Her Half of History

For Marie Antoinette, the end was more bitter than she could possibly have imagined. After four years of imprisonment, several failed escape plans, and an endless onslaught of (mostly) false accusations, she went to her death. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on...

This is the 2nd of 3 episodes on Marie Antoinette. She is now queen, but it's not as fabulous as it sounds because her marriage needs counseling and her household budget is out of control. Though she did spend a lot, she spent far less than she was blamed for, especially during the infamous necklace affair, in which some ingenious criminals pulled off a jewel heist, and somehow people thought it w...

There is so much written about Marie Antoinette, much of it contradictory, that I just could not squeeze her story down into a single episode, not even with liberal use of the backspace button. So this is the first of three episodes on a woman who many hoped would be the last queen of France. In this episode: she is born in Vienna, though we don't know much about her childhood she wins (or loses)...

The sultanate of Aceh enjoyed no fewer than four reigning queens in a row. They defended their country against rampant expansion by the Dutch and then the English. The last queen, Zainatuddin Kamalat Syah, was eventually deposed in 1699, through a combination of religious and personal factors, ending 59 years of a highly unusual political experiment in which women were seen as not just acceptable...

Yes! There have been Muslim queens who ruled their own countries! One of them was Arwa al-Sulayhi who ruled Yemen for 60 years in the 11th and 12th century. She outlasted her husband, her other husband, her son, and her other son, continuing to rule on her own authority through it all. Though the memory of her has faded, her mosque is still there, and so is her palace. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website...

The history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is hard for historians because the best sources were all destroyed. Those that remain are of dubious historicity, but they do tell of the Queen Xiuhtlaltzin, who reigned somewhere in the 800s or 900s, shortly before the fall of the Toltec empire. Since the records are so sketchy, this episode is not exactly a biography, but it does cover: what written recor...

The kingdom of Silla in ancient Korea had three queen regnants (a very good score, compared with most other countries of its time). Two reigned in Silla's golden age, but the last was Jinseong, who ruled at a time when decay had set in and the odds were not in her favor. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on t...

Zenobia is one of the great enemies of Rome. From the oasis city of Palmyra (in modern-day Syria), she rose up in rebellion and conquered a great empire from Asia Minor through to Egypt. This episode covers: the background of Palmyra as an important stop on the Silk Road just how disastrous the 3rd century was for Rome how Zenobia's husband Odaenathus saved the eastern empire how he died how Zenob...

Rome stole her country, publicly flogged her, and raped her daughters. The woman known variously as Boudica, Boudicca, Boadicea, Bonducca, and a dozen other variations fought back with everything she had. This episode includes: How Rome came to the isle of Britain How the Icenian king split his country between Rome and his daughters How Rome wouldn't take half for an answer How the Icenian queen g...

Cleopatra inherited a joint throne, but pushed first one and then a second brother out of it to rule alone. In a world where rising Roman dominance was a fact of life, she managed to maintain control of her country by negotiating (in every possible way) with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Though she lost in the end, she still managed to close out 3000 years of Egyptian history on her own term...

She had many names: Salome, Alexandra, Shelamzion, and Schlomtzion, but the last monarch of an independent kingdom of Judea was a Queen Regnant. She ruled from (roughly) 78 to 69 BCE. Her time was remembered for generations as the golden age before Rome. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support...

If you follow the royal news, you may be aware that we had a queen abdicate last month. Or possibly, you missed it because it wasn’t in the British royal family. It was Margrethe II of Denmark. I am researching last queens for series 12, fully aware that the word “last” is a little ambiguous here, but I must confess, the connection with this current event, never crossed my historically minded brai...

It's Black History Month, and we're looking at LaVern Baker, the pioneering R&B singer LaVern Baker. Today's episode is a guest episode from the fabulously named Dead Ladies Show, which celebrates women - both overlooked and iconic, through live history storytelling on stage in Berlin, and beyond. Check out other episodes from The Dead Ladies Show on their website (https://deadladiesshow.com/podca...

Kelly Chase of the History Detective Podcast interviewed me last year about how and why my podcast is produced. Here is our conversation about podcasting and history and why it is important. Kelly is also the author of History, Her Story, Our Story, a fantastic resource for middle and high school students and teachers, as well as anyone who wishes their knowledge of history included a few more wom...

For most of human history, teenagers have been lumped in with children or with adults, depending on which way was most convenient at the time. People between the ages of 13 and 19 didn't become "teenagers" until the 20th century. In this episode, I talk about: how the Classical writers defined the difference between childhood and youth/adolescence how important it was for girls of that age to main...

Girls have always been reaching puberty, but what that meant for her has varied. In this episode we look at the age of menarche (when girls start their period) and whether that was cause for shame or celebration: In ancient Greece, girls at puberty "acted the she-bear." In Rome they dedicated their dolls to Venus. In many cultures girls entered a period of seclusion and fasting at menarche. In 18t...

The Industrial Revolution did not invent child labor, but it changed how people viewed it. A growing middle and upper class provided their kids with long childhoods filled with play, education, and preparation for a productive adulthood. The poorer classes sent their children to work in factories and fields where they worked long hours at dangerous jobs and learned very few skills. Girls in partic...

Child labor has existed since the beginning of humanity. Poor girls, both slave and free, worked as cleaned, carried water, cared for other children, and worked in the fields, often with long hours under harsh treatment. Most of their stories went undocumented but this episode does have anecdotes from Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Jemison, and others about what it was like to be a workin...

St Lucia’s Day is December 13th. It is celebrated in a number of countries, but today is specifically about the Swedish celebration. You may have seen a picture of a beautiful blond girl, dressed in a white dress with a red sash and a wreath on her head with burning candles? That is St Lucia, as celebrated in Sweden or countries influenced by Sweden. But the origin of the story is in Italy. In 304...

The underlying question behind educating girls is: Why? Why are you educating them? Throughout history, there have been varying answers to that question, and each answer has produced a wildly different strategies on how to do it. This episode covers the major strategies, from home tutoring to convent schools to governesses to listening in on your brother's lessons. All of these methods continued e...

The 1860s blew new life into children's literature, especially for girls. Alice in Wonderland (1865) has been called the first modern children's book, and one in which moral didacticism was replaced by a fantastic and total disregard for the laws of physics. Little Women (1868) pioneered the intimate home life story and is still one of the best examples. On the trashier side, dime novels were also...

Is there anything better than books? Today I’m not talking about the compulsory part of books at school (that’s a later episode in this series), I’m talking about reading for the love it. Reading because as Meg Ryan's character said in You've Got Mail, “When you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” Most historical girls w...

Why pink? And when did girls start dressing in pink, for that matter? (Hint: a lot more recently than you probably imagine.) This episode also covers whether you actually need baby clothes (probably not, historically speaking) and how long a girls skirts should be, and we also touch on why the boys don't get lace, ruffles, and pink. I also mention Kelly Chase and the History Detective Podcast whic...

In 1848, the Fox family prepared to go to bed as usual, but the darkness was punctuated by mysterious rapping noises for which they could find no source. Through hours of terrified questioning, they eventually discovered that it was the ghost of a peddler murdered by a previous resident. Or so the story goes. . . Kate, Maggie, and Leah Fox became the most famous mediums of 19th century America, gi...

Games and pastimes mostly don’t get a mention in the records that are more concerned with the death of kings and the collection of taxes. If we manage to know about an ancient or medieval game at all, we usually have no idea who played it, and certainly there is no logical reason to think that only one age or gender might enjoy a game. And yet at least in some times and places, gender associations...