1-800-1800

Yes, you read that episode year correctly! We are taking it back to the first year of the nineteenth century this week. For this major year, we read Jeanna Smailek’s new book The Invisible Hand of Maria Edgeworth: How a Nineteenth-Century Novelist Taught the World Economics . Smialek argues that Edgeworth pioneered the field of political economy by “hid[ing] her version of economics in storybooks,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com This is a very special episode of 1-800-1800 because it is our first ever LIVE episode! We were honored to be in conversation at Salter House & Picture Room on October 15. It was a truly one-of-a-kind night. We were joined by old and new friends alike, and had the chance to take our little act out into the real wo...

Welcome back to 1-800-1800. This week, we are talking 1894, the year that Victoria Woodhull (Spiritualist medium, Wall Street broker, Presidential candidate, newspaper publisher, etc.) sued the British Museum for harboring libelous material about her. For this special episode we were joined by Alex Sujong Laughlin, podcaster, writer, and co-owner of Defector Media. Alex is the author of the forthc...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com Welcome back to 1-800-1800. On this week’s special bonus episode, Madeline and Mabel travel back in time to 2002, and from there head to New York City circa 1846-1863, when violent gangs ruled the town. From the guys that brought you the #MeToo movement, Gangs of New York is an epic historical drama film directed...

Welcome back to 1-800-1800! This week we are joined by the one and only Abigail Sandler, architect and author of Price Upon Request , a newsletter exploring the role of ornament in our modern lives. Abby delights us with discussion of her favorite building, the Menier Chocolate Factory in Noisiel, France. Designed by Jules Saulnier (1817-1881), the building is distinguished by its iron frame and o...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com “It was not necessary for a writer of so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the over-worked field of sex-fiction” — said one critic of Kate Chopin’s landmark 1899 novel The Awakening. Mabel and Madeline dip their toes into the controversy in this week’s special bonus episode of 1-800-1800. * Kate Chopin: A...

This week, Harry Krinsky of Nothing But Respect joins us to talk about the invention of basketball. We discuss the rules of the game (you won’t believe how they dribbled), the cages they played in, and a hot controversy about its inventor. Listen now & follow Harry @lexaprotools on Substack & IG

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com On this week’s bonus episode of 1-800-1800, the girls dare to discuss a contemporary novel, Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear (2026), a novel about a tradwife influencer who time travels to 1855. To avoid being too modern with it, Mabel and Madeline compare Burke’s #1 New York Times bestseller with the least-popular...

On this week’s episode of 1-800-1800, Mabel goes home…to California. After a brief debate about what sport the Forty-Niners play, the girls discuss the history of California before and after the Gold Rush. Captain Constable and the crew of the Balclutha ship circa 1887. Source . David Grann, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. Sir Francis Drake’s Landing in California circa 1579. S...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com This week, Mabel and Madeline read Late Fame , a perfect little novella written by Arthur Schnitzler, and saw Late Fame , a perfect little indie movie directed by Kent Jones. More importantly, because the story tackles the rediscovery of a forgotten poet, both the novella and its contemporary adaptation make for t...

This week on 1-800-1800, we’re discussing life’s inevitabilities—death and unrealistic beauty standards—with Jessica DeFino of one of our all time favorite Substacks, Flesh World !! Join us to learn more about Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria’s resulting mourning period as well as the ways death is trending in contemporary beauty culture. This one goes crazy! Show Notes * Flesh World * Ask Ug...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com This week, Mabel and Madeline dig into the painting that has appeared most frequently in Mandylion’s visual glossaries, Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog from 1818. She’s in The Gadfly , The Morgesons , The Hill of Dreams , and our upcoming title, Love Days . Listen to find out why we can’t ge...

Yoohoo, Welcome to America, the sequel. In this episode we look back at the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. We talk about the giant engines and sexy corsets on display, the unfinished revolutionary projects in civil rights and labor movements, and what, exactly, an acre is. Like, subscribe, drop us a line. XOXO, M&M Show Notes * The Flying Horses , Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. *...

I’m a yankee doodle dandy and you’re on the precipice of learning all that Mabel and Madeline have to say about the American Revolution in this special episode about 1776. Its a World War, its a Civil War, its a tax scheme, its an inspiration to us all! Enjoy it and have a happy fourth of July, k

This week we are very excited to welcome the brilliant Sara Hinkley onto 1-800-1800 to discuss her forthcoming novel The Red Sacrament. Sara’s brilliant debut tells the story of a theater troupe of vampires, set against the backdrop of the Siege of Paris and the Commune. We had simply the best time discussing the book, Sara’s research process, and our shared obsession with the last days of the Sec...

Madeline and Mabel discuss the founding of Punch Magazine, the most popular satirical magazine of the 19th century, and muse on its enduring influence. The girls also touch on a sensational murder/botched abortion case, Summer House, a US president you’ve never heard of, and more!! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com Book Club Alert !! This week the girls recap Henry James's The Princess Cassamissima, the story of a young man of mysterious parentage who tries to take on the world's inequities but instead just ends up smoking cigarettes on a magenta divan. We were delighted, we were puzzled, we were forced to ask "are beauty an...

On this week’s episode, Madeline takes us back to her material culture roots to tell the story of the British abolition movement through one object, the Wedgwood “Slave Medallion.” Join us to learn about the object that made abolition a fashionable cause in the 18th century and why 1787 is a part of the long 19th century !! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscri...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com Mandylion now has a book club at McNally Jackson called the Minor Works book club. Each month we read a forgotten novel from the nineteenth century (brought to you by Mandylion Press), or a minor work of a major author. This month we read Ethel Lilian Voynich’s The Gadfly , one of our first Mandylion books and man...

What Hath God Wrought, indeed! This week on 1-800-1800, Mabel tells Madeline what a telegraph is. She starts in 1792 with the one and only Claude Chappe, a man so passionate about the optical semaphore telegraph that he threw himself into a well, and then moves onto Samuel Morse, who gave the world not only the single-wire electromagnetic telegraph, but also this insane painting of Hercules: This...

This week, Madeline and Mabel discuss the origins of Mormonism and how its founder, Joseph Smith, continues to influence the modern day iteration of the religion. Hypocrisy, hucksterism, hats, bad bets, and talking to God. What more could a girl ask for? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mandylion.substack.com/subs...

In this special episode of 1-800-1800, Madeline and Mabel discuss Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights as well as Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. The girls cover impossible naming conventions, mysterious heritage, and awful set design in this discussion. Listen now! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com Good morning starshine! President James Garfield says hello! This week on 1-800-1800, Mabel and Madeline discuss the Netflix limited series Death by Lighting, which tells the story of James Garfield’s assassination. We finally have an answer to a long standing question, “how did people in the back hear before elec...

This week on 1-800-1800, Julia Carpenter , who writes the brilliant Substack “A Woman to Know,” joins us to discuss the Bavarian princess who was convinced that she had swallowed a glass piano. Our conversation covers everything from the fluctuating definitions of delusion to medieval nuns and the curative powers of spanking. Happy listening! Notes: Read Julia’s original newsletter about Princess...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mandylion.substack.com Last week, Mabel and Madeline braved a blizzard to go see The Testament of Ann Lee in theaters. In this episode, hear their discussion of the film’s stylistic choices, the actual history of the Shakers, and why there’s so much more to them than beautiful chairs.