What'sHerName

Louise-Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun could paint anyone so they looked full of character, and vibrantly alive. So Europe's aristocrats clamored for her brush. But when the French Revolution toppled thrones and chopped off heads, she had to run for her life.

For 12 years across Europe, she chased her lost Eden. Can you ever get back to the Good Old Days?

Our guest is ⁠Judith Lissauer Cromwell⁠, author of ⁠Louise-Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Portrait of an Artist 1755-1842⁠.

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Music in this episode generously shared by:

Haydn Symphony 85 (famed as Marie Antoinette's favorite!) recorded by ⁠Ars Lyrica Houston⁠; J.S. Bach C Major Prelude and Brandenburg Concerto recorded by Kevin MacLeod; No. 8 Requiem by Esther Abrami; Apolcalyptic Echoes, Devil's Organ, and Frightmare by Jimena Contreras; Solo Cello Passion by Doug Maxwell; Alpine Bierhalle by Aaron Kenny; Length of Light by Amulets; Elegy by Wayne Jones; Catherine the Great's Russian Anthem; and Run Until Your Wings Grow by Late Night Feeler. Guillotine soundscape by Jorgemaca.
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[audio updated 6/02] Marooned on a frigid island in 1641, a young French woman single-handedly fought off polar bears, starvation, and loneliness, buried her lover, her maidservant, and her newborn child, and spent almost two full years completely alone -- except, of course, for the 100,000 demons whose screams were her nightly companions. That she lived through it all is a miracle - and a mystery: How did Marguerite de La Rocque survive the infamous "Isle of Demons" - and how much of this enigmatic tale can we ever actually know?

Olivia interviews Allegra Goodman, author of the award-winning historical novel Isola.

Music featured in this episode provided by Emily A. Sprague, Brian Bolger, pATCHES, Sir Cubworth, Track Tribe, and the Tudor Consort.
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Over the course of her 87 years, self-taught British entomologist Evelyn Cheesman went on eight solo insect-collecting expeditions across the South Pacific, collected almost 100,000 specimens, identified dozens (possibly hundreds!) of previously unknown species, and used her specialized knowledge of Oceania to save countless lives during WWII.

Meet the indomitable genius who persevered against unimaginable odds to build herself the life she wanted - no matter what stood in her way.

Our guest is Sarah Lonsdale, author of the book Wildly Different.

Music for this episode provided by: Emily Sprague, Jesse Gallagher, The Tides, Quincas Moreira, Kevin MacLeod, Brian Bolger, Asher Fulero, Myuu, Aaron Kenny, Geographer, and Nexus.
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For 61 years, Ou Shee Eng's tiny apartment in Seattle's Chinatown was the heart of a community of women. Possessing the rare ability to read and write Chinese, Ou Shee was the reader and scribe of everyone's letters. What was happening in China while this circle of women lived quietly in America, and why did they never speak of it?

Join Katie on location at the Wing-Luke Museum in Seattle, with guest Elana Eng Lim to contemplate belonging, kindness, and taking family secrets to the grave.

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Join us on our next women's history adventure! TOURS OPEN NOW

Read Elana Lim's poignant essay My Grandmother's Hand HERE.

Music in this episode: "Lau Tzu Erhu" by Doug Maxwell; The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto; "Under the Moon" by Annette Hanshaw; "Spirit of Fire" and "The Sleeping Prophet" by Jesse Gallagher; "Popularity March" by Victor Band 1923 at the Library of Congress; "Long Road Ahead" by Kevin MacLeod; "Please" by Wayne Jones." FDR's Pearl Harbor speech in the public domain.
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After a lifetime of betrayal and abuse as an 18th century sex worker, Catherine Jemmat broke the ultimate social taboo: she wrote the truth about her life. Her "scandalous memoir" helped change the way English society thought about women's lives, and her second book introduced a radical new idea - that the true 'perpetrator' driving women into lives of so-called sin and degradation was, in fact, society itself.

Returning guest Miranda Garno Rossa of Marginalia Rare Books is back to introduce Olivia to this courageous, unexpected heroine.

Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, The Herschel Ensemble, Kevin MacLeod, and Pablo Casals

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