Heretic History Podcast

The cards were stacked against Sarah Breedlove from the start. Born in 1867 to formerly enslaved parents and growing up along the cotton fields of the deep south during the Reconstruction Era. She was orphaned at 7, married at 14 and widowed at 20, leaving her utterly alone in the world with a small child to raise.   But Sarah had learned from an early age to be her own advocate and her own savior...

In the early morning hours of July 17th, 1918 the Romanov family and their four servants were awoken and told they needed to be moved for their own protection. Escorted by armed guards, they were brought to a tiny, dimly lit cellar room. Completely unaware of what was about to happen. Much had changed for the Romanovs in the last four years. War and  revolution had rendered the world a strange and...

Part 2 of my Romanova series. In this episode I discuss the childhoods of the often over-looked Romanov daughters: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.  Spending much of their youth sequestered away at the family palace or aboard the imperial yacht, their world was simple, idyllic and profoundly isolated. To the press and the public, they were nothing more than four pretty faces. And in the century...

For over a century the strange and tragic story of the Romanovs (the last imperial rulers of Russia) has captivated the world. It is a story of courtly intrigue, political uprisings, assassinations and the occult. But at the center of it all is the story of a family. In this two part series I will be discussing the Romanov women, Alexandra and her daughters. Alexandra, or Alix, not cut out for the...

The Chinese Empire lasted nearly four thousand years. It saw the rise and fall of numerous dynasties and hundreds of Emperors. But only one woman who would rise to sit upon the imperial throne and rule over all of China in her own name... Empress Wu Zhao According to ancient chroniclers she was a vicious tyrant, monstrous and inhuman. But modern archeological finds paint a more complicated picture...

From dime novels to Hollywood, Calamity Jane has long been a staple of American lore and legend. A wild amazon of the frontier, a female adventurer in men's clothes, bucking the status quo and living her life on her own terms. But the life of the real Calamity Jane was quite different from many of the stories we know about her. In this episode I will explore some of her representations in popular...

In the aftermath of her arrest, Rosa Parks makes the choice to step into a symbolic role, becoming both a martyr and a champion for her community to rally around. From this, the long brewing Civil Rights Movement will explode onto the national stage and a young, unknown reverend will rise up to become its new leader. Parks will be thrust into the spotlight herself. While doing everything she can t...

On the evening of December 1, 1955 in Montgomery AL, Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her seat to a white man because her feet hurt and she was tired. Her arrest and the subsequent Montgomery bus boycott, kicked off the Civil Rights Movement which eventually led to desegregation and ended institutional racism in America…. At least, that's the story we all learned in school; simple and...

We have long been obsessed with tales of swash-buckeling pirates and their many sea-fairing adventures. And there is a special fascination with the rare and domineering women who have donned the role of 'pirate.' But what if I told you female pirates were not nearly as rare a phenomenon as we have been led to believe? In this episode I share the stories of five great pirate women, from the Bronze...

Following her brutal attack at the hands of the popular and well liked Jacques Le Gris, Marguerite de Carrougues had a choice… remain silent or speak the truth. She chose to speak up. What would follow would be a sensational court case, culminating in a trial by combat between Le Gris and her husband (and champion) Jean de Carrougues on December 29, 1386. The events surrounding this case are still...

On a cold December day in 1386, Paris, a crowd of thousands gathered for a spectacle of blood. Among them were peasants, royalty and all walks of life in between, but one figure was set apart... Marguerite de Carrouges, seated on a solitary platform, awaited her judgment and her fate. By publicly accusing the man who had violated her she had sought justice, no matter the cost. Her case would soon...

In 1802 a near forgotten rebellion unfolded on the tiny island of Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. Freedom fighters, soldiers and civilians, took up arms against Napoleon's army in a desperate fight for liberty. Among them was a small and peculiar woman. At times she was beautiful and at times she was terrifyingly ferocious. She danced into battle carrying her unborn child, laughing in the face...

Before Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe or Greta Garbo, there was Theda Bara, the original VAMP of the silver screen. She made a career playing the embodiment of female sexual empowerment, the original femme fatale. Before the fame, she was a bookish theatre nerd from Ohio. Plucked from obscurity and rocketed into stardom overnight. But as quickly as her star rose it would fall, and...

In today's political climate the subject abortion is an assumed hot button issue, but this was not always the case. In this month's episode I explore the history of abortion in America. From common law to criminalization and back round again. A necessary procedure that has led to an unnecessary crisis TW: abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, miscarriage, self-harm

The conclusion to my three part Matilda of England series! After the sudden death of Henry I in 1135, the (relative) peace of England is thrown into utter chaos. Despite the barons having twice sworn their allegiance to Matilda as the rightful heir, their oaths soon prove to be false. Her cousin, Stephen of Blois, makes a hasty, but ultimately successful, grab for the throne and is crowned King in...

In 1125 Empress Matilda returned to England and the court of her father, Henry I. A string of tragedies and loss has befallen the royal family; Matilda is now a widow and Henry has lost his only son and obvious heir. Together, father and daughter will join forces towards a common goal: maintaining their family's hold on the English throne. Their only recourse is to title Matilda as rightful heir,...

Centuries before Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen, another woman would rise up to claim her rightful place on England's throne.  Born in 1102 Matilda was an English princess at the dawn of a new dynasty, but her duties as a royal female would carry her far from home. Married and crowned Empress at only twelve years old, her function was to be a supportive consort to her husband and to give him so...

She is perhaps the most well known indigenous woman in American history, but the myths and legends surrounding her life often overshadow her truth.  In this episode I will dive into what we really know about Sacagawea, her contributions to the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as who she was both before and after her moment in the historical spotlight.

Akhenaten (the Heretic King) has turned the religious order of Egypt on its head, having forsaken all other gods in the name of Aten, the faceless sun deity. He has declared himself to be the living incarnate of god on earth and Nefertiti, his female counterpart. But was Nefertiti truly a goddess in her own right?  Or was she simply being used by her power-hungry husband. Here we explore the later...

Nefertiti is famously known for being perhaps the most beautiful woman who ever lived, but who was she really? To this day her origins, her ultimate end, and even her final resting place remain a mystery.  In this episode I will explore the dynasty that saw Nefertiti rise to power, the theories as to where she may have come from, and the early years of her union to the great Akhenaten, Egypt's Her...

When looking back on the horrors of WWII we often think of the Holocaust, the blitz, atomic bombs and internment camps.  These events fill the pages of our history books and have been ingrained in our collective memory. But would you believe there is another story from this era that is often overlooked and sometimes out right ignored... Between 1931 - 1945 the Empire of Japan would conscript thous...

In June of 1900 Carry Nation, 54 years old, a preachers wife and devout Christian, arrived in the unassuming town of Kiowa, Kansas.  Filling her hands with rocks and bricks she marched into several drinking establishments and began smashing the bottles behind the bars. After years of dedication to the Temperance Movement, Carry felt that god had called upon her to take this next, drastic step in t...

The second (and final) part of my Edith Cavell series. Summer of 1914, WWI has begun.  Edith leaves the safety of England to rush back to her nursing school in Brussels where she has been head matron for 8 years. Operating under the Red Cross she expects to treat wounded soldiers on both sides but the German army has other plans... Taking over the city of Brussels they will open their own hospital...

On October 12th, 1915 Edith Cavell stands before a firing squad.  A British citizen who has been living and working as a nurse in German occupied Brussels, she has been convicted of "heinous crimes" against Germany and sentenced to death. Her crime: tending to allied soldiers and aiding in their escape from behind enemy lines. To the Germans, she was a subversive rebel. The English would pronounce...

The final episode in my Harriet Tubman series! Follow Harriet from the start of the Civil War, volunteering to go south to aid both union soldiers and refugees alike. She shows selfless bravery and valor, earning the respect of Union generals (even if she isn't being paid a cent). And after the war, she continues her life of service.  Advocating for women's rights, civil rights and better treatmen...