Celebrating ladies who were in some way fabulous during their lifetimes
This time around we head back to New York to hear about Italian antifascist Carla Capponi. Professor Suzanne Cope, author of WOMEN OF WAR: The Italian Assassins, Spies and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis brings us Carla’s lively tale, which is full of bombs, intrigue, and bravery. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the talk.
Find out more about Suzanne Cope here: https://www.suzannecope.com/
We’re back with a delightful episode about Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, the first female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Host Susan Stone dives deep into the history of the Seminole Indians and Betty Mae’s unusual life and times, via a talk recorded in front of a live audience in Berlin. As a mixed-race child, Betty was ‘born a crime’ according to Seminole medicine men, but she endured to lead her community as a nurse, journalist, leader, and a storyteller.
DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the talk.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.
Show notes:
In this episode, we hear a bit of our lovely 10th anniversary show in Berlin, and DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire gives us the rundown on Caroline of Brunswick, who was officially queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover for three whole weeks before she died in 1821, long-estranged from her horrible husband, her cousin King George IV. They had separated shortly after the birth of their only child, and Caroline’s access to her daughter was restricted. She later moved to Italy, celebrated the right to bare arms, and lived with a handsome secretary, prompting huge amounts of gossip and countless caricatures. When George ascended to the throne, Caroline tried to cash in on her popularity and become queen, but she was literally locked out of the coronation.
Recorded live at Lettrétage by Betty Kapun.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.
Show notes:
Continue reading “Podcast #82: Caroline of Brunswick”
In this episode, we hop over to New York to encounter our Dead Lady of the hour, May Ziadeh, a Lebanese-Palestinian poet, writer, translator, and feminist, whose work explored themes of love, identity, and the liberation of women. Books were her beloved companions throughout her life, and proved more steadfast than people. May began writing at an early age, started an important literary salon, and had moments of fame, but is perhaps better known for the years of isolation and tragedy that marked her life. She deserves more. May wrote in her diary: “After my death, I hope that someone will do me justice and find the sincerity and honesty contained in my small writings.”
Our presenter is Rosana Elkhatib, a designer, researcher, and curator. She is a co-founding principal of feminist architecture collaborative f-architecture and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.
DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the talk.
Thanks to the team at Dead Ladies NYC for sharing this presentation with us: Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, Sheila Enright, Christopher Neil and the KGB Bar’s Lori Schwarz.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.
Show notes:
Continue reading “Podcast #81: May Ziadeh”
We’re back with Season Eight of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast!
In this episode, DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire brings us the story of Boudica, an ancient British queen who fought the Romans. Though she led her Iceni tribe in a rebellion, the Romans prevailed, but wrote a fair bit about her in the history books.
In her afterlife, Boudica became a mascot for the suffragettes but also co-opted as a symbol for all things British; also, Enya wrote a song about her.
DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens joins producer/host Susan Stone to set the stage.
For more on the Boudica-inspired perfume Susan mentioned, look here: https://www.boudiccawode.com/
Dead Ladies NYC has a show March 6 — find out more here on their newsletter: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/
And in Berlin we are celebrating 10 years of DLS! Come see us May 13th, and find out more via our website: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com/
Please consider joining our Patreon! We have lots of fun interviews and book chat and more over at patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast
If you like, follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via info@deadladiesshow.com and we’re on BlueSky, too: https://bsky.app/profile/deadladiesshow.bsky.social
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.
Show notes:
Read more: Podcast #79: Boudica
Some queenly comparisons
Where Boudica may or may not have lived
Two great sources: Miranda Aldhouse-Green’s Boudica Britannia, and Hingly & Unwin’s Boudica. Iron Age Warrior Queen
On screen: the movie Boudica, Queen of War and Channel 4’s Queens That Changed the World.
Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.
In this episode we hear a story that feels sadly relevant—a miscarriage of justice. Anna Göldi was the last woman to be legally executed after being accused of witchcraft in Switzerland, in 1782; just seven years before the French Revolution, and a century after witch trials were rampant in Europe (as well as infamously in Salem, Massachusetts). Anna came from a poor family, and worked as a maid in various households, but she was also an independent and freethinking woman. In 1781 she was looking after a young girl who allegedly began spitting up pins and nails.
Her wealthy employers accused her of witchcraft, and she was tortured until she admitted being in league with the devil. Anna Göldi was sentenced to death by decapitation for poisoning, even though the girl had not died. Not until 2007 was her case reevaluated and her name cleared. There’s now a museum, several podcasts, films and books that cover Anna’s life and story. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire tells it for us, and host/producer Susan Stone and our other co-founder Florian Duijsens come along to set things up.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can find the transcript, created by Susan, here.
Show notes:
Two German books about Anna: the novel (left) by Eveline Hasler and one of several excellent non-fiction books by Walter Hauser, who campaigned for her rehabilitation.
Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.
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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women’s history is everyone’s history.
The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.
The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.
In this episode, we’re live at PodFest Berlin! DLS co-founders Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duijsens do the introducing, while DLSP Producer Susan Stone tells us about the amazing life of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress (in 1968). Four years later, Shirley was the first Black person and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. She was known for her hard work on behalf of equal rights, introducing legislation that helped women and children, workers and the poor. Additionally, she was called the “best dressed woman on Capitol Hill” for her sharp style. Shirley’s legendary campaign slogan was “Unbought and unbossed,” and she kept the philosophy throughout her long political career. Shirley never wanted to be remembered as the “first” this or that, but as someone who fought for change and blazed a path for those like her in politics. Her legacy is undeniable.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can download the transcript, created by Susan, here.
Continue reading “Podcast #75: Shirley Chisholm”
In this episode we run off to New York to get a post-Olympic sports fix! Writer and editor Sheila Enright who is both a former track and field runner and co-host of Dead Ladies NYC brings us the story of American gold medallist Wilma Rudolph.
Born into a family of 22 children in segregated Tennessee, Wilma Rudolph was diagnosed with polio at a young age and told she would never walk again. But her mother told her she would, and young Wilma decided not only would she walk, she would run! A skilled sprinter, she qualified for her first Olympics at the age of 16, bringing home a bronze medal as part of the relay team. She decided to go further, faster, and at the 1960 Olympics she set records and won 3 gold medals, being dubbed “The Fastest Woman on Earth.”
During and after her athletic career, Wilma Rudolph used her celebrity to further important causes, from desegregation to sports education for children.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can download the transcript, created by Susan, here.
Continue reading “Podcast #74: Wilma Rudolph”
In this episode, we take a jaunt to New York to find out about the talented and difficult Patricia Highsmith. You might know one of her most notorious characters, Tom Ripley, from your Netflix queue (the new series Ripley) or via one of the many films based on what might be Highsmith’s best-known novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Highsmith wrote several books that redefined the concept of the thriller, as well as one of the few stories to give a lesbian couple a happy ending.
That novel, The Price of Salt, was adapted into the 2015 film Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was inspired by one of Highsmith’s many obsessive relationships (or in this case, just an obsession) with women. Long a closeted lesbian, Highsmith was engaged to a man (as required by 1950s societal mores) yet aggressively seduced lady after lady.
She also wrote obsessively, was highly ambitious, and kept thousands of pages of diaries written in various languages to avoid spilling her secrets (they have been translated since her death in 1995). She was misanthropic and bigoted, and even her friends considered her unpleasant to be around, but her psychological thrillers have remained classics, partly for how they provide insight into the mind of the criminal.
The talk by writer and educator Hannah Meyer comes courtesy of our friends at Dead Ladies Show NYC. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens was there for the event in NYC, and he joins producer/host Susan Stone to help introduce the episode.
Find Dead Ladies NYC on Instagram: @deadladiesnyc and follow Hannah Meyer @hannahrenee_m
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can download the transcript, created by Susan, here.
Show notes:
Continue reading “Podcast #71: Patricia Highsmith”
In this episode, we bring you…the woman known as the “Mother Theresa of Reggae!
Sister Mary Ignatius, a white Jamaican Catholic nun dedicated her life to the Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, where she taught football, cricket, boxing, table tennis and dominoes – but most importantly, music. A lover of jazz and blues, she inspired hundreds of “wayward boys” to become professional musicians, including future Skatalites Tommy McCook and Don Drummond, trombonist Rico Rodriguez and the conductor Leslie Thompson. Without Sister Mary Ignatius, who died at the age of 81 in 2003, we might never have had reggae.
DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire tells the story of the woman known to her young charges as “Sister Iggy.” And she joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce this episode, the first of Season Seven of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast, and to wish you all a happy International Women’s Day on March 8th!
Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.And you can download our transcript, prepared by Susan Stone, here.
If you’re in New York by any chance, put Tuesday, March 19 in your diary for Dead Ladies Show NYC. More details here!
Show notes:
Continue reading “Podcast #69: Sister Mary Ignatius Davies”
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