エピソード

  • The Spindle, the Spinning Wheel, and the Spinning Jenny (ep. 15.4)

    The Spindle, the Spinning Wheel, and the Spinning Jenny (ep. 15.4)
    2025/08/14
    The four biggest natural fibers are wool, cotton, flax, and silk, but none of them naturally come long, continuous, or strong. To make any textile at all, the fibers have to be twisted into thread or yarn by a process called spinning. Historical women all over the world had this as their primary assignment, and it was unbelievably time consuming. Right up until machines could do it better. Then the spinners all lost their jobs. Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my ⁠Patreon page⁠ for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on ⁠Buy Me a Coffee⁠. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join ⁠Into History⁠ for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit ⁠Evergreen Podcasts⁠ to listen to more great shows. Follow me on ⁠Threads⁠ as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 分
  • Doctors, Washed Hands, and Death in Childbirth (ep. 15.3)

    Doctors, Washed Hands, and Death in Childbirth (ep. 15.3)
    2025/07/31
    For centuries, one of the biggest causes of maternal death was puerperal fever or postpartum infection. Doctors proposed many theories and many remedies, but they were totally unprepared to accept the truth: doctors were spreading the infection themselves. And all they needed to do was some solid hand washing between each patient. The feature image is by Rasheedhrasheed, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 分
  • The Bicycle and “Free Untrammeled Womanhood” (ep. 15.2)

    The Bicycle and “Free Untrammeled Womanhood” (ep. 15.2)
    2025/07/24
    Susan B Anthony was in her seventies by the time the bicycle was widely available to women, but she admired it all the same and said “a girl never looks so independent, so much as if she felt as good as a boy, as on her wheel." She was, in Susan’s words, “the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” Anthony meant that quite literally because until the 1890s, most women did not have the freedom to go beyond walking distance of their own homes. The bicycle changed everything. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    25 分
  • Agriculture: Was It a Bad Idea? (ep. 15.1)

    Agriculture: Was It a Bad Idea? (ep. 15.1)
    2025/07/17
    I'm starting this new series on Inventions that Changed Women's Lives at the very beginning—so early that it predates written history. In this episode, I dive into the origins of agriculture and ask the (possibly) surprising question: Was it actually a bad idea? For many women, life as a hunter-gatherer may have been easier, freer, and more equal than what came after. But it's true that sources are sketchy, hindsight is 20/20, and even women in patriarchal societies tend to like things like public infrastructure, writing, monumental architecture, and food surpluses, all of which come after agriculture. Civilization as we know it is a mixed bag. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    27 分
  • July 3, 1776, John Adams to Abigail Adams (bonus episode)

    July 3, 1776, John Adams to Abigail Adams (bonus episode)
    2025/07/03
    The United States is gearing up for the Fourth of July, Independence Day. But in 1776, it was by no means certain that anyone would celebrate this day, or who would celebrate, or which day they would celebrate. John Adams wrote the news of the day to his wife Abigail Adams, and he was very dispirited about Canada. Also, he was dead wrong about which day we would celebrate. I am currently on research break preparing Series 15. Enjoy the bonus episode! Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    12 分
  • The Topic of Series 15 Will Be ...

    The Topic of Series 15 Will Be ...
    2025/06/26
    The polls are closed! In this episode, I'm giving you the results of the Women Podcasters Awards and the topic of my next series to start later in the summer. (Hint, it's all good news!) Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    3 分
  • Coretta Scott King, Wife of Martin Luther King, Jr (ep. 14.21)

    Coretta Scott King, Wife of Martin Luther King, Jr (ep. 14.21)
    2025/06/19
    In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr., gets a holiday partly because he challenged Americans to live up to their own ideals and extend freedom and equality to people of all races. Partly because he delivered this challenge peacefully, with no violence. Partly because he paid for this cause with his life. And partly because he had a great wife, who stood by him. Coretta Scott King was also an activist, also risked danger, also spoke, protested, and lobbied. And America changed. Racism is not dead, sadly, but African Americans have far more opportunities than Coretta had in her youth, in part due to her efforts. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    26 分
  • Jiang Qing, Wife of Chairman Mao (ep. 14.20)

    Jiang Qing, Wife of Chairman Mao (ep. 14.20)
    2025/06/12
    Jiang Qing spent part of her life as an actress, part of it as an almost invisible housewife, part of it as a powerful leader in the Cultural Revolution, and part of it in jail taking the blame for actions that Mao certainly knew about and may have given orders for. Madame Mao is now notorious as the White-Boned Demon, and certainly she deserves some blame. But just how much blame she deserves is very difficult to know from the available sources. It's time to vote for the topic of Series 15! Polls are open until June 19, 2025, on my website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bring the stories of past women into the present. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts, plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    25 分