Broads You Should Know

What better day to throwback a classic episode than MOTHER'S DAY! What do you know about the origin of the holiday? Here's your chance to explore its founder. Anna Jarvis started Mother’s Day to honor the wishes of her late mother, Ann Jarvis, who originally created the day as a way to bring families together after the end of the American Civil War. When she was successful, the holiday grew larger...

Sara brings us her first-ever solo episode including a hearty welcome to our newer listeners, a reminder that it's #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, some big BYSK news, and most importantly - a discussion about the Politico article leaking the draft decision from the US Supreme Court; what it means for women in America, and what we can do to advocate for all the BROADS that will be affected by it, incl...

This week we're bringing back one of our favorite climate-activist-Broads to help us celebrate Earth day! Chloe brings us the story of a woman who not only won the Nobel Prize for founding a movement that planted over 20 MILLION trees worldwide, but also brought Democracy to Kenya… but it took nearly her entire life to do it. After earning her doctorate, she first got involved as an activis...

This week, guest Adrian Snow brings us one of the greatest actor Broads of the 21st Century - Michelle Yeoh!  Whether you just saw her new film Everything Everywhere All at Once (Adrian & Sara's MUST SEE movie of the year!!), watched her dazzle in Crazy Rich Asians, kiss James Bond, or serve up crazy stunts with Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh brings talent, class, and straight up badassery to every ro...

This week, Sara brings us Constance Baker Motley - The first black woman to try a case before the Supreme Court, to serve in the NY Senate, to be elected Manhattan Borough President, to be appointed to a Federal Judgeship and to be promoted to Chief Judge. This powerhouse Broad was the role model for many of today's most prominent women of color in the Judiciary branch including Justice Ketanji Br...

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...

This week, Elise Ballard brings us the tale of Edith Loeber Ballard, M.D.! Despite a very successful debut, Edith Loeber was not content to simply marry well. However, after completing medical school up North, she and a group of seven other women doctors found themselves unable to secure positions at New Orleans hospitals - because they were women, of course. Instead of accepting defeat, these tra...

This week, Michael Kuciak brings us the tale of Daria Nicolodi! Daria knew from a young age she was going to be a brilliant actor and her success in Italian television led her to be cast in a film that would become a foundational masterpiece of horror cinema: Deep Red (Profondo Rosso). Her work on the film went far beyond the strong, sassy journalist she played; She also helped develop the product...

This week, Sara sheds some light on The Invisible Battalion! While Ukrainian women have been defending their country on the front lines for decades, it wasn't until 2018 that they were actually allowed to serve in combat ranks, thanks, in large part, to a massive campaign known as "The Invisible Battalion," led by the NGO Institute of Gender Programs ( invisiblebattalion.org ). The women leading t...

This week, Sara brings back the story of Olga of Kyiv: The Viking Warrior Queen who orchestrated one of the most prolonged, bloody revenge strategies of all time before expanding trade (putting the Kyivan Rus on the map), tricking Emperor Constantine VII, converting to Christianity and spreading the faith so successfully that she was canonized the Patron Saint of Widows and Converts. This is the O...

This week, Chloe Skye returns to bring us the story of Beate Gordon! When Beate's Ukrainian-born Jewish parents fled Russia in the 1920's, eventually landing in Japan, Beate fell in love with the Japanese people and culture, but WWII leaves Beate in the US, separated from her parents and unable to contact them. Beate uses her incredible ployglot skills to become a translator, eventually working he...

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...

This week, Sara brings us Mary Kenner! Coming from a family of inventors, Mary wasted no time and went to work on her own first invention at six years old. She invented throughout her life, and received her first US Patent in 1957 for the Sanitary Belt - a precursor to the sanitary napkin! To this day Mary still holds the record for the most US Patents awarded to an African American woman - FIVE!...

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, 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...

This week, guest Joe Lex brings us Ernesta Drinker! Widely thought to be the most beautiful socialite Philadelphia ever produced, Ernesta turned down over 100 marriage proposals to travel the world and write, eventually becoming an elite interior designer, then during WW2 touring the country as 'Commando Mary', inspiring women to participate in the war effort. Her story is out of this world and on...

This week, Sara brings us the story of Kadambini Ganguly, the first woman to graduate college, first woman admitted to an Indian medical school and the first female medical doctor in India! Her work wasn't limited to medicine, either. A champion for women's and worker's rights, Kadambini's socio-political impact on India was undeniably incredible. — A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. B...

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Many folks will quote (and misquote) Dr. King as it's convenient for them, but on BROADS YOU SHOULD KNOW we want to take this time to remind you about his stalwart partner in life and legacy: CORETTA SCOTT KING! Coretta actively participated in the Civil Rights movement even before she met Martin, and subsequently throughout her life, leading marches and protes...

This week, Rev. Dr. Barbara Gorsky brings us a Broad who has greatly influenced her personally - Sister Carrie Miller, of Sisters of the Living Word! The founder of Faith Community Homes (now Family Forward), for decades she has served the homeless and poverty stricken communities of the northwest Chicago suburbs. Her service to the community is legendary and she's transformed so many people's liv...

This week, Sara sits down with her mother, Rev. Dr. Barbara Gorsky, to recap our great Broads of 2021! They talk about Broads we lost in 2021, the top Broads searched on database at broadsyoushouldknow.com , and the top Broad episodes listened to across all of 2021! — 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! 3...

This week, Dawn Alden brings us the story of Charlotte Cushman: "a lady universally acknowledged as the greatest living tragic actress." Charlotte's acting prowess eclipsed that of her male counterparts in the 19th century, and in fact - she often replaced them, playing many pants roles even better than the men that came before her! Listen in to the amazing story of how Charlotte navigates out of...

This week Sara brings us one of her personal heroes and feminist icons, the incomparable and prolific - bell hooks! Growing up a segregated Kentucky, Gloria Jean Watkins witnessed firsthand the wake of destruction wreaked by what she would later dub the Imperialist-White-Supremacist-Capitalist-Patriarchy. She spent the rest of her life in a fight against it as a writer, teacher, scholar, intellect...

This week, special guest Adrian Snow brings us Mary Seacole! A Jamaican-British nurse, Mary had mad doctoring and herbalist skills and when the Crimean War broke out she wants to bring her skills to the frontline so she asks fellow Briton and BYSK Florence Nightingale for help, only to get the cold shoulder. What does Mary do next? She figures out how to do it by herself! Listen to her incredible...

This week, Sara brings us Sarah Winchester! When Sarah Winchester inherits the vast fortune of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company she decides to spend her fortune warding off the vengeful spirits of the victims of the Winchester rifle and builds the Winchester Mystery House - known widely as one of the most famous supernatural/haunted places in the US. But is that the real story? Listen now to...

This week, Sara brings us the Mongolian Warrior Princess, Khutulun Khan! Her remarkable battlefield prowess was only eclipsed by her mad skills in the wrestling arena. This Princess-who-would-be-Khan (Great-great Granddaughter of Genghis Khan and cousin of Kublai Khan) wrestled & defeated hundreds of men to avoid arranged marriage. She helped her father Kaidu hold onto his massive territory, but d...