Posted on by katyderby

Podcast #42: Emily Hahn

Episode 42 is all about the American writer and journalist Emily Hahn, also known as Mickey.

She qualified as a mining engineer, wrote greeting-card copy, travelled the world and authored 54 books and more than 200 articles and short stories. Aside from that, she led an unconventional private life and kept a number of different monkeys. Hear all about her from our co-founder Florian Duijsens, recorded at Berlin’s ACUD Studio in April 2019.

You can download the transcript, created by Rachel Pronger, here.

Show notes:

Read more: Podcast #42: Emily Hahn
A young Emily (back row, second right) with her family
Emily’s first book
Emily’s second book was a little different, a rather censored memoir of her year in Africa.
Followed by a novelized story of local women suffering at the hands of white men.
One of Victor Sassoon’s tamer photos
Poet Shao Xunmei
Some of Mickey’s monkey material
On returning to the USA
Carola’s father Charles Boxer joins the family.
Emily Hahn at work

If you’d like to find out more, Florian recommends two biographies:

Ken Cuthbertson’s Nobody Said Not to Go and Taras Grescoe’s Shanghai Grand.

Taras Grescoe also authored this fascinating New Yorker story about the time Emily was taken for a spy.

And here’s daughter Carola Boxer Vecchio on Advanced Style…

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month!