Broads You Should Know

This week, Sara brings us the story of one of India's greatest heroines and rebel leader Rani Lakshmi Bai!  As the British East India Company tightened its grip on India by violating Hindu traditions, stealing land from Indian landowners and replacing India's leaders with British military officials, the people of India grew more and more angry. When rebellion breaks out in Jhansi, Queen Lakshmi Ba...

This week, Sara shares the incredible story of one of Columbia's most beloved national heroes. Her role in the revolutionary war against Spain was epic, but what she does after her arrest made her a full-blown legend. Check out the full episode for the story! — A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world! BroadsYo...

Sara brings you the story of La Adelita! Her story is one that has gone through a number of iterations over the years, but one thing cannot be denied—"she" was a series of bad*ss women who fought to overthrow a dictatorship, win their freedom, and finally become full citizens of Mexico. — A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who help...

Continuing our Black History Month celebration, Sara brings us one of the most important Broads whose research and advocacy has led to vast improvements in the early education, and lives of black children across the country: Dr. Evelyn Moore. As a founding teacher of the Perry Preschool Project, she and her fellow educators proved that quality educational experiences transformed the lifelong succe...

Our education system and DEI initiatives are under attack by the new administration. For Broads You Should Know, this means we're doubling down on our devotion to both! Today Sara brings you Marian Wright-Edelman! Marian was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar and was a integral part of the Civil Rights movement including Freedom Summer and The Poor People's Campaign. She was one...

This week, Sara covers an essential Broad from the Civil Rights Era - Myrlie Evers! You might have seen her delivering the invocation at President Obama's second inauguration, but do you know her story? Her and her husband Medgar opened and ran the first NAACP office in Mississippi, organized protests, and ran campaigns for everything from voting rights and desegregation, to fair trials for the pe...

Last week we dove into the legend of "Argentina's First Lady" Eva Perón. We started from the outside in; What is it that people say about her today? What does her foundation and museum say about her? What does she say about herself in her autobiography? We found a LOT of mythology in the mix - she was obviously an incredible figurehead that helped transform Argentina and the lives of her descamisa...

Maria Eva Duarte Perón grew up in poverty with her mother after the death of her father. Falling in love with performance, she became a radio star, model and then moderately successful actress. An activist from early on - she took on leadership roles with the actor unions and became politically active - eventually meeting Juan Perón at an event and almost never leaving his side. As Juan's populari...

This week, Sara brings us the incomparable Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi! She is considered one of the foremost painters of the 17th century, eclipsing her father's skill and considered more brazen than Caravaggio himself. Due to her own exceptional skill and brilliant business tactics, Artemisia's popularity exploded and she painted commissions for the most elite patrons across all of Eur...

After a week of flames and ash, some of which were in Sara's backyard, Los Angeles is reeling from the devastation. Amidst it all, certain ill-intentioned bad eggs have started a whole bunch of rumors about the incompetence of Mayor Karen Bass. Sara is here to tell you that not only are these bad eggs ill intentioned and seeking political gain from their falsehoods, they are just flat out WRONG -...

This week, Sara brings us the ancient warrior queen Tomyris! In 500 BCE Cyrus II conquers much of Asia to form the first Persian Empire, but his ego and greed are insatiable, and eventually he crosses swords with the wrong Queen; Tomyris and her fierce, nomadic horse warriors face off their attacker in a blaze of glory and sorrow to take revenge on the biggest bully in the world. A Broad is a woma...

This week, Sara brings us the story of the one and only Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted for assassination because she dared to speak out against the Taliban. She survived and continues to preach peace and acceptance of all people. — A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world! BroadsYouShouldKnow.com YT/IG/FB @...

Sara's Broad of the Year - the woman who has made the most profound impact on women and women's rights this year is none other than Giséle Pelicot. This week saw the conclusion of the criminal trial against her ex-husband who drugged her without her knowledge, and 50 other men who r@ped her when she was drugged over the course of a decade. Giséle made the incredible choice to not only NOT remain a...

When America ran out of Santas during World War II what happened? Was Christmas cancelled while the men were overseas fighting? NOPE! The Rosie the Riveter spirit persisted, and WOMEN stepped up to the plate! But not everybody was happy about it. Learn how these Santa Broads came to be, who loved them, who hated them, and most importantly - DID THEY WEAR THE BEARD, TOO? Also, what the heck is the...

When Alexander the Great defeated Thebes in 335 CE him and his soldiers decimated the city - killing 6,000 Thebans and enslaving over 30,000. In the process, a drunk, disorderly captain forces his way into Timoclea's home, sexually assaults her, and attempts to rob her of her wealthy property. But clever Timoclea talks this drunk ahole into retiring her gold from an empty well, and when he goes to...

Did you know that one of the most popular American Board games of all time - MONOPOLY - was actually invented by a Broad?! That right! Lizzie Magie invented THE LANDLORD'S GAME to help teach the concept of Georgism to the masses, and even patented it in 1904, 30 years before the Monopoly patent was filed.  As we dive down the rabbit hole we discover not only more about the incredible multi-hyphena...

While history marks the first Thanksgiving as being in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, it turns out that when Christopher Columbus (and his *sshole brother, Bartholomew) first land in modern-day Haiti in 1492, they were warmly welcomed and assisted in a similar fashion by today's Broad, Anacaona! A powerhouse leader of the Taino people, Anacaona led her people NOT into war, as so many neighboring...

Giulia Tofana is known for inventing the deadly (and untraceable) poison known as Aqua Tofana, which was the most feared cause of death by men living in Renaissance Italy. She exclusively sold her poisons to women trapped in abusive or loveless marriages, freeing them from their servitude and/or existence as their husbands' property. — A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Shou...

In our first episode post-election Sara talks about her mindset moving forward post-election. While many folks discuss what went wrong, voter sabotage, and many other "could be's", Sara encourages everyone to focus on what we can do in our everyday lives to stand up for what we believe in. Whether that's signing petitions and protesting, or changing where you shop, it's a mistake to think that you...

This week, we revisit Chloe Skye's episode on Norma McCorvey, or as you might know her: "Jane Roe" of the Roe v Wade case. We'll tell you right now - it's probably NOT the story you were expecting to hear.  After enduring a difficult childhood in Texas, Norma's young adulthood doesn't fair much better, and ultimately leads to her landmark court case Roe v Wade. But what happens after the Supreme C...

Beatrix Leslie is an 84-year-old midwife living just outside Edinburgh, Scotland in 1661, which happened to be a very bad period of time to be a disliked elderly woman in the community because it was smack dab in the middle of the Great Scottish Witch Trials of 1661-1662. During a span of literally 16 MONTHS over 660 people were publicly accused of witchcraft in that neck of the woods, and Beatrix...

Galina Brok-Belsova, who just died this past August, was the very last known member Night Witches - the Russian female aviation regiments that helped to turn the tide of World War II. Certainly some of the bravest women we've ever covered on the podcast, the Night Witches struck fear into the hearts of German soldiers - and Galina was no exception. Enlisting at 16 and flying her first combat missi...

It's spooky season once more and the perfect time to revisit the most well-known incident of witch hysteria in North America - the Salem Witch Trials! While many of you may be familiar with the story from your history classes and Arthur Miller's popular play-turned-Daniel-Day-Lewis-Winona-Ryder-movie The Crucible, Sara's research turns up some VERY interesting truths about the motivations of the t...

While last week we joyfully celebrated the inauguration of Mexico's first female President Claudia Sheinbaum (full BYSK episode on her coming soon!), the rest of the news in the past few months has been rife with stories of violence against women. From across the world, in India, Africa and Europe, to right here in our own backyards and even just blocks from Sara's apartment in Los Angeles. What g...

This week, guest Steven Townshend brings us Izumo no Okuni, the original creator of Japanese Kabuki Theatre! A humble countryside shrine maiden, Izumo, travels to Kyoto in the early 1600s to help raise money for her temple, but her entertainment skills blow the minds of her audiences, giving birth to one of the most spectacular styles of theatre in existence. Why, then, don't we know her name? And...