Womanica

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Architects: Shirley Jackson Mar 06, 2025

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Shirley Jackson (1946-present) is an accomplished American physicist and mathematician who dedicated her career to studying the particles that make up our universe and to improving and supporting the diversity of people studying and dedicating themselves to the sciences.

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This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Architects: Suzette Haden Elgin Mar 05, 2025

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Suzette Haden Elgin (1936-2015) was a writer and linguist who constructed a whole language called Láadan for her beloved Native Tongue series. In the series, women resist their oppressive patriarchal society through a language of their own creation that helps them better express their realities.

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This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Architects: Sara Josephine Baker Mar 04, 2025

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Sara Josephine Baker (1873-1945) was a doctor specializing in public health who revolutionized preventative measures for mothers and infants in the early 20th century. In an era when typhoid, dysentery, and smallpox ravaged New York City’s impoverished tenement populations, she is estimated to have saved the lives of roughly 90,000 children through her work.

For Further Reading:

This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Architects: Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares Mar 03, 2025

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Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares (1910-1967), often remembered simply as Lota, was a Brazilian designer and urban planner. She is best known for transforming Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo Park into a harmonious blend of nature and modernity, crafting one of the world’s largest urban parks.

For Further Reading:

This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renaissance Women: Eulalie Spence Feb 28, 2025

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Eulalie Spence (1894-1981) was a playwright, director, and teacher from the British West Indies. She made a living as a school teacher, a profession she stayed in for 40 years, but truly made a name for herself by winning awards in several theater competitions. As a self-described “folk dramatist,” her plays depict everyday Black life. This led her to gain criticism from contemporaries like W.E.B. Du Bois, whom she was in the famed Krigwa Players with. She authored some fourteen plays, five of which were published, including “Episode,” “Fool's Errand,” “Her,” “The Hunch,” and “Undertow.” Her works continue to be studied and performed today.

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This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

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Renaissance Women: Georgette Seabrooke Feb 27, 2025

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Georgette Seabrooke, also known as Georgette Seabrooke Powell, (1916-2011) was an American muralist, artist, illustrator, art therapist, and community educator. She is best known for her mural Recreation in Harlem at Harlem Hospital, which she made while working for the WPA in 1936. A true lifelong learner, Seabrooke was educated at the Harlem Community Art Center, and studied at the Cooper Union, Fordham University, and Howard University, and many other institutions.

For Further Reading:

This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renaissance Women: Anne Spencer Feb 26, 2025

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Anne Spencer (1882-1975) was a poet, educator, and activist. Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, she advanced local efforts for literacy, access, and civil rights. Her home also became a hub for Black writers and activists traveling to the South.

For Further Reading:

This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renaissance Women: Effie Lee Newsome Feb 25, 2025

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Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979) was a Harlem Renaissance poet and activist. She is most famous for her volume of children’s poetry, Gladiola Garden: Poems of Outdoors and Indoors for Second Grade Readers. As the NAACP got started, Newsome also worked extensively with W.E.B DuBois on TCrisis magazine, writing poetry for the magazine and editing the “Little Page” column. Her writings merged nature with the fight for civil rights, linking natural history and conservation to the problems of segregation.

For Further Reading:

This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renaissance Women: Edna Lewis Thomas Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

Edna Lewis Thomas (1885-1974) was a stage actress during and after the height of the Harlem Renaissance.

For Further Reading:

This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renaissance Women: Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome Feb 21, 2025

Show notes

Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome (1885-1956) was one of the first Black female silent film creators in the 1910s and 20s, most well known for her documentary, Doing Their Bit. She was also a renowned painter, musician, and real estate mogul who ran the Toussaint Conservatory of Art and Music.

For Further Reading:

This Black History Month, we’re talking about Renaissance Women. As part of the famed cultural and artistic Harlem Renaissance movement, these women found beauty in an often ugly world.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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