Heroine City

Part 1 'In 1859, at age fourteen, Florence Szász stood before a room full of men and waited to be auctioned to the highest bidder. But slavery and submission were not to be her destiny: Sam Baker, a wealthy English gentleman and eminent adventurer, was moved by compassion and an immediate, overpowering empathy for the young woman, and braved extraordinary perils to help her escape.' So states the...

In episode ten of Heroine City, host Lynsey Shaw talks with Montaz Marche about Anne Sancho. Anne, a middle-class wife, mother, proprietor and second-generation migrant, born and raised in London, was better known as the wife of the famous African-British abolitionist, writer, shop-owner and composer, Ignatius Sancho. As part of her PhD research into the lives of black women in 18th-century London...

This week, through the gates of Heroine City and into our very own pleasure gardens, host Lynsey Shaw talks with Professor Penelope Corfield about Women and the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. Together, they discuss the (literal) light and dark side of the famous summertime Georgian hang out. A heady mix of classes, music, surprises and rum punch, the era of 'Vauxhall,' as it simply became kn...

Inside the gates of Heroine City for episode nine is writer, Lucinda Gosling. In this episode, host Lynsey Shaw discusses Mrs. Meyrick, the nightclub queen of 1920s London. Frequented by royalty, film stars, jazz musicians and gangsters, Kate Meyrick's nightclubs, such as the Silver Slipper and No.43 were the talk of the roaring 20s party scene, but it came at a price. Luci discusses her work and...

In this Heroine City episode host Lynsey Shaw talks with the historian Kate McCaffrey about Anne Boleyn, her formative years and the women who shaped, influenced and inspired her. They discuss the multi-faceted Anne, her childhood, her mother and sister, the women she learned from when she was in service at continental European courts and the women that protected her memory after she died. (Even A...

In this episode, host Lynsey Shaw is joined by acclaimed author and journalist Shrabani Basu to talk about World War II wireless operator and special operations executive, Noor Inayat Khan. Shrabani's books include For King and Another Country : Indian Soldiers on the Western Front 1914-18, Victoria & Abdul : The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant (now a major motion picture,) and Spy...

With Lynsey Shaw inside the Heroine City gates today we have Claire Louise Amias. Actor, director and playwright, Claire is the star of her self-penned one woman show, The Masks of Aphra Behn, which explores the fascinating and pioneering life of the 17th Century spy and Restoration writer of its title. Behn was arguably the first professional female writer. After a failed marriage and a stint as...

In episode five of Heroine City, Lynsey Shaw is joined by Dr Euan Roger, lead curator at The National Archives, to discuss the fascinating Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester. A sad tale of love magic, witchcraft and treason, Eleanor was imprisoned for the rest of her life and her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester annulled after she was accused of using witchcraft 'in a treasonous way' an...

Inside the Heroine City gates for this episode we have the wonderful writer and comedian Kate Fox. Dr Kate, author of her 2022 book, 'Where There's Much, There's Bra: True Stories of the Women of the North of England' discusses northern English women of note, both past and present, with our host Lynsey Shaw. In this episode they discuss Kate's work, 'northern' criteria, what that means, its associ...

In this episode of Heroine City, Lynsey Shaw talks with Dr. Emma Southon about the rebellious Queen of the Iceni who took on the Roman Empire in 60AD, Boudicca. They explore the ways in which her story has been used over the years in British and Roman culture and the problematic use of her now as a feminist icon. As Emma says, “history is sexy, and sometimes fun, and sometimes hilarious, just like...

In this episode Lynsey is joined by Professor Elizabeth Foley O’Conner to talk about Pamela Coleman Smith. Pixie, as she was sometimes known, was an Anglo-American artist and publisher prolific in the mediums of painting, printing, and illustration. Ahead of her time in many ways, Pamela was an occultist and a self-defining, non-conformist, Smith practiced synaesthesia, with an ability to paint fr...

We kick our first season off with the formidable Bess of Hardwick. A 16th century, Midland born squire's daughter who worked her way up to becoming a pioneering architect, dynast and the second most powerful woman of her time next to Elizabeth I. To talk with host Lynsey Shaw in the studio about their mutual adoration of all round badass Bess, we have expert Professor Lisa Hopkins from Sheffield H...

Welcome to Heroine City, a world built of women in history. In this podcast, our host - producer, performer, and self-confessed history geek - Lynsey Shaw speaks with experts and historians about women we need to know. Maybe their names will be familiar to you but their stories deserve a deeper delve or perhaps their names will be completely new to you. Either way, this is a podcast dedicated to b...