In the first episode of our fifth podcast season, you’ll hear the Berlin-based British-Ghanaian author and political activist Sharon Dodua Otoo talking about her favourite woman who ever lived: Nana Yaa Asantewaa. This Asante queen led the 1900 war against British colonialism in present-day Ghana. When the British governor demanded the kingdom’s emblem of power, the Golden Stool, Nana Yaa Asantewaa encouraged the Asante government to fight back through a powerful speech, and was chosen to head an army of 5000 at the age of sixty.
Sharon gives us all the context of who, what, where and when – and tells us how important Nana Yaa Asantewaa is as a role model for her and many others. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins Susan Stone to introduce this fascinating talk.
If you’d like to read Sharon’s own books in German or English, there are plenty to choose from.
Here’s where to watch Vanessa Danso’s The Legendary Nana Yaa Asantewaa. Or you could defeat the colonial masters guided by the queen herself in a live-action game, from the safety of your own home.
To finish off, here’s the school named after her, part of an impressive legacy.
In this episode of the podcast, DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire introduces us to daring German writer Irmgard Keun. As an ingenue, Irmgard’s writing debut was much more consequent than her acting debut, and she garnered praise and a film adaptation. Her books explored women’s lives in Weimar-era Berlin with a humor all her own, which of course meant the Nazis banned them. There’s dark wit, wild parties in the face of danger, and fabulous costume changes — oh, and an unreliable narrator. It’s a bit of Babylon Berlin meets Cabaret, perhaps.
Irmgard Keun is also one of the original Dead Ladies (along with Dorothy Parker) that sparked the creation of the Dead Ladies Show in the first place!
Our other DLS co-creator Florian Duijsens joins podcast producer and host Susan Stone for the introducing duties in our last episode of DLSP Season Four!
This episode presents a first: our presenter (our very own Susan Stone!) actually met the lady in question. Bebe Barron was a bohemian, composer, and electronic music pioneer. She and her husband Louis worked avant-garde art-makers like John Cage and Maya Deren, and hung out with Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Joseph Campbell, and more. The pair is credited with inventing the tape loop, and possibly the audio book. It’s certainly the case that they composed and created the first electronic music — or electro-acoustic — feature film soundtrack. Electronic music as we know it would not exist without Bebe, nor would the sounds we associate with outer space.
Anaïs Nin, and you can find out more about their friendship in this interview.
An excerpt from Anaïs Nin’s House of Incest audiobook as produced and recorded by the Barrons. You can order a CD copy here.
Tubular!
Louis & Bebe, bohemians
Louis & Bebe, professionals
The sole surviving copy of Bells of Atlantis
Kirk Douglas, Vincente Minnelli, Lana Turner, and Dore Schary, on the set of The Bad and the Beautiful
An excerpt from Forbidden Planet, with gloriously bleepy sound effects from the Barrons
If you try this out, let us know if it works!
Bebe in later years
Bebe and her husband Leonard Neubauer in 2005, picture by Susan Stone
And you can watch the new doc on Bebe and the other electronic pioneers, Sisters With Transistors, here.
You can still hear Susan’s NPR story on Bebe from 2005 here. Our theme music is not by Bebe, but “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening!
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.
Show notes:
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.
In this episode, Anneke Lubkowitz introduces us to the brilliant and strange 19th-century writer and poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. This Dead Lady was a Lady in the literal sense – she was born into nobility, and the life her family expected for her was far different from the one she led. Choosing the male occupation of poet, and the unladylike hobby of fossil collecting, nature devotee Annette could often be found wandering the muddy moors or writing away in a turret. Her ahead-of-her-time way with verse included timeless poems and a work of gothic fiction considered by some to be one of the first murder mysteries.
Via Zoom from the bright green rooms of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff’s former home Haus Ruschhaus, Anneke also reads some newly translated poems from Droste’s collections (thanks to the translators: Shane Anderson, Daniel Falb, Monika Rinck, and Annie Rutherford!).
Anneke live from Annette’s study, Katy and Florian smiling from their homes in Berlin
The Bökerhof, drawn by Annette herself. Read Karen Duve’s well-researched novel Fräulein Nette’s kurzer Sommer or Barbara Beuys’ excellent biography to learn what happened here.
The Rüschhaus
Her “snail’s shell”
Casper David Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1818)
Annette at 41, portrait by Johann Joseph Sprick, 1838
The star of our 40th (!) episode is author, educator, and therapist Beryl Gilroy. Born in what was then British Guiana, she trained as a teacher before migrating to London in 1952 as part of the Windrush generation and worked all manner of jobs until becoming one of the very first Black head teachers in the UK. Her groundbreaking debut, Black Teacher (1976), documented her journey up to that point, and she’d keep publishing until her death in 2001. Telling her story is Berlin-based author Divya Ghelani.
Her debut book is due to be reissued this summer by Faber & Faber
Some of her other books, all available from the great Peepal Tree Press
A short interview with Beryl’s colleague (and supporter!) Yvonne Connolly, who was the UK’s first head teacher
The original illustration of Prince Bumpo in Doctor Dolittle
Divya in ACUD’s balmy courtyard last September, when this episode was recorded
Sadly, the campaign Divya mentions to rename Beryl’s school in her honor did not succeed. Read more about that here.
The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.
Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.
Don’t forget, we now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast
Episode 39 introduces Gráinne Mhaol, also known as Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish pirate queen.
Translator Laura Radosh presents the rollicking tale of this tremendous woman, who has been lauded as “a most famous femynyne sea captain,” and “the dark lady of Doona.” Gráinne Mhaol was head of the O’Malley dynasty in 16th-century Ireland, owning up to 1000 cattle and horses, leading men on land and sea, and allegedly wreaking cruel vengeance for the murder of a lover. When her sons and half-brother were captured by the English, she is said to have met with Queen Elizabeth I and negotiated their release in Latin.
Enjoy!
Show notes:
Clare Island Castle, the cosy home of Eoghan Dubdhara and Margaret O’Malley where Gráinne Mhaol was born. Driving cattle to the open lands for summer grazing (booleying) in 19th-century Ireland The former Cock’s Castle, now Hen’s CastleGráinne’s galleys may have looked something like this.Map of Ireland around Gráinne’s timePirate punishment (no pirates were harmed in the making of this picture)London Bridge before major fire damage in 1633Scene from the Broadway musical Pirate Queen “Contemporary” depiction of Gráinne and Elizabeth, made only 200 years later
If you fancy being told the story by a dude with an excellent mid-70s beard, this 4-minute RTÉ clip is television gold.
Speaking of books, we’ve made some lists for you! Order from bookshop.org in the US or the UK to contribute to independent bookstores, and a little bit to us too. Or if you spot something you like the look of, why not visit or contact your favourite local bricks-and-mortar bookshop to show them some love?
It wouldn’t be January 2021 if we didn’t recommend a couple of related sea shanties (sort of). There’s “Five Pint Mary” or a whole suite, Granuaile. “Grace O’Malley” hits the spot – or try some Irish pirate metal. Warning: three out of four of these videos feature cartoon depictions of a red-headed piratess.
The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.
Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.
Don’t forget, we now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast
In Episode 38, we hear the sweet, sweet music of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known as the godmother of rock’n’roll.
DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens brings us the tale of this legendary guitarist and gospel singer who had a profound influence on musicians like Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin. She took to the stage at the age of four, and never really left it. Sister Rosetta Tharpe made the first gospel record to hit the charts, played with Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club, attracted 25,000 paying customers to her third wedding, got in trouble with gospel purists and recorded a live album in Paris in 1964.
To start off the episode, Susan and Katy toast to the end of a strange year with the Dead Ladies Show signature tipple, affordable German bubbly Rotkäppchen (Red Riding Hood) and give thanks for the support we’ve had, and that yet to come.
The presentation in this episode was recorded live with help from Brigitte Hamar at the Studiobühne der Universität Münster where we were invited by the Burg Hülshoff Center for Literature. Other talks from this event in German can be found in the Center’s Mediathek: https://www.burg-huelshoff.de/en/medien/mediathek/dead-ladies-show Thanks also to Fiona, Kati, Tobias, Feline and Jörg for inviting and assisting us. Here we are with our co-presenters Karosh Taha and Bernadette Hengst.
Show notes:
Here’s a headline on the big weddingAnd the record made of it!With her mother, Katie Bell NubinPlaying at a secular venue……and in church.Performing with Marie Knight……and signing in furs.Having fun with some kidsKatie’s recordIn later yearsA late gravestone……and a late tributeSequinned and Gibsoned
Our 37th podcast episode celebrates a legendary spy, writer, and fencer whose very existence caused such a public uproar that it caused a grumpy British judge to outlaw all betting on a person’s gender. Although her story has been told many, many times before, most versions either invent her life story entirely or do not honor her own identity. Though she wanted to be recognized as the woman she was, that didn’t mean she was happy with society’s expectations of what a woman could or should wear, look like, or be around the time of the French Revolution. Mary Wollstonecraft was a fan, ranking her among the likes of Sappho and the Empress of Russia, and we think you’ll enjoy her story too.
Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens joins podcast host/producer Susan Stone to discuss our first episode about a woman we would now probably call a trans woman. Note that she is best known in the literature and all around the internet as the Chevalier d’Eon, Chevalière d’Eon is probably the more grammatically correct title 🙂 We also discuss the Dead Ladies Show’s famous three rules, and talk about about another unruly rulebreaker, Anne Lister.
The caricature from which Michael Urie got his Met Gala inspiration
Freemason caricature with mysterious accoutrements
Marie Antoinette’s enormous dress
That classy portrait from 1778
Her big fencing battle with the Black composer and champion fencer Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Born in Guadeloupe, he’d fought in the first all-Black regiment in Europe!
And here she is as Athena
Here she is late in life, more religious but still wearing that medal.
And if you want to know more about the Public Universal Friend, check out these two podcast episodes by NPR’s Throughline and What’s Her Name!
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Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.
Our 36th podcast episode brings you a glimpse of the acclaimed author of some of the most chilling tales in contemporary American literature, Shirley Jackson. Her short story “The Lottery” has been a true classic since its publication in 1948. Jackson blended gothic and horror elements with explorations of women’s alienation and search for identity. In her real life, she was forced to balance her tremendous talent with the everyday duties of a wife and mother and societal expectations of femininity which she defied at almost every step. Our presentation from Krista Ahlberg comes courtesy of Dead Ladies Show NYC, and was recorded live by Christopher Neil in the Red Room at New York’s KGB Bar in 2019.
Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens joins podcast host/producer Susan Stone to discuss some of Shirley’s stories and the films and series in the extended Shirley Jackson universe.
We’re back with Episode 35! In this program, we’re coming to you live, limited, and socially distant from the courtyard of our beloved Berlin venue ACUD!
On this sultry September evening, DLS Podcast producer and host Susan Stone took the stage to present the life and times of the unstoppable Ida B. Wells! This pioneering African-American investigative journalist, suffragist and activist was a pint-sized powerhouse. Born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862, Ida’s world opened up with the Emancipation Proclamation, and she became a teacher, newspaper editor, and international lecturer, fighting injustice and racism all the way. Her hold-nothing-back editorials and books exposed and documented the horrific practice of lynching in the American South. On her steely path to justice, she accepted no compromises, making friends and enemies along the way.
DLS co-founders Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duijsens take up the introductions as we get back into the podcast swing of things after a summer break.
Show notes:
Ida B. WellsThe People’s Grocery in MemphisAnd its historic marker, from https://lynchingsitesmem.org/Handsome lawyer Ferdinand Lee BarnettWith her children: Charles , Herman , Ida and Alfreda. Archivio GBBWearing that button… Ida B. Wells Papers, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library (061.03.00)
To find out more, you can read Ida B. Well’s autobiography, Crusade for Justice, published by her daughter in 1970. Susan also recommends Paula J. Giddings’ Ida: A Sword among Lions. And watch out from January 2021 for Ida B. the Queen by her granddaughter Michelle Duster.
In Episode 34, we’re once more in Muenster as guests of the Burg Hülshoff Centre for Literature, which happens to be named after a Dead Lady poet, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff! This time around, we’ll get introduced to Willa Muir, a prolific translator who brought Kafka into English for the first time. Born on a small Scottish island, she was eyewitness to some of Europe’s most important moments. She worked in tandem with her husband Edwin, who somehow managed to get all the credit… Presented by our co-founder Katy Derbyshire, also featuring Florian Duijsens, and produced and introduced by producer Susan Stone.
Here’s Willa’s portrait by Nigel McIsaac, held by National Galeries Scotland
And this is the editorial board of her college journal, with Willa probably at the front, but possibly at the back.
The racy cover of Willa and Edwin’s very first translation
And all four of “their” Kafka books
Edwin, Gavin, Willa and cat at home
Two books of Willa’s own writing
You can hear Willa’s lovely voice talking about Edwin at the London Review of Books’ The Space. And there’s more about Willa Muir’s writing at Scottish PEN’s very well named Dangerous Women Project.
For those now hooked on Kafka translating content, we strongly recommend Michelle Woods’ book Kafka Translated, which also has a lot of material about Willa.
If you understand German and want to listen to a three-minute podcast about our show in Münster, the Lesebürger*innen have exactly what you need!
The center’s online audio platform is called DROSTE FM.
Their online Droste festival is happening right now, so German-speaking lovers of modern-day takes on dead lady poets can dig right in. And non-German-speaking music-lovers can check out their accompanying Spotify playlists.
Thanks for listening! Don’t forget, we now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast
If you’d prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast
Episode 33 takes us virtually to Muenster as guests of the Burg Hülshoff Centre for Literature, which happens to be named after a Dead Lady poet, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff! However, we’re here to talk about mystery queen Dorothy L. Sayers.
Dorothy, or DLS, as she preferred to be called, is probably best known for her crime novels featuring posh amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey. But she also gave us an impressive English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, much loved to this day. Something of a child prodigy, she learned Latin at six and studied at Oxford before women were actually awarded degrees. She made an early living in advertising and later wrote essays on both Christian and feminist subjects, including the fabulously titled “Are Women Human?” All this while publishing sixteen detective novels, plus numerous plays and short stories, and leading what might best be called a turbulent private life.
Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens unravels the complicated plot of her life, as other co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host & producer Susan Stone to set the stage.
Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode in June. Don’t forget, we now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast
If you’d prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast
Welcome to our 32nd podcast, in which Nicole Saraniero and Dana Lewis (recorded live by Christopher Neil in the Red Room at New York’s KGB Bar in 2019) conjure up enthusiastic ghost-buster Rose Mackenberg. Sometimes called “Harry Houdini’s Girl Detective,” Rose was dedicated to debunking psychics who scammed vulnerable and grieving Americans recovering from the tragedies of World War I and the Spanish Flu of 1918. She started out as a stenographer and private investigator, joining forces with famed magician Houdini to crusade against fraud and psychic swindlers.
Here it comes, produced and presented by Susan Stone:
Rose also has a belated obituary in the New York Times‘ rather good “Overlooked No More” series, dedicated to women who weren’t written about when they died.
A few excellent pictures of Rose in action are available in the Saturday Evening Post.
And she’s also featured in artist A R Hopwood’s exploration of The Ethics of Deception for London’s Wellcome Collection.
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In these coronavirus times, our venues could use your support. You can donate to ACUD in Berlin via Startnext, and/or to the KGB Bar in NYC via Fundly, and/or your own local cultural stronghold.
Welcome to episode 31, in which Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire talks about Russian revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai. She was present at the Copenhagen Second Congress of Socialist Women in 1910, where she voted for the introduction of International Women’s Day. Kollontai worked hard to promote women’s interests in the early Soviet Union, often a losing battle. And she had some exciting ideas about love in the new society.
Here it is, introduced and produced by Susan Stone for your enlightenment and enjoyment:
Katy’s favourite pic, Kollontai (centre) at the Congress of the Peoples of the East, Baku 1920
Young Alexandra
UPDATED: Thanks to lovely listener Agnieszka Gratza, we now have some images of the Krengolm textile factory in Narva where Alexandra was first inspired to become an activist. Thank you, Agnieszka!
Episode 30! Can you believe it? For a little inspiration in these grim political times, podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone chooses a brand spanking new presentation from Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens.
Our other dear co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins in on the comfy couch to introduce the fabulous Emma Goldman. This anarchist philosopher, activist, and writer was determined, persistent, and sure in her convictions. Which, duly, got her convicted. Often called Red Emma, she’s surely no true role model, but a heck of a lot of fun to learn about.
Susan and Katy also talk about the inaugural Emma Goldman Awards that just took place in Vienna, and provide some rather poppy musical inspiration.
And here’s Audré Lorde in that T-shirt on the lake.
You might also like to watch the film about John Reed and Louise Bryant, which features Emma, REDS. But do make sure you set aside three hours and fifteen minutes…
For further reading, there’s Emma’s autobiography Living My Life, available in full online at The Anarchist Library, or abridged from Penguin Classics.
Episode 29 presents a giant of the Harlem Renaissance: writer, anthropologist and zombie finder Zora Neale Hurston!
Zora may be best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, but her love of adventure and willingness to re-write her own biography are sure to delight fans old and new.
Writer and scholar Fatin Abbas tells Zora’s tale from the stage in ACUD, and Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer and presenter Susan Stone to put things in motion.
Enjoy this rare fieldwork footage Zora shot, which a kind Youtuber has paired with recordings of her voice!
Abache and Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis were among the last group of Africans forcibly transported to the United States aboard the slave ship Clotilde. Zora told Cudjoe’s life story in Barracoon, published only very recently.Zora’s photograph of “zombie” Felicia Felix-Mentor
Episode 28 is a special one, available in English and also in German!
Our talented bilingual presenter is Mary Scherpe, the woman behind Stil in Berlin and co-founder of the Feminist Food Club. Working in that intersection of food and style, Mary’s almost predestined to tell us all about Britain’s extravagant television chef Fanny Cradock, whose life was not quite what you might expect… Recorded live as part of ACUD‘s Backyard Summer.
Plus, producer Susan Stone invites Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire into her very own kitchen to pop some corks and talk turkey, game, raisins, and other festive foodie fun.
Here’s Fanny with her (most) beloved husband Johnny.
And here she is putting on the style earlier in life.
In the BBC studio.
A medley of dishes, original and recreated…
The BBC’s archive offers a wealth of Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas episodes for viewers in the UK. Or you could check out the 2006 movie Fear of Fanny, which exposed a new side to the celebrity chef.
But whatever you do, you probably have to watch the eye-rolling incident…
If you have more time on your hands, there’s the bizarre British Gas ad.
Mary recommends Fanny’s autobiography, Something’s Burning, and also Clive Ellis’s Fabulous Fanny. And we’re rather taken with the blog Keep Calm and Fanny On, recreating Fanny’s non-meaty recipes like the blue chestnut cream one above.
On Episode 27, we meet a Dead Lady Lepidopterist! Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Margaret Fountaine, an English explorer and naturalist who collected butterflies and loved love. Her exciting scientific life and world travels were well-known, but her romantic adventures were only revealed when Margaret’s copious diaries were read in 1978, 100 years after she first started them at age 15.
Florian’s talk was recorded live at ACUD (shoutout to sound engineer Hyui Ines Rmi) just two months ago in Berlin. For the podcast, our other Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone to revel in Margaret’s lovely and at times heart-breaking tale.
Episode 26 brings you spooky Dead Lady tales all the way from NYC! First, Claire Carroll introduces us to England’s Doreen Valiente, known as the mother of modern witchcraft. In the UK and beyond, she was key in the spread of modern day Wicca, now a world-wide religion. Doreen also had more than a few secrets under her cape. Then, it’s time for a live lady taxidermist talking about a Dead Lady taxidermist! Divya Anantharaman of Gotham Taxidermy brings us the story of American naturalist and taxidermy pioneer Martha Maxwell.
The talks were recorded live at two separate editions of NYC DLS, which is hosted and curated by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, with support from Nicolas Kemper and Christopher Neil and Lori Schwarz, general manager of the KGB Bar’s Red Room, where the event is held. Join the NYC newsletter to stay updated on the next ones!
Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone to chat about these spooky wonderful dames and more.
Presenter Divya Anantharaman artfully combines Rihanna lyrics with taxidermy to illustrate Martha Maxwell’s burning desire for knowledge.
Lion of Gripsholm. Copyright: Kungl. Hovstaterna/The Royal Court, Sweden
Taxidermy hasn’t always been done skillfully. The Lion of Gripsholm is an infamous example of what happens when someone who has never seen the animal alive is tasked with recreating it from its skin alone.
Episode 24 was recorded especially in Berlin, with our co-founder Katy Derbyshire telling us about the blues and R&B singer LaVern Baker. Recorded live at Restaurant März, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in September 2019.
Or look up all those different “Saved” covers on YouTube… Skip Phil Collins to 1:32 to watch LaVern do it in colour just after being rediscovered in 1986, plus a great little interview at the end. And a longer interview is here… But whatever you do, don’t listen to “Think Twice, Version X” at work.
Episode 24 comes fresh from Berlin, where our writer and translation friend Isabel Cole tells us about glamorous Hollywood star-slash-inventor Hedy Lamarr. Recorded live at ACUD, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in June 2019.
If you’d like to read her ghostwritten autobiography Ecstasy and Me, you can buy it online. For more online fun, how about the less-racy-than-you-might-expect movie Ecstasy? Especially good for horse enthusiasts.
Episode 23 is our first from New York City! It showcases two incredible black women who made major achievements in their fields. First off, journalist Amy Padnani tells us about the nurse, wartime inventor, and handwriting analyst Bessie Blount, followed by researcher Deborah Streahle on the radical feminist lawyer Florynce “Flo” Kennedy. Recorded live at KGB’s Red Room, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in May 2019.
A young Bessie Blount, having taught herself to write with her feet and her mouth.
And here she is passing on that knowledge. Elmira Advertiser, April 24, 1958
Bessie’s invention, as patented in 1951
As a handwriting analyst in later life. The Daily Journal
You can read Amy Padnani’s obituary for Bessie Blount in the New York Times‘ Overlooked section, which Amy herself established. We thoroughly approve of this new initiative.
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And on to Florynce “Flo” Kennedy.
Early lawyer years, from her book (see below)
A couple of our favorite pics showing Flo’s confident style
Flo Kennedy at the N.O.W. march in 1972. Photo by Bettye Lane, courtesy of Schlesinger Library
And it looks like there may be a documentary in the works, directed by Keirdra Bahruth.
Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Special thanks to Molly O’Laughlin Kemper for taking the Dead Ladies Show to New York City… and running with it!
Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode in June.
Episode 22 features our beloved co-host Florian Duijsens giving us the low-down on the multi-talented entertainer Josephine Baker. Recorded live at ACUD, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in April 2019.
Speaking at the March on Washington in 1963: “I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ’cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world…”
For more gorgeous pics, check out this fancy spread in UK Vogue.
Our 21st episode sees our beloved co-founder Katy Derbyshire tell the stirring story of Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist who worked as a secret radio operator in occupied Paris. Recorded live at ACUD, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in March 2019.
Our 20th episode features our beloved co-host Florian Duijsens spilling the details on Hollywood actress and Berlin favourite Anna May Wong. Recorded live at ACUD as part of our series on dead Berlin ladies, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in February 2019.
This time we have two guest presenters from New Zealand, recorded live at an edition of the Dead Ladies Show presented as part of LitCrawl Wellington, which was produced by Andrew Laking and Claire Mabey of Pirate and Queen. First, renegade historian Jessie Bray Sharpin talks about pioneering mountaineer and journalist Constance Barnicoat. And then we have playwright, poet, broadcaster, book reviewer & theatre critic Maraea Rakuraku telling us about Dr Irihapeti Ramsden, a Māori nurse, writer, educator & anthropologist.
All put together by producer and presenter Susan Stone in January 2019.
You can also read the Booker Prize-winning novel The Bone People, by Keri Hulme, which Dr. Ramsden published in the first place as part of the feminist collective Spiral.
Maraea provided us with a little background about Captain Cook, who she speaks about in her talk:
Indigenous Māori and indeed most of the Pacific, have a conflicted relationship with British Explorer, Captain James Cook (1728-1779) credited (still) with having ‘discovered’, in 1769, populated for centuries by Polynesians – Aotearoa/New Zealand. This voyage and the two that followed, in (1772-1775) and (1776-1779) were precursors to colonisation, that would overwhelm Indigenous less than 70 years later and lead to the signing of The Declaration of Independence in 1835 followed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840. These agreements reinforced the sovereignty and rights of the Indigenous peoples, who at the time were the majority peoples. Introduced disease, combined with the systematic economic, social and spiritual dismantling of cultural systems had a devastating impact upon the Indigenous population, which is still felt to this day.
And here’s a translation of her opening words:
Through my mother, I am Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa
The last part of our 4-part special FRANKENFRAUEN miniseries, produced in December 2018 by Susan Stone.
In a special encore presentation, Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens tells the story of Elsa Lanchester, the actress made famous by her role in 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein. Recorded live at Bard College Berlin.
The full version of Elsa Lanchester’s role as Mary Shelley in Bride of Frankenstein, and as the creature’s eponymous bride
And here’s rare footage of Elsa live onstage later in life.
And here’s Elsa duetting with Elvis in 1967.
Elsa and Elvis in Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)
If you want to read more about and by Elsa Lanchester, check out her marvelous autobiography, Elsa Lanchester, Herself.
And as a special treat, here’s a version of the perennially problematic (and delightful) “Baby It’s Cold Outside” a sung on the radio in 1950 by Elsa and her husband.
Thanks for listening! Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Check out the first three parts of our FRANKENFRAUEN series for yet more fascinating women involved in some way with the classic story of Frankenstein.
Part 3 of our 4-part FRANKENFRAUEN miniseries, produced by Susan Stone in December 2018.
Professor Laura Scuriatti of Bard College Berlin presents the story of Ada Lovelace, accomplished mathematician. She fits into the Frankenstein puzzle by being the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, who was present at the story’s inception. But of course she achieved a whole lot without ever really meeting him. With a live intro from the Dead Ladies Show at the ACUD Studio.
Thanks for listening! Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Check out parts 1, 2 & 4 of our FRANKENFRAUEN miniseries for more fascinating women involved in some way with the classic story of Frankenstein.
Part 2 of our 4-part special FRANKENFRAUEN miniseries, produced in December 2018 by Susan Stone.
To top off 2018 and get in one more celebration of the centenary of Frankenstein, beloved DLS co-host Florian Duijsens tells the story of its creator, Mary Shelley.
Lord Byron in a dreamy, posthumous portrait, below is a portrait of his personal physician, John Polidori.
Portrait by F. G. Gainsford
Here are the trailers for the three films about the legendary summer on Lake Geneva when Mary started writing the horror story what would become Frankenstein.
The title page of the first edition of Mary Shelley’s first novel
Portrait by Amelia Curran, 1819
Mary’s third child, William “Willmouse” Shelley, painted just before his death from malaria.
The Funeral of Shelley by Louis Edouard Fournier
Above, a painting depicting Shelley’s funeral pyre; below, locks of Mary and Percy’s hair
Frankenstein first found popularity through a plethora of (unauthorized) stage adaptations.
The first film adaptation, from 1910, recently restored by the Library of Congress
Below, Mary Shelley’s grave at Bournemouth, plus an engraving of the moment to her and Shelley
Thanks for listening! Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Check out the other three episodes in our FRANKENFRAUEN series for more fascinating women involved in some way with the classic story of Frankenstein.
Part 1 of our 4-part special FRANKENFRAUEN miniseries, produced in December 2018 by Susan Stone.
Your beloved DLS co-host, translator extraordinaire Katy Derbyshire, gives us the low-down on proto-feminist and mother of Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. With lots of live atmo from the stage presentation.
Here’s Mary, painted by John Opie. The studious look at the top of this post is from 1790-1 and the more relaxed portrait below is from 1797 or thereabouts.
For contrast, here’s a fashionable lady with a lapdog from the 1780s, a portrait of Dona Maria Teresa Apodaca de Sisma by Agustín Esteve:
Clearly, you’ll want to read Mary’s classic proto-feminist text, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. We recommend this annotated edition, edited by the excellent Janet Todd.
Follow the progress of – or donate to – the campaign to get a statue of Mary put up on Newington Green, where she first led an independent life. Mary on the Green! And here’s what that statue will look like, designed by Maggi Hambling:
Thanks for listening! Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Check out parts 2 to 4 of our FRANKENFRAUEN series for more fascinating women involved in some way with the classic story of Frankenstein.
Episode 2 of our new season, produced and presented in November 2018 by Susan Stone.
Translator extraordinaire (and DLS co-founder) Katy Derbyshire tells us all about Aphra Behn, the first woman author who lived off her writing. Additionally, our podcast producer Susan Stone visits a new Berlin exhibition of work by the mysterious photographer Vivian Maier and tries to pin down just who took these pictures and how she would feel about them becoming public.
Here’s a longer version of that Blackadder clip, note the period fashions:
The opening pages of Behn’s Oronoko, in French translation:
Aphra Behn, “The Poetess”, by Peter Lely:
More Behn:
If your interest in milk punch is piqued, try anyofthe delightful recipes out there and serve some Restoration-era cocktails at your next social gathering. And here’s the final extant portrait:
Katy recommends you read Behn’s The Rover, and the excellent biography by Janet Todd, Aphra Behn: A Secret Life. And at this link you can find a picture of Behn’s grave at Westminster Abbey.
On to Vivian Maier. Here she is in a typical selfie:
If you want to see more of her work, check out the show at the Willy Brandt Haus in Berlin (up until January 6, 2019), browse the website dedicated to her work, or check out the fantastic biography by Pamela Bannos.
This episode features music by Dee Yan-Key (“Weep No More“), and our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.
Thanks for listening! We’ll be back in December with our next episode.
Episode 1 of our new season, produced and presented in October 2018 by Susan Stone.
Professor Agata Lisiak teaches us all about the world’s most famous physicist, Marie Skłodowska Curie. And writer David Wagner talks briefly about a forgotten German doctor, reformer and writer, Anna Fischer-Dückelmann.
The last in our first season, produced and presented in August 2018 by Susan Stone.
Co-host Katy Derbyshire gives us the low-down on the early-19th-century lesbian diarist and traveller Anne Lister, a dead lady who is having a bit of a moment right now.
Here’s the plaque that Susan and Florian talk about:
The new, updated plaque, dedicated February 28, 2019, says: “Anne Lister 1791-1840 of Shibden Hall, Halifax. Lesbian and Diarist; took sacrament here to seal her union with Ann Walker, Easter 1834.”
And here’s Anne in those two rather different portrayals:
Pages from the famous diary:
And the inside of the house:
You can read all about Anne in the new biography by Angela Steidele. In German, it’s calledAnne Lister. Eine erotische Biographieand in English (in Katy’s translation) Gentleman Jack – out on 1 November. And both of them have gorgeous covers:
A lovely new podcast, produced in July 2018 by Susan Stone, and presented by Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duijsens.
Our podcast producer Susan Stone tells the story of Lotte Reiniger, a true pioneer of animation (and psaligraphy!). At the end, Dead Ladies Show co-founders/hosts Katy and Florian chat with Susan about exciting developments and podcasts.
Her first animated work was called Das Ornament des verliebten Herzens [The ornament of the heart in love] (1919).
This is the Tricktisch she developed, and that’s Carl there at the top, working the camera.
Lotte reveals the Marquise’s secret.
These are some highlights from The Adventures of Prince Ahmed (1926), replete with flying horse, evil magician, and beautiful helpless harem girls.
Lotte in her studio in the Abbey Arts Centre, London, still cutting up a storm.
Lotte remade her German fairytale series for British and US audiences, including the gorgeous Thumbelina below in 1955. She stopped animating in the 1960s after Carl’s death, but returned to her work in 1975, creating three more films before her death.
If you want to know more about Lotte, start with Lotte Reiniger: Pioneer of Film Animation by Whitney Grace, check out that Google doodle, and you can buy a DVD copy of The Adventures of Prince Ahmed here. As for her admirers, check out the trailer for Michel Ocelot’s Tales of the Night, and definitely watch Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe, a gorgeous TV show that paid tribute Lotte in their episode “The Answer”.
A lovely new podcast, produced and presented in June 2018 by Susan Stone.
Our co-host Florian Duijsens gives us the low-down on intrepid Victorian explorer and ichthyologist Mary Kingsley. Plus special guest Binnur Çavuşlu on Turkish writer and activist Halide Edip Adivar.
Now here are a couple of images of Halide Edip Adivar, including the surviving bust.
You can read more about Halide in German, written and illustrated by Binnur herself, at Renk magazine. Part one of Binnur’s series on Turkish heroines is also available in English – hooray!
Our latest podcast, produced and presented in May 2018 by Susan Stone.
Listen to the now-familiar tones of co-host Katy Derbyshire telling you all about a dead Berliner, Germany’s first lady balloonist and parachutist Kaethe Paulus. Plus our other host, Florian Duijsens, with some bodacious book tips.
Our latest podcast, produced and presented in April 2018 by Susan Stone.
This time it’s Berlin/Dublin journalist Alix Berber on the original Hollywood vamp Theda Bara. Plus a new short feature highlighting a lovely live lady, singer Pauline Black.
And here are the sisters themselves, Angelina on the left and Sarah on the right.
Frances was partly inspired to talk about the sisters by her mom, Nancy Lunsford, a visual artist and songwriter. Nancy very kindly shared her very own Grimké song with us, “Crazy Angelina” – listen to it right here!
Plus, Susan debuts a new segment, Woman of the Hour, where we hear about a Dead Lady who’s been getting some fresh attention. This one features Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Our latest podcast, produced and presented in February 2018 by Susan Stone.
This time it’s your beloved co-host Katy Derbyshire again, telling you a lot of things you need to know about the Irish revolutionary Constance Markievicz and how she went from debutante to celebrated freedom fighter.
Here’s Jessica with a self-portrait of Leonora with a hyena
And a drawing Leonora did of the clinic she was put into at Santander
Her great friend Remedios Varo in a mask
Works by Leonora and Remedios
And a link to Leonora’s classic novel, The Hearing Trumpet. ‘This book is so inspiring…I love its freedom, its humour and how it invents its own laws. What specifically do I take from her? Her wig.’ Björk
Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for tuning in! Check back in February for Episode 6.
Our fourth and (so far) frothiest and festivest podcast, produced and presented by Susan Stone.
This time it’s your beloved co-host Florian Duijsens revealing some lesser-known sides to the late, great Dorothy Parker. Plus the rest of the gang getting fizzy on a popular Berlin beverage.
The third of our monthly podcasts, produced and presented by Susan Stone.
An episode about the Afro-German poet and activist May Ayim, presented by Dead Ladies Show co-host Katy Derbyshire. Plus Berlin poet Mara Sanaga on how May Ayim influenced her work, and Afro-German life in 2017.
And if you read German, we highly recommend this collection of writing by Afro-German women about May Ayim’s legacy: Sisters and Souls: Inspirationen von May Ayim, Orlanda Verlag, 2016, edited by Natasha A. Kelly.
Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for tuning in! Check back in December for Episode 4.
Our second monthly podcast, produced by Susan Stone:
This episode is all about the multiple-medal-winning athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, presented by Sarah Fisher. Plus co-host Florian Duijsens on Fanny’s fame in the Netherlands and a few extra live voices from our most recent live show.
The very first of our monthly podcasts, produced by Susan Stone:
This episode focuses on the ancient Greek mathematician Hypatia, presented by Karen Margolis. Plus you’ll meet co-hosts Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire, and hear all about how the show came to be and which dead dames we’ve featured so far.
Dorothy and Eric the skull
Some of her most famous ads:
And some of her less famous books:
Her enduring character, Lord Peter Wimsey
Florian recommends two biographies…
Katy’s favourite pic, Kollontai (centre) at the Congress of the Peoples of the East, Baku 1920
Young Alexandra
Rabotnitsa, or The Woman Worker, 1923
Kollontai as a Soviet ambassador
With medalsFor further reading, Katy recommends Cathy Porter’s excellent Alexandra Kollontai, A Biography, which gives a lot of helpful background information. And if you read German, Barbara Kirchner’s edition of Kollontai’s Autobiographie einer sexuell emanzipierten Kommunistin.
Here’s the Goldman family in the bad old days.
In Russia with Sasha Berkmann
And here’s Audré Lorde in that T-shirt on the lake.You might also like to watch the film about John Reed and Louise Bryant, which features Emma, REDS. But do make sure you set aside three hours and fifteen minutes…For further reading, there’s Emma’s autobiography Living My Life, available in full online at The Anarchist Library, or abridged from Penguin Classics.
Our 20th episode features our beloved co-host Florian Duijsens spilling the details on Hollywood actress and Berlin favourite Anna May Wong. Recorded live at ACUD as part of our series on dead Berlin ladies, and produced and presented by Susan Stone in February 2019.
L0046616 Mary H Kingsley Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Portrait of Mary H Kingsley. 1901 West African studies Mary Henrietta Kingsley Published: 1901. Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
