Category: News

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Podcast #71: Patricia Highsmith

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”
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DLS NYC #28

Our 28th show features three ladies who their marks on the world in dramatically different ways. Join us as we learn about a writer known for her problematic romanticization of the Deep South; a celebrated child actor turned savvy diplomat; and a runner who overcame polio and discrimination to become the fastest in the world.

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MARGARET MITCHELL (1900–1949) was an equestrian, debutante, newspaper reporter and novelist, best known as the author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel Gone With the Wind. Born in Atlanta, Mitchell’s creativity was apparent from a young age. She wrote one of her first stories at age nine and held dramatized readings of popular novels in her parents’ sitting room until she was lectured on the dangers of copyright infringement. The author of one of the most enduring and controversial depictions of the American South, Mitchell led a sensational, tumultuous life that was not unlike that of her heroine, Scarlett. A bold, larger-than-life figure, Mitchell was no stranger to scandal and accurately predicted her own cause of death.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK (1928–2014) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who later became a long-serving United States diplomat. Beginning her career at only 3 years old and catapulting to fame in 1934, Temple Black became Hollywood’s #1 box-office attraction during the Great Depression. While she continued acting into the 40s and 50s, she ultimately pivoted away from show-business to pursue political work. After becoming active in California politics in the 1960s, Temple Black was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1969, and subsequently named U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia, and even served as America’s first female Chief of Protocol.

WILMA RUDOLPH (1940–1994) was an American Olympic track and field champion. Born the 20th of 22 children, she was diagnosed with polio at the age of 6 and needed braces to walk. Thanks to the ministrations of her mother and siblings, she regained the use of her legs and by the age of 16 was winning Olympic medals. At 18, she had her first baby and her athletic career seemed over, but undaunted, she kept training. Two years later she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during the 1960 Summer Olympic Games and was heralded as the fastest woman in the world.

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Your presenters:

MARY SPENCER resides in New York.

ELLIE CAMPISANO is an educator, learning specialist, and writer based in New York City. In her free time, Ellie can be found experimentally cooking, singing, doing yoga, and adventuring around the City in search of the best seasonal baked goods with her toddler, Rosie.

SHEILA ENRIGHT, a former track and field runner, is the co-host of this lovely show! 

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Dead Ladies Show #36: Anna Göldi, Ester Krumbachová & Miriam Rothschild!

It’s us again! Back to our three-talk format but only in English again, unfortunately, due to our continuing funding woes. We’re treating you to talks by your beloved co-hosts Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duijsens, plus the curator, writer, and film producer Rachel Pronger. Learn all about three impressive women who faced tough times, pushed boundaries, and gave the world lasting treasures. The aim of the show is to raise money for more podcasts, so we’ve adjusted the non-reduced price to €10, but reduced tickets still cost €4. Get your tickets here. Doors open 7.30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

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ANNA GÖLDI was the last woman to be legally executed after being accused of witchcraft in Switzerland, in 1782 – that’s just seven years before the French Revolution. She worked as a maid, looking after a young girl who allegedly began spitting up needles. Her wealthy employers accused her of witchcraft, and she was tortured until she admitted being in league with the devil. She was sentenced to death by decapitation for poisoning, even though the girl had not died. Her case was acknowledged as a miscarriage of justice in 2007.

ESTER KRUMBACHOVÁ was a Czech screen writer, costume and stage designer, author, and film director. She had a defining influence on Czech New Wave cinema, collaborating on more than twenty movies from the early 1960s on. Her involvement in the satire A Report on the Party and Guests meant she was blacklisted from working in film by the Czechoslovakian communist party during much of the 1980s. She worked under pseudonyms, painted and made jewelry, returning to the film industry in the 1990s.

Dame MIRIAM ROTHSCHILD was a British zoologist, entomologist, and botanist. From a wealthy family with an active interest in nature, she started collecting ladybirds and caterpillars and taking a tame quail to bed with her at the age of four. During a spell of WWII codebreaking at Bletchley Park, she pressured the British government to take in more Jewish refugees, providing housing for 49 children in her own (stately) home. She then became a leading authority on fleas, with side-lines in other parasites, butterflies, and meadow restoration.

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Podcast #70: Phoolan Devi

*** NOTE: This episode’s Dead Lady had a very challenging existence, particularly when she was younger, and her story is marked by multiple incidents of violence and sexual abuse. Please use caution when listening ***

In this episode, we join forces with the Ms Informed podcast to bring you the story of Phoolan Devi.

Known as India’s “Bandit Queen,” Phoolan Devi overcame a life of poverty, illiteracy, and abuse, first as a child bride, and later enduring after being kidnapped by bandits and rising to lead the gang. She eventually became a politician, campaigning for women’s causes and the poor. Even today, Phoolan is a symbol for the anger, vengeance and injustice against women in India, as well as an inspiration for the lower classes.

Madhvi Ramani and Rina Grob told her story at a recent live DLS show in Berlin. You can read the transcript here.

DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce this episode.

Discover the Ms Informed podcast wherever you like to listen, and here. As mentioned, Katy and Susan have done an interview with them which will appear on Ms Informed Episode 165. You can also follow them on Instagram.

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can download the transcript, created by Susan, here.

Show notes:

Continue reading “Podcast #70: Phoolan Devi”
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Podcast #69: Sister Mary Ignatius Davies

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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Dead Ladies Show NYC #27

It was wonderful seeing so many of your shining faces at the last DLS NYC in January! We are pleased to announce that we’ll be back in the Red Room on TUESDAY, March 19 from 7–9pm.

TLDR: TUESDAY, March 19, 7–9pm at the Red Room at KGB Bar! (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003, Third Floor.)

BUY TICKETS HERE!

We are charging a $10 cover to defray costs of the event—if this presents any issue, please contact us and we can absolutely work something out.

At this, our twenty-seventh show, be regaled with the tales of a long-lashed puppeteer televangelist; fashion and media maven who helped build a publishing empire; and a Black American activist who spent her life fighting for racial justice. Presented by three women with a deep love for literature, with a smattering of commentary by your devoted hosts.

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TAMMY FAYE BAKKER (1942-2007) was an entertainer, puppeteer, and activist best known for building a televangelism empire and theme park alongside her husband, Jim Bakker, in the 1980s. At four feet eleven, Tammy became known for her heavy makeup and emotive televised appeals, which helped to fund the Bakkers’ lavish spending. After a series of sex and money scandals capsized the ministry, Bakker divorced Jim, battled a drug addiction, and became an unlikely gay icon whose advocacy for AIDS patients broke from Americans’ and conservative Christians’ attitudes of the time.

EUNICE W. JOHNSON (1916-2010) was an African American publisher and fashion icon. Along with her husband, she founded Ebony and Jet magazines. She started the Ebony Fashion Fair fundraiser as a favor for a friend, and then grew it into a traveling fashion show, showcasing black designers as well as haute couture. The Ebony Fashion Fair launched the careers of famous models like Pat Cleveland, and led to the creation of the Fashion Fair cosmetics line, the first makeup line for women of color to be carried in department stores.

BETTY SHABAZZ (1936-1997) was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She is perhaps best known as the wife of the slain Black nationalist leader Malcolm X. Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents provided shelter from racism. After attending the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, she moved to New York City, becoming a nurse. There, she met Malcolm X and joined the Nation of Islam in 1956. Following Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965, Shabazz raised their six daughters as a widow, pursued higher education, and worked at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.

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Your presenters:

KATELYN BEATY is a book editor who has written for several outlets about religion and gender. She lives in Fort Greene and enjoys birdwatching and karaoke.

CANDACE MUNROE is a retail industry veteran (and looking for a new job, if you have any leads!) She loves food, fashion, and Formula 1, and can be found creating content around all three as @thesinglepantry on TikTok and Instagram.

AMANDA GARRETT is a Brooklyn resident who loves baking, exercise sometimes, and reality TV. She’s currently in a reading era so any book recs are welcomed.

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Dead Ladies Show #35: Phoolan Devi & Therese Giehse!

We’re back! (And welcome to our new newsletter platform! We’ve taken the liberty of keeping you on our mailing list – but let us know or unsubscribe if you’d like to leave the party.) Can this really be our 35th live show in Berlin? That’s crazy! To mark the occasion, we’re teaming up with the very-much-alive presenters of Ms Informed – “the podcast for smart but lazy people” covering feminist news and culture straight from (you guessed it) Berlin.

Our funding woes continue, alas, so both talks will be in English – by your beloved co-host KATY DERBYSHIRE, plus a joint presentation by Ms Informed’s RINA GROB and MADHVI RAMANI, more on whom below! All held together by our passionate podcast producer SUSAN STONE. Learn all about two impressive women who overcame obstacles, pushed boundaries and inspired generations. The aim of the show is to raise money for more podcasts, so we’ve adjusted the non-reduced price to €10, but reduced tickets still cost €4, get them here. Doors open 7.30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

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PHOOLAN DEVI was an Indian politician and former dacoit, a Robin Hood figure revered as the “Bandit Queen”. Her childhood in late-1960s rural Uttar Pradesh was a time of poverty, caste discrimination and sexualized violence, which continued during her bandit years from the age of 15. Living in ravines, her gang robbed cars and looted higher caste villages, sometimes disguising themselves in police uniforms. Devi became popular among lower castes; there was even a doll made in her image. After a massacre based on gang rivalry, Devi was charged with 48 crimes; she went on the run for two years but eventually surrendered and spent ten years on remand. But the charges against her were dropped and she joined the socialist Samajwadi Party, becoming an MP in 1996 and campaigning for women’s causes and the poor. Understandably, many people have told her fascinating story, including a disputed film of her life, but she dictated her autobiography (Devi was illiterate) to regain control of the narrative. Phoolan Devi was assassinated outside her New-Delhi home in 2001, aged 37. Various attempts to install statues of her have been blocked by the authorities. Her life has inspired folk singers, opera writers, filmmakers and novelists, as well as millions of others.

THERESE GIEHSE acted in movies with Vivien Leigh and Romy Schneider, founded an anti-Nazi cabaret with her lover Erika Mann, was photographed by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, and embodied several of Bertolt Brecht’s best-known characters on stage. Born in Munich in 1898, she went against her liberal Jewish family’s expectations to train as an actor, cast as older characters even as a young woman. The Pfeffermühle cabaret started up in 1933, swiftly moving to Zürich to escape the Nazis. With Erika and Klaus Mann, Giehse toured the political show around Europe, never mentioning any names but using parables and storytelling to rip the piss out of Hitler and his henchmen. She returned to Zürich in 1937, where she joined the outstanding cast at the Schauspielhaus theatre, many of them also emigrants like her. During the war, she performed in the premiere staging of Brecht’s anti-war play Mother Courage, defining the title role in what some directors have called the greatest play of the 20th century. She went on working with Brecht and other key playwrights and directors after 1945, in Munich, Zürich and East Berlin. Therese Giehse maintained her pacifist stance throughout her life, criticising the Vietnam War at public events. She died in 1975 and is buried with her sister in Zürich.

And now for our guest presenters from Ms Informed:

Photo © Dominika Diandini

Madhvi Ramani writes articles, essays, plays and prose. Her most recent children’s book Whisper, Shout, Let it Out (Macmillan, 2023) encourages children to experiment with their voices. Her work has been published in Asia Literary Review, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Her collaboration with the sound artist Lutz Gallmeister, Water Stories, was performed at ACUD Berlin and at the Hamburg Floating Transmissions Festival.

Rina Grob was born in Munich and grew up between Germany and the USA. After a time in film and theatre in London und New York, she now works in Berlin as a producer and podcaster, focusing on the nexus between feminism and pop culture.

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Dead Ladies Show NYC #26

Happy New Year! We’re so excited for you to join us as we embark on SIX YEARS of the Dead Ladies Show NYC. We so appreciate your continued support that makes the whole labor of love worth it! 

DEETS: Wednesday, January 31, 7–9pm at the Red Room at KGB Bar! (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003, Third Floor.)

We will start the New Year with a FREE show! (although we will pass the hat for those who want to keep Dead Ladies going!) Join Molly and Sheila as we learn about why the caged bird sings, of a legendary American actress, and of the woman who built the Brooklyn Bridge. 
 

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EMILY WARREN ROEBLING (1843-1903) was a society wife with no formal training in engineering. But when her father-in-law was killed and her husband permanently disabled while trying to build the Brooklyn Bridge, Emily stepped in to finish the job, leading the project to build the longest suspension bridge the world had ever seen. This is the story of a woman who navigated Tammany Hall corruption and enormous engineering challenges to build a New York City icon dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World, a symbol of the Big Apple that stands proud today. The Brooklyn Bridge exists thanks to the stubborn perseverance of Mrs. Roebling.
 

SARAH BERNHARDT (1844-1923) was widely regarded as the greatest actress of the nineteenth century, She rose from anonymity as the unclaimed daughter of a Parisienne courtesan to performing for enraptured audiences around the world, even those who didn’t know a word of French. Passionate and eccentric, her list of lovers reads like a syllabus for a 19th-century literature class and her hobbies ranged from sculpting to tending pet goats and alligators to sleeping in a coffin. In the words of Mark Twain, “There are five kinds of actresses. Bad actresses, fair actresses, good actresses, great actresses, and then there is Sarah Bernhardt.” 

MAYA ANGELOU (1928 – 2014) was an American author, poet, cook, dancer, traveler and wise soul who always had something to teach people, whether it was the general public, presidents, or celebrities. Her books tackle difficult life topics with poetic ease and passion. As she said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Our presenter will tell you the untold story that has lived inside of her since she discovered Angelou’s work. 

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BOB SOROKANICH is a writer and editor who mostly focuses on the car industry and transportation. He lives in Park Slope with his fiancee and their elderly dog Rory. 

NANCY RITTER is a writer in New York City. She sits on the board of Saving Grace, the nonprofit dedicated to preserving the architecture of Grace Church — that big gothic beauty on Broadway just a few blocks down from the Strand. She lives in the East Village and needs more neighborhood friends, so come say hi after the show. 

SYEDA ZAIDI is a Brooklyn resident who loves to travel to different countries when she can, collecting little pieces of art and jewelry. Like the lady she is presenting, “her mission in life is not to merely survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

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Podcast #68: June Tarpé Mills

In this episode, the last of Season Six, we bring you a show live from PodFest Berlin! DLS-ers Susan Stone and Katy Derbyshire joined the city’s fine and friendly podcasters at the yearly event in front of a small but perfectly formed audience.

From that event, producer Susan brings us the fascinating story of June Tarpé Mills, a comics pioneer and the first woman to create a female superhero, Miss Fury. The alter ego of socialite Marla Drake, Miss Fury wore a cursed black leopard skin and travelled the world fighting evil (mostly Nazis). She was sexy and smart, and a global hit from 1941–1951, during which she appeared in 100 newspapers, millions of comic books, and on the side of several US bombers. Then she, like her creator, largely disappeared. Decades after her death in obscurity, Mills is finally getting the recognition she deserves, from a headstone for her unmarked grave to induction into the Comic Industry Hall of Fame.

We mentioned our wonderful friend Andy Horn, who introduced us to Tarpé Mills. Read more about Andy here.

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. You can download the transcript, created by Susan, here.

Show notes:

Continue reading “Podcast #68: June Tarpé Mills”
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PodFest Berlin 2023: June Tarpé Mills & Käthe Paulus

We’re delighted to invite you to our second appearance at PodFest Berlin!

Florian, Katy, and Susan will be presenting a mini-Dead Ladies Show at the podcast festival on Saturday, October 14th starting at 8:15pm (doors open 8pm) at Noisy Rooms, Revaler Str. 99, 10245 Berlin (inside House of Music at RAW Gelände). Susan will reveal the writer and artist behind Miss Fury, and Katy will reprise the story of Germany’s first female airship pilot (auf Deutsch this time). See below for more information on the two ladies in question, who will, as always, be presented in a messy mixture of English and German.

Tickets are €12, and you get 23% off with our special promo code “DeadLadies23”! Each ticket covers the Dead Ladies Show plus a half-day pass to festival events on Saturday between 5-10:30pm, including workshops and panels, seminars, and other events! Please book in advance here.

You can also purchase day and weekend passes (23% off with our promo code, or even cheaper with a student discount), which will include our event on Saturday and everything else on offer! This is our last show of the year, and we’d love to see you there.

Can’t wait? Why not listen to our past shows as podcasts? Our latest episode comes direct from DLS NYC, as illustrator Nafisa Ferdous introduces us to Amrita Sher-Gil, a queer, feminist, Hungarian-Indian artist, writer, and art critic who left a profound impact on art despite her untimely death.

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JUNE TARPÉ MILLS created the first female comic-book action hero — Miss Fury, the secret identity of socialite Marla Drake. Mills’ fashionable crimefighter appeared 6 months before Wonder Woman, and won fans for her style, noir storylines, and bouts of self-doubt, although Miss Fury’s kinky costumes and proclivity for putting the ‘strip’ in comic strip got the series banned from several newspapers in the 1940s. Writer and artist June Mills created several other male action characters, and had her own alter ego, turning her middle name into a nom de plume, for a mysterious and possibly more masculine identity.

KÄTHE PAULUS was Germany’s first female airship pilot, a professional aerial acrobat, and the inventor of the folding parachute. On meeting a balloonist, she decided to learn how to pilot a hot-air balloon and perform parachute jumps. Having had his baby out of wedlock, she lost him in a ballooning accident and made a living for herself – and her mother, who she lived with throughout her life – flying balloons, airships, and planes, and jumping out of them, starting her own parachute production line during WWI. And yes, they have named a street at BER after her.