Broads You Should Know

As a young girl, Teresa was obsessed with the stories of the saints and the brave knights riding to religious martyrdom. When she was seven, she even tried to run away from home to join the holy wars, so it surprises no one when she takes her vows and puts on the nun's uniform. When terrible illness strikes her, keeping her in bed nearly a year, her religious convictions deepen and she turns to pr...

Catherine is extremely devout from a very young age (seeing her first visions as early as 5 years old, and promising herself to Christ by the age of 7), so when her older sister dies in childbirth and her parents start pushing her to marry her sister's widower, Catherine flat out refuses and goes on a hunger strike - a first step in what would become a lifetime of "asceticism". Her professed visio...

Last week we dug into the extensive work produced by the prolific medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen, but we saved the most interesting piece of her story for Part 2: Her first writings, of her own accord, weren't from her own mouth, but from the mouth of God himself in her VISIONS. WHAT?!?!  Were Hildegard's visions real? If so how did she know they were from God? How did this fact change the...

Hildegard von Bingen lived the strict life of a cloistered nun, run to the ground physically by the harsh rules and meager lifestyle of the Benedictine Monks, and she's somehow able to not only survive, but THRIVE. She writes, composes, and creates works so profound and so important that the whole world takes notice and she's able to ascend to a position of great importance, both inside and outsid...

In her early studies Chiquinha Gonzaga took to music immediately and composed and performed her first piece in public at just 11 years old. She knew she was meant to play and write music. But when her husband by arranged marriage forces her to choose between being a wife and mother, and her music, she does what had never been done by a woman in Brazil before - she asks for a divorce! Turns out tha...

We interrupt our current series, They Called Them Crazy, to bring you an urgent notice to drop whatever you are doing and get your butts to the movie theatre to see THE WOMAN KING!! Chloe joins Sara to discuss the newly released film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, and John Boyega. In addition to reviewing Prince-Bythewood's stellar direction...

Our miniseries "They Called Them Crazy" kicks off with Crazy Prolific Broad: Christine de Pizan. When disaster strikes her family in medieval France, Christine becomes her family's sole breadwinner by becoming a copyist, but she doesn't stop there! She begins writing her own works (becoming the first woman published in Europe!), starting with poems and ballads, then essays and the equivalent of mo...

We're launching a brand new Broads Miniseries to kick off the fall and Sara's here to tell you all about it! We all hear the "c" word tossed around often, in the media, and even amongst our friends and family, but what is its origin? We dig deep into the origins of the word, and it's adjacent words, too. Then, Sara tours us through all the possible Broads that were suggested for this series, which...

This week, Sam brings us the story of Mother Teresa! Despite having been sainted, Mother Teresa remains a controversial figure in different sectors of the world. When she was 12, she heard "The Call" that she was to become a nun. Later, she heard "the call within the call," which prompted her to press against her superiors within the church to allow her to live on the streets so that she could bet...

This week, Sara brings us the somewhat strange, but true story of Marion Stokes. A card carrying member of the Communist party, Marion was one of the most intelligent and articulate voices on local television in Philadelphia in the late 1960s, where she also happened to learn the power television carried across the airwaves, and the great influence producers had over the content and messages being...

This week, guest Darren Callahan brings us the story of screenwriter Nancy Dowd! After graduating from Smith College, Nancy enrolls at UCLA determined to forge a career writing for film. Not only does she succeed, she ends up writing some of the most renowned films of the 70s and 80s, and even winning an Oscar for her first feature script COMING HOME, but while the original script was entirely her...

Chief Theresa Kachindamoto was living her life as a secretary at a college in the Zomba District in southern Malawi when she received shocking news: she was chosen by the chiefs of her hometown to become the next Senior Chief. She returned home to discover that the town she grew up in had a major problem with child marriage. Despite massive pushback, she set out to make a change. — A BROAD is a wo...

This week Sara brings us the story of the remarkable Olivia Julianna! A week and a half ago Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz got on the mic and fat-shamed the 19-year-old political strategist for Gen Z for Change, a youth-led nonprofit creating tangible change on issues that disproportionately effect young people. Olivia used this mega-spotlight to flip the narrative and raise money for Abortion...

This week Sara brings us the story of the first woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics - Wilma Rudolph! She is only 16 years old when she competes in her first Olympic Games as an amateur athlete. A mere four years later, at 20, she wins three golds and is declared "the Fastest Woman in History." Her story is even more incredible when you find out that as a young child and polio survi...

This week, Sara brings us the story of Ida B. Wells! She worked in Civil Rights all her life, early on suing (and winning!) against a railroad company for forcing her to vacate her seat so that white people could sit down. She's also the woman who ventured into the Southern states during a time of mass-lynchings to investigate the epidemic of unreported hate crimes. Her work made people in the Nor...

Today, Sara brings us the incredible story of Helen Hulick Beebe! Helen is working as a teacher in Los Angeles in 1938, and when she's called to court to testify in a burglary case she inadvertently causes quite the ruckus by...wearing pants! The Judge is outraged and reschedules the court date with an order to wear a dress when she returns, but Helen refuses to comply and the ire of the Judge boi...

Today, Colin A. Borden brings us the tale of Verity Lambert - the founding producer of Doctor Who!  As an aspiring young writer and director, Verity kept running into the glass ceiling, being told time and time again that there wasn't any more room for another woman. Verity kept at it, though, and when an accident on set means someone has to step in to keep the show together, Verity meets the chal...

Sara, Chloe, and much of the US are reeling this week from the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe vs Wade (while disturbingly, some are celebrating). While we much expected it would happen, it still was a major blow. As we sort through the sorrow, grief and despair that many of us are feeling it's important to acknowledge our feelings, but also to check in with our actions and make sure that...

Today Sara brings us the story of one of the most epic warrior Queens in history: BOUDICA! When the Romans destroy everything most precious to her, take her land, enslave her people and lash her publicly - this Queen of the Iceni tribe (in pre-celtic Britain) doesn't sit around and cry about it. She rallies her Celts, combining the warring tribes to lead a legendary show of force against the Roman...

This week, Adrian Snow brings us the story of Kate Bush! Her chart-topping song "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" climbed to the top 10 after it resurfaced in an episode of Stranger Things a few weeks ago, blowing it's previous record from when it first dropped 37 years ago. Who is this masterful wizard of song that brought us such a timeless classic? It turns out that Kate Bush is one of t...

This week, Sara brings us the story of Alexya Salvador, the first transgender pastor in Brazil and all of Latin America, and the first transgender person to adopt a child in Brazil. As a young child, Alexya found great solace and belonging in the Catholic Church, so much so, that she entered seminary to begin a path to priesthood. But as her studies progressed she uncovered deeply held core teachi...

BYSK is kicking off PRIDE month by revisiting one of our favorite previous Broad episodes - MARSHA "Pay It No Mind" JOHNSON! Marsha was one of the figureheads in the fight for LGBTQ rights and a true legend. She was (allegedly) at the Stonewall Inn on the night the riots broke out, kicking off the LGBTQ revolution. She also helped organize the first Pride Parade and founded STAR house, a home for...

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, Chloe Skye returns to the podcast to bring us the incredible true story of 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 Wa...

This week, Sara Gorsky brings us the incredible true story of Josephine Baker! Born into poverty in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906, Josephine works her way up the chorus line to NYC, but the discrimination she faces at every turn drives her to Europe where France falls in love with the girl in the banana skirt. Her rise to fame is meteoric and she becomes one of the highest paid performers in all of...