What'sHerName

Savannah Georgia is famous for its stunning historic architecture and unmatched Southern vibe. Basically all of it was saved from the wrecking ball by seven women, who saw the bulldozer and decided to Do Something About It.

To mark America250, a lovely story of a group of women who decided history was important. Together, they saved one of America's prettiest cities, and helped pioneer Historic Preservation in the process.

Join us on location at the Davenport House Museum in Savannah, to unveil America's first monument to preservationists.

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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...

[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...

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...

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...

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.

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Juliette Gordon Low was a classic Southern Belle when she married her handsome prince. But she learned the hard way that "happily ever after" is a harmful fantasy.

We can do better for girls, she said: and we must.

Rallying all the women around her, she founded Girl Scouts of America, empowering girls to build strength and character, and blaze new trails. Her global impact today is immeasurable.

Join us on location at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum in Savannah, Georgia for this inspiring story of how women change the world.

In 1819 an itinerant Methodist preacher set off across a brand-new nation to spread the gospel to its people. Over the decades of her unique ministry, Jarena Lee would witness both incredible progress and maddening injustice - and publish the first spiritual autobiography ever written by an African American woman. But what message was her book actually meant to send?

Discover the incredible life of this forgotten spiritual powerhouse with our guests, Lisa Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson, authors of the fascinating new book Your Daughters Will Prophesy.

Music featured in this episode by...

On a day like any other in 1896, Shaaw Tláa was washing dishes in a Yukon creek. But something shiny caught her eye... and the Klondike Gold Rush began. It's an insane chapter of world history: 100,000 ill-prepared dreamers from all over the world trekked into the subarctic. But what would become of the indigenous woman who started it all? Shaaw Tláa, known to the world as Kate Carmack, was suddenly one the richest people in the world, and she was married to a man called Lying George...

Join Katie on location at Klondike Gold Rush National Hi...

Uno Chiyo rose to fame in 20th century Japan as a writer, designer, domestic goddess, and fashion icon - mostly by marketing herself as just a scandalous woman. But this "Bad Girl of Good Housekeeping" was so much more than just a writer of sexy stories. Guest Rebecca Copeland helps us uncover the secrets of this enigmatic, fascinating woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Hirano Aiko, JackJack9, Zac Zinger, Doug Maxwell, the Mini Vandals, Bounce Bay Records, and Kumi.

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To snowy Ontario, Canada for our 2026 Christmas Special!

Living out the dream of countless exhausted women, Laura Lee Davidson retreated to an island in the middle of a lake, and lived there alone through a long Canadian winter.

But she wasn't really alone. Wild creatures became her friends, and she was constantly the recipient of neighborly kindness from folks on the mainland.

Laura Lee's 1922 book about her winter on the island is now considered a classic of Canadian literature, and a vivid portrait of time gone by.

Katie reads some of...

At the recent Voices of Women Festival, we invited folks to pop into our ad-hoc recording box to record the 60-second story of their favorite historical woman. The results are a delight - and include some cast and crew members from Broadway's SUFFS! 

The Voices of Women Festival was held in Salt Lake City, UT, in tandem with Broadway's SUFFS on tour. Thanks to Victor Hamburger and the Utah Women's History Initiative for making this happen!

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The What'sHerName SHOP is open! Also check out our TOURS to join us on upcoming women's history a...

Queen Mother Audley Moore was one of the most respected, most influential, longest-lasting influences on the US Black Nationalist movement, the Pan-African movement, the movement for Reparations, and the Black American organizing community in general across almost the entire 20th century.

So why have most of us never even heard her name?

Returning guest Ashley Farmer introduces Olivia to the incredible, unexpected force that was Queen Mother Audley Moore.

Music featured in this episode provided by Daniel Henderson and his Big Band, The New Hot 5, Cynthia Meng and Kim Onah, TrackTribe, Kevin Macleod...

In 1917, Katharine Gibbs rebounded from personal tragedy in an unusual way: she decided to train a subversive, feminist army. Nearly broke and with just a high school education, Gibbs trained women as executive secretaries, building a famous school in just a few years.

"Gibbs Girls" were so intelligent, competent, and polite, that no one could justify the dusty old notions that women belonged at home. The American workplace was changed forever.

Our guest is Vanda Krefft, author of Expect Great Things! How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women.

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Catherine Crowe was a wildly acclaimed Victorian novelist, playwright, social critic and …ghost hunter? Her novels were as popular as Charles Dickens,’ and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Martineau, and George Eliot were her ardent fans. And her pioneering catalog of ghosts and the supernatural, The Night Side of Nature, was one of the first and most influential works to be adopted by the up-and-coming Spiritualist movement. So how did this incredibly talented, incredibly famous woman disappear from our collective memory? The answer involves a few misbehaving spirits, a little bit of nudity, and a whole lot of mean-spirited gossip by o...

When a history-making Copper Age burial was unearthed in southern Spain in 2008, the world was stunned by the incredibly beautiful - and utterly unprecedented - artifacts found in the tomb of the so-called 'Ivory Man.' But fifteen years later, the archaeology world would be rocked by an even more astonishing discovery - that 5,000-year-old Ivory Man was actually an Ivory Lady! Archaeologist Marta Cintas Peña helps Olivia dig into this remarkable 'prehistorical mystery.'

Music featured in this episode provided by: Doug Maxwell, Emmet Fenn, I Think I Can Help You, Chris H...

Violeta Parra needs no introduction in Latin America: not only did she record the greatest album in Chilean history, she also collected two thousand folk songs, danced in the Poor Circus, sang in the streets, and --incredibly-- exhibited at the Louvre. Over the years she also broke ...*checks notes*... 48 guitars over people's heads.

Discover the larger than life story of Violeta Parra with our guest Ericka Verba, author of Thanks to Life, A Biography of Violeta Parra.

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Travel with us! What'sHerName TOURS are open for registration. Or check out the What'sHerName SHOP! Every...

Leonora Sansay lived through the last chaotic years of the Haitian Revolution - but the book she wrote about it would tell an entirely unexpected story.

Join returning guest Dr. Maria Windell as we explore the fascinatingly "messy-complicated" life of novelist Leonora Sansay - and uncover a fascinating link with "almost-Founding Father" (and 21st century Broadway icon) ...Vice President Aaron Burr?

Music featured in this episode provided by The Global Jukebox, the US Marine Band, Aaron Kenny, and Kevin MacLeod.

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135 years ago, Norwegian immigrant Thea Foss lived in a ramshackle driftwood houseboat on the coast of Tacoma Washington. Kind, capable, and hard-working, she was an anchor for hundreds more immigrants during America's Gilded Age. Thea built the largest maritime company west of the Mississippi- but more than that, she was the heart of the community. (Plus there's a boat parade, a catastrophic fire, and a truly delightful cow.)

Join Katie on location in Tacoma Washington as we explore the question of how to build community.

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Fancy a Thea Foss MUG featuring her inspiring...

In the 3rd century, a mysterious queen ruled the Kingdom of Yamatai (modern-day Japan) with a wise and steady hand. Her reign lasted almost 70 years - but what can we really know about her, when her people never wrote anything down? Anthropologist Laura Miller introduces Olivia to this elusive ancient queen.

Read more about Queen Himiko's continuing "rebirth" as a powerful cultural icon in Laura Miller's fascinating articles "Searching for Charisma: Queen Himiko" and "Rebranding Himiko: The Shaman Queen of Ancient History."

Music featured in this episode provided by Sotetsu Tanabe, Shigeo...

What if we could reopen a primordial spiritual portal, and summon peace on earth? For Eva Palmer Sikelianos in 1920s Greece, world peace wasn't a lofty dream-- it was an achievable goal. The key, Eva believed, was ancient Greek art, returned to Delphi. She had a bold plan, and if she could pull it off, she just might save the world.

Join Katie on location at the Benaki Museum in Athens, with Maria Dimitriadou, Historical Archives Curator.

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Check out our upcoming TOURS and maybe you'll sit in on the next recording!

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At the dawn of the Mughal Empire, a bold and brilliant Princess outlived three Emperors, and managed to create an adventurous, wildly unexpected life for herself during one of the most tumultuous eras in history. And luckily for the rest of us - she wrote it all down!

Award-winning historian Dr. Ruby Lal returns to the podcast to introduce us to the Vagabond Princess, Gulbadan Begum.

Music for this episode provided by Farya Faraji, Doug Maxwell, E's Jammy Jams, and Aashish Khan, Pranesh Khan, and Shiraz Ali Khan.

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The Roman Republic is collapsing and everything hangs in the balance. It's a political game of kill-or-be-killed, and Fulvia did not come to play.

You've heard of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra. But have you heard of Fulvia, who was in the eye of that infamous ancient Roman storm?

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Travel with us to ITALY, to walk in Fulvia's footsteps! Our new LOST WOMEN OF ITALY Tour is open for registration!

Daisy Dunn is an award-winning classicist and author of The Missing Thread, A Women's History of the...

Queen Seondeok of Silla was revered for her wisdom, her compassion, and most importantly - her ability to use nature's signs to foretell the future! And with some truly audacious international diplomacy (and a resolute refusal to bend to patriarchal bullying) she would lay the foundations for the unification of The Three Kingdoms - now known as Korea. Karen Wang Diggs, author of The Book of Awesome Asian Women, helps us uncover the life of this elusive and fascinating queen.

Huge thanks to the Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago for providing some of the music featured i...

150 years ago, Irish farmer Johanna O'Brien created a secret recipe for black pudding. Today, her sausage is beloved by Michelin-star chefs across the world (and the recipe is still secret!).

Join Katie on location with Rory Copplestone at Clonakilty Blackpudding in Cork, to hear about a penniless girl who survived the Great Famine, built a thriving farm, and in her sunset years, created one of Ireland's iconic flavors.

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Travel with us: What'sHerName TOURS are open now!

Music for this episode is from Andy Reiner and...

Nobody knows her real name. But this "Uncontested Pirate Queen of the Western Mediterranean" certainly earned her title: the Sayyida al Hurra, the Free and Independent Woman. From child refugee fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, to ruling Governor of Tetouan, to the Sultana of Morocco - Sayyida was never one to follow the path society had laid out for her.

Author Laura Sook Duncome helps us uncover the mystery of the one and only actual Pirate Queen.

Music featured in this episode provided by Farya Faraji, Astron, The Tides, Doug...

She lived through the worst century in human history: the Black Death, famine, war, death and despair. So it was all the more surprising when Julian of Norwich rose from her deathbed saying she'd received a vision from God: All shall be well. How could that be true when the whole world seems to be falling apart?

Travel with us to 14th century England, to visit famed mystic Julian of Norwich. I know it sounds crazy, she says, but trust me: everything is love.

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Fancy a Julian...

Mary Ware Dennett was one of the most important and influential activist for women's rights, contraception, free speech and sex education in early 20th century America. So why does her nemesis Margaret Sanger get all the attention?

Returning guest Stephanie Gorton helps Olivia unravel the mystery of this fascinating, forward-thinking woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Asher Fulero, Kevin Macleod, The Mini Vandals, Late Night Feeler, Jeff Cuno, Cooper Cannell, Dan Bodan, and the American Quartet.

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She prevented war and death on an immense scale, in acts that could earn the Nobel Peace Prize today. But History enshrined Sisi, Empress of Austria, as a vain beauty queen. The smear campaign was personal, not political: it started with her own tyrannical mother-in-law. Can Sisi conquer her own self-doubt, and drag draconian Austria into the modern world?

Our guest is Nancy Goldstone, author of The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugenie of France, Power and Glamor in the Struggle for Europe.

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Music in the episode includes works...

When world-famous strongman Eugen Sandow finally met his match, nobody expected it to be at the hands of an 18 year old girl. But whether it was bending metal bars, beating horses in a tug-of-war, or hefting her own husband over her head with one arm, German strongwoman Katie Sandwina would continue to shatter records (and Victorian gender norms) for another forty years. Guest Haley Shapley, author of Strong Like Her, introduces Olivia to this astonishing, unexpected heroine.

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A pirate ship jammed with treasure. The worst storm to ever hit Cape Cod. The mythical shipwreck-- 280 years later, found. Everything in this swashbuckling tale (full of impossible things that really did happen) occurred because of Maria Hallett. Did she turn witch, to curse her lover's ship, or to save it?

Join us on location at Real Pirates Museum in Salem, MA.

Music featured in this episode includes: Blow the Wind Southerly by Anne Norman; Blow Boys Blow and Goodbye Fare You Well from the Library of Congress; and...

How did two ordinary 18th century Anglo-Irish sisters end up gallivanting around the European continent, fraternizing with all the most radical and revolutionary minds of the Enlightenment, and becoming BFFs with a Russian Princess? Guest Dr. Alexis Wolf introduces Olivia to the astonishing lives of Katherine and Martha Wilmot.

Music for this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Killarney, and Tatyana Kalmokova.

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Travel to snowy Victorian Maine in this year's Christmas Special, as Katie reads from the memoirs of Sarah Orne Jewett. An immensely famous and beloved novelist in her day, Sarah wrote wholesome tales of the country folk of Maine, where as a child she had accompanied her physician father on his rounds.

Find a massive collection of Sarah Orne Jewett's works collected by the Sarah Orne Jewett Text Project HERE.

Our What'sHerName SHOP is open! Every purchase supports our mission to get these women's stories out into the world...

Zeynab Pasha was one of the most influential voices during several crises of 19th century Iranian history. From the Bread Crisis to the Tobacco Protests and the lead up to Iran's Constitutional Revolution, she led the way in taking back the power of the people. She was legendary, and then she disappeared - literally and figuratively.

Author Afarin Bellisario helps us rediscover the life of this incredible woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Farya Faraji and selections from the Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran collection at Harvard...

If you knew the recipe for an undetectable poison, would you use it? What about giving it to women with abusive husbands? Giulia Tofana's legendary poison Aqua Tofana was famed and feared in 17th-century Rome. But just how many terrible husbands can drop dead, before the Pope gets suspicious?

In this year's Halloween Special, our guests are Gaia Aloisi and Ted Blackburn, the creators of Aqua Tofana, a new electronic opera about the life of Giulia Tofana.

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Travel with us in the footsteps of Giulia Tofana's poisoning ring! Our LOST WOMEN OF ITALY...

When Sigrid Schultz was offered a job as a reporter in Berlin, Germany in 1919, she had no idea how her life was about to change - or how her work would change the world.

Returning guest Pamela Toler introduces us to this indomitable woman, who was one of the first to raise the alarm about the Nazis, one of the last to leave as WWII made reporting impossible, and the first woman in history to head an American News Bureau.

Music in this episode provided by Andy Reiner, Peak...

Whenever Teresa Lim asked about a striking woman she saw in old family photos, she was told 'That's Aunt Fanny; she was unfortunate.' So naturally, Teresa Lim spent years excavating Aunt Fanny's life in 1920s Singapore. It's a story of three devoted sisters, ghost husbands, working-class Chinese feminists, and sworn spinsters.

Turns out, Fanny was very fortunate indeed...until History arrived at her front door.

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You can buy Teresa Lim's The Interpreter's Daughter and benefit a local indie bookshop HERE

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Throughout the 1920s, three sisters dominated the Australian film scene. The phenomenal filmmaking team of Isabel, Phyllis, and Paulette McDonagh reigned supreme as the undisputed Queens of Silent Cinema... until the talkies arrived to turn everything upside down.

Award-winning author Mandy Sayer tells Olivia all about Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters, whose lives were every bit as dramatic (and as complicated) as any Hollywood film.

Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Aaron Kenny, and E's Jammy Jams.

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Aleksandra Samusenko commanded a unit of Soviet tanks through some of the most brutal battles in human history. The Soviet Union never told her story. But an American paratrooper who'd escaped a Nazi POW camp never forgot her. In the final months of World War II, he joined her unit, and together they made the final push to Berlin.

Guest Hayley Noble shares the story of THE TANK COMMANDER Aleksandra Samusenko.

Haley Noble's website on Soviet Women in Combat is HERE, with social media links HERE.

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For decades, her remarkable achievements as United States First Lady have been overshadowed by her husband's big mistakes. Returning guest Heath Hardage Lee is back to help change that! Olivia introduces us to the remarkable and unfairly forgotten Pat Nixon.

Music in this episode provided by The Westerlies, Aaron Kenny, Josh Lippi and the Overtimers, The Mini Vandals, Cooper Cannell, Doug Maxwell, Quincas Moereira, and the US Marine Corps Band.

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