Jeanne Baret, First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe (ep. 16.9)
04/09/2026 | 30 mins.
Jeanne Baret circumnavigated the globe by disguising herself as a man and working as a servant on a French scientific mission. Along the way, she collected and preserved an incredible array of botanic specimens, many of whom are named after ... the man she was working for.
Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.
This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present.
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Anne Marshall and Margaret Hughes, First Women on the English Stage (ep. 16.8)
04/02/2026 | 22 mins.
Shakespeare wrote every word of his plays with the firm expectation that the female parts would be acted by men or boys. No female was allowed to act in a public theater. That would be shockingly indecent.
In England, that expectation was dashed in a 1660 production of Othello. We know for sure that Desdemona was played by a woman. We're just not sure which woman it was. This episode explains how English theater came to accept women on the stage.
Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.
This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present.
Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.
Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.
Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Remember the Ladies Says Abigail Adams
03/30/2026 | 13 mins.
Abigail Adams was the wife of American founding father John Adams. In 1776, she asked him to "remember the ladies" in the new code of laws for a new country. So much is relatively well known, but much less well known is his response. Listen for the full exchange.
Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.
This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present.
Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.
Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.
Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elena Cornaro Piscopia, First Woman with a University Degree (ep. 16.7)
03/26/2026 | 20 mins.
The earliest universities only admitted men. Occasionally a woman was allowed to attend, but not to graduate. The first woman to buck that trend was Elena Cornaro Piscopia. But that didn't mean it was any easier for those who came after her. The battle for women's education had only just begun.
Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.
This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present.
Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.
Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.
Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Annie Londonderry, First Woman to Cycle Round the World (ep. 16.f)
03/23/2026 | 18 mins.
Annie Londonderry was the first international female sports star. But an unlikely one. When she decided to bicycle around the world, she did not yet know how to ride a bicycle. But her trip was a media sensation because she was even better at self-promotion than she was at bicycling.
Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.
This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present.
Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.
Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.
Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Women's history doesn't have be boring or depressing. I tell the stories of extraordinary women in history, including queens, slaves, spies, scientists, artists, wives, mothers, and more. But most women didn't leave us enough material for a biography, so I also tell you what it was like to be an ordinary woman, including what they wore, how they did housework, how they worked, and how they played.
In short, what were the women doing all that time while men were writing the standard history books? This podcast will tell you what those history books forgot to mention.
USA