What'sHerName - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE Catherine Jemmat Mar 16, 2026

Show notes

After a lifetime of betrayal and abuse as an 18th century sex worker, Catherine Jemmat broke the ultimate social taboo: she wrote the truth about her life. Her "scandalous memoir" helped change the way English society thought about women's lives, and her second book introduced a radical new idea - that the true 'perpetrator' driving women into lives of so-called sin and degradation was, in fact, society itself.

Returning guest Miranda Garno Rossa of Marginalia Rare Books is back to introduce Olivia to this courageous, unexpected heroine.

Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, The Herschel Ensemble, Kevin MacLeod, and Pablo Casals

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THE GIRL SCOUT Juliette Gordon Low Mar 02, 2026

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Juliette Gordon Low was a classic Southern Belle when she married her handsome prince. But she learned the hard way that "happily ever after" is a harmful fantasy.

We can do better for girls, she said: and we must.

Rallying all the women around her, she founded Girl Scouts of America, empowering girls to build strength and character,and blaze new trails. Her global impact today is immeasurable.

Join us on location at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum in Savannah, Georgia for this inspiring story of how women change the world.

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GET INVOLVED!

Check out the World Association of Girl Scouts & Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of America.
Buy cookies from your local girl scouts!
Get the delightful 1913 Girl Scout Handbook ⁠HERE⁠, or read a free digital copy ⁠HERE⁠.
Join us on our next adventure! ⁠⁠What'sHerName TOURS⁠⁠.

This episode was recorded by Marc Nelson on location at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Special thanks to Shannon Browning-Mullis, Kate Walker, and Kristin Mikels, and to the participants of our 2025 What'sHerName Savannah Tour who joined in the fun!

Music featured in this episode: Serenade Op. 6 by Josef Suk, Monumental Journey by Jesse Gallagher, William Tell Overture b Rossini, Blue Danube Waltz and Vienna Blood Waltz by Strauss, Serenade by Schubert, Remembering Her by Esther Abrami, songs from 1956 Sing Together, Songs Girl Scouts Sing, and Annie Laurie by the 1924 National Quartet at the Library of Congress. Civil War sounds effects by Richard E Moore.

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THE PREACHER Jarena Lee Feb 17, 2026

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In 1819 an itinerant Methodist preacher set off across a brand-new nation to spread the gospel to its people. Over the decades of her unique ministry, Jarena Lee would witness both incredible progress and maddening injustice - and publish the first spiritual autobiography ever written by an African American woman. But what message was her book actually meant to send?

Discover the incredible life of this forgotten spiritual powerhouse with our guests, Lisa Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson, authors of the fascinating new book Your Daughters Will Prophesy.

Music featured in this episode by: Marian Anderson, Alfred Hamilton, Ed Jones, The Tuskegee Institute Singers, The Georgia Singers and The Heavenly Gate Quartet.

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THE KLONDIKE QUEEN Shaaw Tláa (Kate Carmack) Jan 19, 2026

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On a day like any other in 1896, Shaaw Tláa was washing dishes in a Yukon creek. But something shiny caught her eye... and the Klondike Gold Rush began. It's an insane chapter of world history: 100,000 ill-prepared dreamers from all over the world trekked into the subarctic. But what would become of the indigenous woman who started it all? Shaaw Tláa, known to the world as Kate Carmack, was suddenly one the richest people in the world, and she was married to a man called Lying George...

Join Katie on location at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park for this larger-than-life story of gold, greed, and destiny.

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Become a Patron to help make more episodes happen, and to get episodes ad-free! Or join our next What'sHerName TOUR for a great women's history adventure!

Want to lean more about Shaaw Tlaa? We've got you covered:

Read Wealth Woman by Deb Vanasse
Learn more about Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska and in Seattle
Read about more Women of the Gold Rush
Visit the US Postal Museum exhibit Stories from the Gold Rush
Read the delightful 1897 Klondike: A Manual for Goldseekers

Music featured in this episode: "Gold Rush" and "Five Card Shuffle" by Kevin MacLeod; "Roundup in the Prairie" by Aaron Kenny; "A Ghost Town" by Quincas Moreira; "Over the Mountain" and "Inconsciousness" by Mini Vandals; "The Quiet Aftermath" by Sir Cubworth; "Horses and Trains" by Jesse Gallagher; historical recordings of the US Marine Band; "Honky Tonkin'" by Doug Maxwell; "Through and Through" by Amulets.

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THE SCANDALOUS WOMAN Uno Chiyo Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

Uno Chiyo rose to fame in 20th century Japan as a writer, designer, domestic goddess, and fashion icon - mostly by marketing herself as just a scandalous woman. But this "Bad Girl of Good Housekeeping" was so much more than just a writer of sexy stories. Guest Rebecca Copeland helps us uncover the secrets of this enigmatic, fascinating woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Hirano Aiko, JackJack9, Zac Zinger, Doug Maxwell, the Mini Vandals, Bounce Bay Records, and Kumi.

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A WINTER OF CONTENT Laura Lee Davidson Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

To snowy Ontario, Canada for our 2026 Christmas Special!

Living out the dream of countless exhausted women, Laura Lee Davidson retreated to an island in the middle of a lake, and lived there alone through a long Canadian winter.

But she wasn't really alone. Wild creatures became her friends, and she was constantly the recipient of neighborly kindness from folks on the mainland.

Laura Lee's 1922 book about her winter on the island is now considered a classic of Canadian literature, and a vivid portrait of time gone by.

Katie reads some of her favorite excerpts from the book, and we all tag along with Laura Lee Davidson, retreating into a remote winter solitude, and marveling at the wonders of nature.

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Find Laura Lee Davidson's A Winter of Content HERE, or read a digital copy HERE. The What'sHerName SHOP is open, and check out our TOURS to join us on our next women's history adventure!

Music in this episode:

Deck the Halls, Air Prelude, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and Angels We Have Heard on High by Kevin MacLeod; The First Noel by Quincas Moreira; I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix; The Friendly Beasts by Marc Nelson; Unrequited by Asher Fulero; In the Bleak Midwinter by The Whalens; Growing Up by Nate Blaze; Auld Lang Syne by DJ Williams; The Anunnaki Return by Jesse Gallagher; When We Found the Horizon by Late Night Feeler.

With additional sounds from freesound.org including "St Marys River Dawn Chorus" and "Midnight Nature On The St. Marys River" by Ambient-X; and "Canadian loons" by Chance Media.

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BONUS EPISODE Voices of Women Festival Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

At the recent Voices of Women Festival, we invited folks to pop into our ad-hoc recording box to record the 60-second story of their favorite historical woman. The results are a delight - and include some cast and crew members from Broadway's SUFFS!

The Voices of Women Festival was held in Salt Lake City, UT, in tandem with Broadway's SUFFS on tour. Thanks to Victor Hamburger and the Utah Women's History Initiative for making this happen!

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The What'sHerName SHOP is open! Also check out our TOURS to join us on upcoming women's history adventures.

Music in this episode: "Please" by Wayne Jones; "Yoga Style" and "Western Spaghetti" by Chris Haugen; "Cowboy Sting" by Kevin MacLeod; "Lao Tzu Erhu" by Doug Maxwell.

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THE BLACK NATIONALIST Queen Mother Audley Moore Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

Queen Mother Audley Moore was one of the most respected, most influential, longest-lasting influences on the US Black Nationalist movement, the Pan-African movement, the movement for Reparations, and the Black American organizing community in general across almost the entire 20th century.

So why have most of us never even heard her name?

Returning guest Ashley Farmer introduces Olivia to the incredible, unexpected force that was Queen Mother Audley Moore.

Music featured in this episode provided by Daniel Henderson and his Big Band, The New Hot 5, Cynthia Meng and Kim Onah, TrackTribe, Kevin Macleod, and Emmit Fenn.

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THE EXECUTIVE Katharine Gibbs Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

In 1917, Katharine Gibbs rebounded from personal tragedy in an unusual way: she decided to train a subversive, feminist army. Nearly broke and with just a high school education, Gibbs trained women as executive secretaries, building a famous school in just a few years.

"Gibbs Girls" were so intelligent, competent, and polite, that no one could justify the dusty old notions that women belonged at home. The American workplace was changed forever.

Our guest is Vanda Krefft, author of Expect Great Things! How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women.

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Check out our upcoming TOURS: witness women's history with What'sHerName and find your people!

Music in this episode: Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, "If I Had You" and "All By Yourself in the Moonlight"; Nat Shikret & The Victor Orchestra, "The Things That Were Made for Love"; Johnny Marvin, "True Blue Lou"; Arden & Ohman, "We'll Be the Same"; Paul Whiteman Orchestra, "Love Me"; Fred Rich & His Orchestra, "Nobody But You"; Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, "I Kiss Your Hand Madame"; Amulets, "Resolver"; JVNA, "Athena".

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THE BIRD OF ILL OMEN Catherine Crowe: 2025 Halloween Special Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

Catherine Crowe was a wildly acclaimed Victorian novelist, playwright, social critic and …ghost hunter? Her novels were as popular as Charles Dickens,’ and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Martineau, and George Eliot were her ardent fans. And her pioneering catalog of ghosts and the supernatural, The Night Side of Nature, was one of the first and most influential works to be adopted by the up-and-coming Spiritualist movement. So how did this incredibly talented, incredibly famous woman disappear from our collective memory? The answer involves a few misbehaving spirits, a little bit of nudity, and a whole lot of mean-spirited gossip by one very famous frenemy.

For this year’s Halloween Special, Professor Ruth Heholt helps Olivia resurrect the wildly famous, wildly fascinating, wildly under-appreciated Catherine Crowe.

Selections from Catherine Crowe’s works read for us by Matthew Meikle and Emma Porter.

Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Kevin MacLeod, Doug Maxwell, Myuu, Brian Bolger, Jesse Gallagher, and the Weber State University Choirs and Orchestra.

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