Queens Podcast

Have you ever heard of Rani of Jhansi? She's sometimes referred to as India's Joan of Arc, so you know we're discussing a Warrior Queen Rani of Jhansi, also known as Rani Lakshmibai, was one of the most prominent figures in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. But today, we're learning about how she got there. She was born in 1828 in Varanasi, India (probably?). Manu (as her family called her) was a Scor...

Today, we are here to give a little Respect to a queen we think you’re really going to love. No, not our usual kind of queen, but just as fascinating. She may not have had a coronation, but she is regal through and through. Of course, we’re talking about the one and only Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Her story is one of ups and downs and lots… and LOTS of Katy and Nathan singing off-key (since w...

Welcome back as we, sadly, wrap up the story of the icon that is Selena Quintanilla. The Queen of Tejano. In this episode Selena wins a grammy, gets married and opens two boutiques. Literally everything she had worked towards her entire life was working out and she was on the brink of super stardom. You can find both parts in this series on our website. Queens podcast is part of Airwave Media podc...

Selena Quintanilla, Queen of Tejano music, makes our little Texan hearts sing. Born in Lake Jackson, Texas in the early 1970's, little Selena became the singer of her family's band at just six years old. And once she started singing, she never stopped. She was told that she'd never make it big because Tejano fans didn't like girl singers. And boy oh boy did she prove the boys club wrong. We pair t...

When we last left Grace O'Malley (aka Grainne) she was out there running the seas of Western Ireland. And in part 2... yeah not a lot has changed. Grainne has gone down in history as a formidable woman, but one that was very much nearly lost to history. So, what is it about the Pirate Queen of Ireland? What did she do that made people want to erase her from the record? Besides.... ya know. Be a pi...

Gráinne O'Malley (often known as Grace O'Malley) has gone down in history as The Pirate Queen. Born into the powerful, seafaring O'Malley clan in western Ireland, she took to the pirate's life at a young age. Basically, everything a woman wasn't supposed to do at the time, Gráinne was doing it. Cutting off your hair and going sailing with your dad? ✅ Telling troops of sailors what to do and getti...

Daisy Bates was a civil rights warrior who was ahead of her time. Daisy Bates was an American civil rights activist, journalist, and lecturer who devoted her life to fighting for the rights of minorities in the United States. From her work as the president of the Arkansas NAACP to her undercover investigations of the Little Rock Nine, we'll explore her inspiring legacy and how her story still reso...

In 2018 we first covered Alexandra Feodorovna, the last tsarina of Russia. But, after our Mathilde Kschessinska episode, we thought it might be interesting to revisit her. So, you don't need to go digging back through the back catalog. Alex was born into German royalty. She was very loved as the favorite granddaughter of the HBIC, Queen Victoria (maybe you heard of her). In fact, Queen Victoria wa...

Mathilde Kschessinska was an iconic prima ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet. She was also the scandal of St. Petersburg. Let's spill the tea. Born into a connected dance family, Little K first met the tsarevich (the future Nicholas II of Russia) when she was 18 and oh boy she was smitten kitten. The relationship ended before she would have liked when he married the future empress, Alexandra...

When we last left Margaret of Austria, she was grieving the loss of her husband, Juan the prince of Spain. At only age 20, Maggie is now back on the market as a widow. As the daughter of the Holy Roman Empire, she can't stay single long and before you know it is a wife... again. As ruler of the Low Countries, Margaret was a formidable negotiator and diplomat, and her actions helped to shape the co...

Margaret of Austria. In her life Margaret was the duchess of Savoy, regent for the Holy Roman Emperor, princess of Spain, *kinda* queen of France. So, yeah. She's kind of a big deal. Join us as we drink our Habsburg margaritas and get into this fascinating life. Story starts around 7:30 Doing dry January? So is Katy! So, make a mocktail with us with this mocktail-friendly tequila. Queens podcast i...

Welcome back, as we wrap up the life of the one and only, Josephine Baker. Josey was one of the biggest stars in the world, but when she saw injustice during the lead-up to World War II, she knew she couldn't sit by and do nothing. So, she became a spy. Josephine Baker, the spy. We like the sound of that! After World War II, Josephine Baker continued to perform and speak out against injustice. She...

Everything Josephine Baker did was iconic. Whether it was entertaining the entire world with her captivating stage performances or sneaking intelligence across enemy lines to defeat the Nazis, she was doing it in style. In this episode we'll be exploring her early years, from her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri up to her rise to fame as a world-renowned entertainer. So, put on your dancing shoes,...

After our visit into the life of Margaret Beaufort, Katy and Nathan found themselves down memory lane and once again discussing the Princes is in the Tower. This could case murder mystery has captivated tons of us for centuries. So, we thought we'd share a good one from the Patreon vault of 2020 with you guys where we play a game called Chillin' or Killin' to try and decipher who killed these kids...

We're back with part 2 in our Margaret Beaufort series. If you missed part one, you can catch it here. So, it's the 15th century and the Plantagenants are all slowly doing away with themselves. It was time for the fighting to end Margaret had a huge role to play in finally ending the Wars of the Roses and this story takes so many exciting twists and turns. Murder, deceit, mystery, war... this stor...

Margaret Beaufort the countess of Richmond and mother to the first Tudor king came into this world set up for success. However, family secrets, child marriage and civil war made her life anything but easy. In this episode we see Margaret married three times by the ripe old age of 16. Story starts at about 4:44 If you like this episode, you may like some of our other Wars of the Roses women like......

Are you a lover of long fiction novels? Well, did you know that you have Lady Murasaki to thank for starting the trend? Often known as Murasaki Shikibu, the lady of the chronicles was born in a time and place in Medieval Japan when the lady's court was so secluded. If it wasn't for her novel (Tale of Genji) and collections of poetry, we might have never known the intricate ins and outs of the Japa...

Welcome back to part 3 of our Empress Matilda saga. And this episode is where the action happens. Get ready for lots of Game of Thrones references, given that Empress Matilda and the Anarchy (the 18-year civil war that goes down in this episode) are the inspiration for George RR Martin's "Fire and Blood" aka, House of the Dragon. And if you just found us, you may want to check out part 1 and part...

We're back for episode 2 of Empress Matilda's story. (You can find episode 1 here). In this one we see even more parallels to where George RR Martin likely got his inspiration for House of the Dragon and the story leading up to the Dance of the Dragon (spoiler alert). When we last left Matilda she was a newly grieving widow. So, what's a young widow to do besides moving back in with the parents an...

We are back for season 6 and boy do we have a story for you. Empress Matilda was supposed to be the first Queen Regnant of England, but things took... a different turn. In fact, the time of her would-be reign (known as The Anarchy) is actually the inspiration for HBO's newest Game of Thrones spin off, House of the Dragon. So, without our girl Matilda, you wouldn't have our girl Rhaenyra. But befor...

Warning: this episode is a bit of a hot mess and we love it. 🙃 Have you heard of Uriel, Queen of the archangels and founder of the Unarius Academy of Science? No? Well, we hope you're ready because she is just the sassiest little cult leader that you didn't know you needed in your life. As we continue our summer break, we wanted to share some of our classic Patreon episodes with you and after a l...

Hey, y'all! We are on summer break, so we asked our friend Zach from Drinks with Great Minds in History to hook us up with a great episode for your listening pleasure. Zach, much like the Queens, pairs cocktails with a great mind in history. Today, he's pairing an Italian cocktail with one of y'alls favorites: Catherine de Medici. This story is full of "mysteries, lies and so much more". Enjoy y'a...

As we continue with our summer break, we wanted to share this fascinating story with you guys that we recorded last year for 4th of July on Patreon. Sojourner Truth lived a life full of ups and downs and overcame obstacles we couldn't imagine. HOWEVER, the first half of this story includes lots of possibly triggering material. So, if you want to skip the first half jump to 24:45 that's where the s...

In this Patreon episode from Autumn 2021, Katy takes on Thomas Howard. This F-ing guy! Ugh, he's the worst. Thomas Howard was born into a noble English family during the tumultuous Wars of the Roses. The young Howard was lucky to come out on the other end of the wars with his life. From there he built and built his career up to the highest point he could hope for. Too bad on the way to such height...

Hey, y'all! We are on summer break, so we asked our dear friends at Ancient History Fangirl to hook us up with a great episode for your listening pleasure. And they did not disappoint. Ancient Rome was full of rich, ambitious social climbers in a cutthroat political environment—people who had enemies to get rid of, and deep pockets to pay for the service. Poison assassins were in high demand—and o...