Episode 174: The Bowery Boys and the Shirtwaist Strike of 1909


We have been talking with our friends Greg Young and Tom Meyers, The Bowery Boys, for years about doing a project together. This isn’t that, but it is a subject that a lot (A LOT) of people have requested of us. Because it’s a bit out of our focus, we thought there’s no one better than Greg and Tom, experts in New York City history, to tell you about the city’s early 1900s women’s protest movements and how they are tragically tied to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. (more…)

Episode 167: Charlotte Brontë, Revisted

A familiar portrait of  Charlotte, a chalk drawing by George Richmond in 1850. wikicommons

This week we’re revisiting our discussion of the life of Charlotte Brontë (entirely because we made a gamble and lost–explanation in the first minute of the episode.) Charlotte didn’t let her circumstances and the discouragement of others stand in the way of her goal of becoming a published author; she got knocked down over and over before she was able to present the world with one of the most beloved heroines in literary history. Along the way, we have a chance to talk about the lives of her literary sisters: Emily and Anne. (more…)

Episode 164: Wonder Woman, Part One

Little Ears warning: Parents may want to preview this episode, we discuss several adult themes including suicide, alternative lifestyles, and…” adult play.” 

We step back from reality (sorta) to talk about the many lives of Wonder Woman, her original creator William Moulton Marston, the women who originally inspired the superhero, and the creators who recrafted her to suit their own visions. It’s a heck of a ride. And there is a Little Ears warning–you know how cartoons often have adult themes and jokes that go right over the heads of little kids? We talk about some of Wonder Woman’s in these two episodes–oh yeah, two! There’s A LOT to talk about, her story begins in the early 1900s and hasn’t ended yet! (more…)

Episode 163: Belva Lockwood and Shirley Chisholm, Revisited

Belva Lockwood was the first qualified woman to run for President of the United States and she did it while suffragists were still battling for the vote in 1884 and 1888.

 

Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to run for POTUS in 1972 and the first female nominee for the Democratic party.

 

This week we divide and conquer to give you a remastered two-fer of glass-ceiling crashing women in US politics. Beckett shares the life of Belva Lockwood and Susan talks about Shirley Chisholm in this mini-series of women who ran for the office of POTUS. (more…)