What is this?
First off: This isn’t History 101 and there is no test.
Secondly, our goal is to introduce you to female characters in history, factual or fictional via our podcast and shownotes. An introduction, an overview and a little push to explore and learn more on your own.
The shownotes will give you a short look at the life of the person that we are discussing- basic facts and links to other sources to learn more. The podcast episodes will go into greater detail as we chat about the challenges, failures and successes, times, and all the juicy bits that we find interesting about the life of our subject. Sometimes, as opportunities present themselves, we will add Special Features here on our website that relate to the person that we are spotlighting.
Tuck away a couple of facts to throw out at dinner parties! Dazzle your kids when they are learning history in school! Dive headfirst into the subcultures that exist for just about anyone! Redecorate a room in homage! Plan a vacation around a woman that existed long before you but, for some reason, you relate to. How you use the resources that we provide is entirely up to you.
ABOUT US
Why should I listen to a couple of chicks talk about women in history?
You want the facts. Simple enough.
You want to know how the women are remembered, how their legacies live on, and how you can learn more. We can do that!
You want a show that is interesting to adults, but appropriate if kids are in the room and listening. Gotcha.
And you like to get your information in a unique, smart, and conversational style. Done, done, and done.
We are just like you. And you. (And even you-yeah, you- the one Googling our names. (That’s BECKETT GRAHAM and SUSAN VOLLENWEIDER) We think that women, females, dames…chicks in history is a perfect topic to sit down and chat about. We don’t claim to know it all, but really? All of it would take more time than any of us have right now. And it would be kinda boring.
In 2011 we sat down in front of a mic at a big dinner table in Beckett’s house (which we lovingly refer to as The House of Wood) and started talking. We’re still sitting at that very table and still talking.
We like to talk. A lot.
What is your episode posting schedule?
Excellent question! We post episodes every two weeks for our History Chicks Bios and every week when we are recapping a series on The Recappery. (Be kind if we are a little late, we’re still juggling day jobs and our shows are very research heavy, and The Recappery is currently on hiatus.)
We always give a heads-up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that a show is about to go up by giving you a clue as to the subject. You should play! It’s fun! Sometimes we give really crappy clues! There is a Pinterest board for every episode and we love it when you hashtag Instagram with #historychicksfieldtrip to show off your visits to historical places!
What do I do between episodes?
Our Shownotes are PACKED with media and books we enjoyed as well as links to museums, websites, and who-knows-what-else related to our subjects.
Click over to the Special Features page drop-down and see related topics that didn’t fit into the episode but we just had to share.
Subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes…er, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, TuneIn…the list is really long–we are everywhere you get your podcasts from.
Better yet: If you like us, spend a few minutes leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts (or anyplace that lets you review, we aren’t picky).
Click the tasteful DONATE button to your right and help us defray our expenses, enter our Zazzle store through the link on the right, or frequent the very smart companies that sponsor our show.
How do I get ahold of you?
Email us at CHICKS (at) THEHISTORYCHICKS (dot)COM to say “hi” or tell us how one of our subjects touched you. Seriously, we read every email, we simply don’t have time to respond to every email. We do apologize, but if you had a choice between well-researched shows or an email which would you pick? (That was rhetorical.) We also decided that a few personal responses were better than hiring someone to speak/write on our behalf. Or you can give us a call at 816.943.1234 and leave a message.
We both also pop into our Facebook private group, The Lounge, fairly regularly if you want to chat. Susan is often quite chatty on Twitter, and Beckett manages the Instagram account.
Do you take requests? Can you do a shout-out?
You can send us an email or message regarding a request, however, we have been compiling a list of potential subjects for over ten years and the chances are excellent that she is already on that list and that we already know about her. We’re sad to say that the volume of requests that we get is substantial and we really can’t respond to them (although we do read them all!)
As for how we pick our subjects, we have a highly scientific algorithm…kidding, we generally just listen to our guts and figure that if we want to know about someone (and are willing to put in the research time with her) other people will want to know about her, too.
As for shout-outs, we don’t really do those and any “(So and So) this is for you” are done for personal reasons.
Does someone pay you to say nice things about their products? You seem to really like a lot of things! Can I pay you to say nice things about my (thing)?
We do have very kind, paid sponsors. When we do talk about and thank them for their financial support we are very transparent about their sponsorship of our show. ( And we are selective about our advertisers–we don’t recommend anything we haven’t enjoyed ourselves.) Of course, we would love it if our listeners repaid the kindness by supporting them in return. Love it. A lot. If you would like to be one of those sponsors, contact our friends at Wondery, you can reach them here.
For the body of our podcasts and show notes, we don’t take any product in exchange for a good review- ever. Most of the things we like and recommend we found on our own. Sometimes we do get books but any publisher takes their chances- we will only recommend it if we truly liked it and if we use it to research that particular episode, We’re not a great publication publicity avenue: the subject must line up with a subject already on our schedule and we don’t do author interviews (except for the two that we did that made us decide that interviews aren’t for us.)
Do you ever do live shows?
Yes, when there isn’t a worldwide pandemic although, admittedly, we don’t do a lot of them for the same reason we can’t answer every email. We do post on our social media (Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Private Group The Lounge) and on our website when we announce an upcoming show. We might even remember to mention it on the podcast, but not obsessively, that’s not our style. Announcements like this are always after the “Bye!”
How about awards?
*sigh* Why is this so important? Your listening, enjoying and sharing our show with your friends and family is the ultimate award for us. We get it, though, some people like to see verification that we are good at what we do. Okay, how about:
The People’s Choice Podcast Award: Finalist in Education 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
The Academy of Podcasters Awards: Finalist 2016
Mixcloud Online Radio Awards, Best Talk Show in the Education Category: 2018
If you would like to see what we look like (we’re podcasters for a reason) or hear what other people think about the podcast, visit our IN THE NEWS page.
Two women. Half the population. Several thousand years of history. About an hour.