar and bitter disappointment.

This is Chocolate Caramel from the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook. This is, also, a plate of tasty sugar and bitter disappointment.

Updates to Reading List:

(complete list to be posted on last episode’s shownotes)

Elsie’s New Relations by Martha Finley (link to Project Gutenberg)

The Fisherman by Bryan Waller Proctor (Barry Cornwall)

 The Pleasures of Hope by Thomas Campbell

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelly

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Grasshopper by Mrs. Andrew Dean (still looking for online, freebie version) mrs andrew dean

 

Link to The Libby app that Beckett was so excited about. It’s for getting audio books from various sources including your library.

 

mouse-153452_640

Episode 89: Marie Laveau

Posted 28 May 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , | Categories: Episode, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

Poor Marie Laveau! She’s often remembered as either a sinner or a saint… and not too often as a multi-nuanced, very real woman who who held power at a time and place when powerful women were rare.

framedMarieLaveau_(Frank_Schneider)

Marie never sat for a portrait, but maybe she was a gorgeous as depicted in this one by Frank Schneider (1920 based on George Catlin that’s presumed destroyed) wikicommons

Marie’s story is a tangled web of myth, truth and half-truths with a whole lotta holes. She was illiterate so any record of her comes through legal documents, a few secondary sources and, well, that’s about it. Fun! (If your idea of “fun” is trying to detangle her tale.) Even her birthday comes with a disclaimer and was only (historically speaking) discovered recently. More fun! So what do we know for sure?

Marie was born around the beginning of the 1800s in New Orleans, Louisiana to a free woman of color, Marguerite D’Arcantel. The “father” line was blank but it’s presumed to be Charles Laveaux. (You caught that “x” didn’t you? Charles used it, Marie is usually referred to without it. See? What a tangled web.)

This is NOT the house that Marie lived in on St. Ann's Street--it's gone-- but a random, lovely cottage in the French Quarter

This is NOT the house that Marie lived in on St. Ann’s Street–it’s gone– but a random, lovely cottage all fancied up, in the French Quarter

Marie lived in New Orleans her entire life, married as a teenager to Jacques Paris who disappeared from the narrative within just a few years. She entered a common law relationship with *deep breath* Louis-Christophe Dominic Dumesnil de Glapion and had between 5 and 15 children. She worked as a hairdresser, was a practicing Catholic and also a practicing Voodoo Queen.

Marie's home church...right?! St. Louis Cathedral

Marie’s home church…right?! St. Louis Cathedral

She had a very philanthropic heart, was deeply tied to her community, led many public and private Voodoo services, made a nice living selling gris-gris and used her spiritual gifts to help people of all colors and social levels.

Gris-Gris, Charles Gadolfo (art just classes up the joint, doesn't it?)

Gris-Gris, Charles Gadolfo (art just classes up the joint, doesn’t it?) wikicommons

She died on June 15,1881. Although, quite mysteriously, it seemed as if she didn’t. Marie II (more than likely her daughter but not enough evidence to claim it as truth) took over Marie, Senior’s gig–rituals, clients and all, only the heart of Marie 2.0 wasn’t the same and the activities became a bit more…let’s go with “naughty.”

Wow, Chicks, that doesn’t look like enough solid intel for a full show.

We talk about cool stuff like the possible cultural appropriation of Marie's style (forced on her) with Dolley Madison's (a choice.)

We talk about cool stuff like the possible cultural appropriation of Marie’s style (forced on her) with Dolley Madison’s (a choice.) We also talk about how much we love Dolley.

Hahaha…have you not met us? We compare the myths and legends of not only Marie but Voodoo in general; we talk about life of women of color at that ever-changing (and not for the better) time in US history, and the unusual history of New Orleans (and gush, Susan knows what it means to miss New Orleans.)

Marie’s legend grew fast and hard after her death and the voodoo religion was turned into a tourist attracting industry. You guys! New Orleans has a lot of beauty and history (and not all of that is beautiful)–you should visit Marie’s tomb, but that’s just a short jaunt in a city FULL of long jaunts.

Marie's tomb and why we can't have nice things. Keep your grimy hands off of it!

Marie’s tomb and why we can’t have nice things. Keep your grimy hands off of it!

french-quarter-1228028_1280

 

Time Travel with The History Chicks

If you aren’t with Susan on Anti-Website Music, maybe giving this ditty a play while you scroll around might be fun. Maybe.

 

Books!

Carolyn Long, this is the favorite of both of us

Carolyn Long, this is the favorite of both of us

And we both liked this one a great deal, Ina Fandrich (the woman who discovered the baptismal certificate)

And we both liked this one a great deal, Ina Fandrich (the woman who discovered the baptismal certificate)

Martha Ward

Martha Ward

The book Beckett recommended to learn more about the differences and histories.

The book Beckett recommended to learn more about the differences and histories.

The "recipe" book we quoted at the beginning of the show.

The “recipe” book we quoted at the beginning of the show, The life and works of Marie Laveau by Raul Canizares

FIction-- Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett- part of the Discworld Series. Also proof that Susan has begun it, and the Android Rosemary font that she prefers and makes Beckett's eye twitch.

Fiction– Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett- part of the Discworld Series. Also proof that Susan has begun it, and the Android Rosemary font that she prefers and makes Beckett’s eye twitch.

Travel!

We aren’t travel guides, but there is so much more to do in New Orleans than focus on the touristy voodoo, but you’ll probably want to do some type of tour since you now a bit about Marie and her times.

Highly recommended cemetery and French Quarter walking tours (and the name! Right?) Two Chicks Tours (recommended guides, Grey Sweeney Perkins or George “Loki” Williams specifically but all are good) and also the tour group, Friends of the Cabildo.

This place is stunning and really a terrific way to learn more about the city–Lousiana State Museum and Inside The Cabildo

 

 

Web!

For some more information about early 19th century medicine, check  out the Melnick Medical Museum

You may want to turn off your speakers, but there is a plethora of intel on here: French Creoles dot com

This is a good write up about how Ina Fandrich discovered what is now accepted as the birthdate of Marie. It will also give you a bit of insight into exactly how much work goes into the biographies that we devour in no time! How birth certificate was discovered

We didn’t talk about this but you might find some really great information about preservation and architecture of New Orleans at Preserving New Orleans.

Movies!

Only two that are even remotely related that we would suggest, although you might keep your eye out for the 2017 release (still being filmed as we post) called, Laveau. You can follow the production on the IMDB page.

With Bette Davis set during Marie's era

With Bette Davis set during Marie’s era

"Nope. Nope. Nope, nope nope." Susan

“Nope. Nope. Nope, nope nope.” Susan

 

fleur-de-lis-42466_1280

Anne with an “E” Recap: Episode 2

Posted 19 May 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

I am no bird and no net shall ensnare me directed by Helen Shaver

or: Anne canon? We don’t need no stinkin’ Anne canon!

Looking for Anne of Green Gables in Anne with an "E"

Looking for Anne of Green Gables in Anne with an “E” (Courtesy Netflix)

(more…)

Anne With An “E” Recap: Episode 1

Posted 12 May 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , , | Categories: Minicast, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

 

via imdb

via imdb

Over the next several weeks we’re going to be recapping the new Netflix series, Anne with an “E”. If you’re new here- hello! Glad you found us! We hope you’ll stick around and listen to our usual fare: conversations about historical women (logically, you could start with our last one about Anne of Green Gables author, Lucy Maud Montgomery.)

(more…)

Episode 88: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Posted 6 May 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , | Categories: Episode, Podcasts, Shownotes | Leave a Comment

framedLucy_Maud_Montgomery v smallAn abandoned little girl raised by elderly guardians during the Victorian era on Prince Edward Island, Canada. It sounds like the premise for a book, and it was, but it was also the early life of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. (more…)

Episode 87: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Part Two

Posted 17 April 2017 by
Tagged As: , , , | Categories: Episode, Podcasts | Leave a Comment

Part one followed Eleanor’s life from her birth through to the big cliffhanger: after divorcing King Louis and heading back to Aquitaine she popped up only a few weeks later married again to 18 year-old, King in Training, Henry FitzEmpress of Anjou.

The newlyweds took the “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission” strategy and didn’t ask their king (Louis) if they could marry but, really? Would he have given it? No, he would not. Henry’s star was rising and his parents were powerful and connected. His mother, Empress Matilda, needs her own episode, she was that powerful and after a lifetime of civil war over the crown of England (Matilda was beat to it by her cousin, Stephen) Henry’s military training was substantial and he was very good at it. But the biggie? When Eleanor’s lands combined with Henry’s they controlled more than half of modern day France.

Eleanor's fancy new seal and one of the few illustrations of her

Eleanor’s fancy new seal and one of the few illustrations of her

(more…)