Wicked Women: The Podcast Podcast

Wicked Women: The Podcast

Grace Beattie
They were adulterers, murderers, mistresses, religious zealots, thieves, and traitors. They were queens, wives, mothers, young, and old. What binds the women together in this podcast is their legacies. These are women who were known during their lifetimes or reinvented after their deaths as wicked women. The lenses of history are often gendered, damning women for some of the same actions that men have been lauded for. The nuances surrounding the women in this podcast were removed in exchange for a one-sided portrayal. Within Wicked Women: The Podcast, I do not attempt to excuse or condone the wrongs committed by these women, instead, the podcast looks at their overarching story and examines the origin of their negative legacy. Alongside a brief biographical overview of the woman, I will be incorporating interviews I have held with experts on the subject to provide multiple and diverse perspectives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Anne Boleyn
When people think about wicked women, Anne Boleyn is usually one of the first names to come to mind. It seems that every generation has its own version of Anne: Slutty Anne, Religious reformer Anne, Innocent Anne, Manipulative Anne, Sexy Anne, Evil Anne, Educated Anne, Feminist Anne, the list goes on. Thousands of people flock annually to locations Anne once walked (Hampton Court, Hever Castle, The Tower of London) and documentaries, films, and tv series come out regularly devoted to her story. Henry VIII may have tried to eradicate Anne’s memory after her downfall but that only seemed to fan the flames of public fascination with this historical “other woman”. While Henry dreamed of possessing her in the flesh, subsequent generations have become determined to possess her memory. Featured Guests: Natalie Grueninger, the creator of the podcast Talking Tudors, and a lifelong Anne Boleyn fan and Adrienne Dillard, a historian who focuses on overlooked women’s stories and the author of The Raven’s Widow, focusing on Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 12, 2023
1 hr 16 min
The Role of Queenship with Dr. Valerie Schutte
Behind every powerful King has stood a Queen. And some women have filled the role of both King and Queen in their own right. Some quiet, others fiery, some powerful, others left powerless, some revered, others forgotten. What creates the legacy of one Queen but erases another? Listen to this episode as I discuss that question and more with the brilliant historian Dr. Valerie Schutte. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 29, 2023
37 min
Polly Adler
Polly Adler was one of the most well-known Madams in NYC during the 1920s; a ruckus era of speakeasies, brothels, the mob, and sexual expression. Polly rose from a shtetl in the Russian Pale of Settlement to become “The Queen Madam”. Not only was she known to supply girls to wealthy men, but her nightclubs that dotted the city were a favorite haunt for some of the most famous names of 1920s New York. Polly Adler’s profession was not a new one by the 1920s. Brothels, which provide the services of sex workers, have been woven within the fabric of civilization since its inception. The first record of the trade was temple-brothels operating in the region of Canaan in 2400 BCE. For many cities throughout history, an area is dedicated to the sex trade, often known as the Red Light District. It was considered a necessary, albeit shameful, element of any urban society. Polly and her profession are glorified or villainized depending on what you read. She can be depicted as a brilliant businesswoman and an open-minded feminist or as a high-end pimp and a woman betraying her own sex by seducing some of its most vulnerable into the sex trade. In the end, the true Polly Adler might be somewhere in between. Guest Speaker: Debby Applegate, a historian and the author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler Icon of the Jazz Age.Voice of Polly: Sally Bieterman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 19, 2023
1 hr 12 min
Elise Ottesen-Jensen
Planned Parenthood divided and continues to divide American society to this day. But this organization that has become synonymous in the U.S. with birth control and abortion did not begin as an American company but as a global enterprise headed by strong and outspoken women. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (founded in 1953) was the first of its kind and by the 1960’s it was chaired by one of Europe’s leading Women’s Activists, Elise Ottesen-Jensen. But to understand this climactic achievement in Elise’s life, we have to go back to the beginning. Featured Guest: Helen Erwin, an author whose book Sour Milk in Sheeps Wool focuses on Elise’s era of activism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 20, 2023
18 min
Madame Restell
She was known as the “wickedest woman in New York” during her lifetime. A physician adored by her patients but despised by the moralizing populace sweeping mid-19th century America. She defied all social conventions of her era, she rose from an immigrant widowed single mother living on the lower east side to a self-made millionaire outbidding the Catholic Diocese of New York for an empty lot on fifth avenue. She not only provided abortions and birth control to women throughout the country but blatantly advertised her services in New York newspapers. She would have been celebrated for her American spirit if she had been a man. Unapologetically ambitious, a ruthless and savvy business owner, and a resilient survivor. But Madame Restell was not a man, and in addition, she provided services such as abortion and birth control that still divide American society to this day. Instead of going down in the annals of American history alongside men like John D Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and JP Morgan, the name Madame Restell has become synonymous with villainy, greed, murder, and corruption. Featured Guests: Critically acclaimed novelist Kate Manning who is the author of My Notorious Life, a fictional interpretation of Madame Restell’s life and world, and Jennifer Wright, an author and journalist who recently published the highly successful book Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 5, 2023
1 hr 17 min
Madame du Barry
The mistresses of the French kings are some of the most iconic and recognizable. Madame de Pompadour, Agnès Sorel, Madame de Montespan, Madame de Maintenon, Diane de Poitiers. These are just a few of the hundreds of women who came to dominate the French court. In many cases they all shared a similar background; daughters of minor nobility who knew the ways of a royal court and played their parts accordingly. However, in the waning years of the French monarchy, one woman scandalized the French court by coming not from the nobility but from the working class. Jeanne Bécu, later known as Madame du Barry was a self-made woman who achieved wealth and infamy by supposedly rising from a brothel to King Louis XV’s bed. Depicted both during her lifetime and after as a vulgar, social climbing courtesan, Madame du Barry has rarely gotten a fair depiction. However, when truly analyzed, what she was able to achieve by the age of 25 is nothing less than astonishing. Featured Guest: Dr. Christine Adams, a historian, and author that focuses mainly on French family and gender history. Christine is the co-author of the book The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame DuBarry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 6, 2023
37 min
The Role of the Royal Mistress with Dr. Eleanor Janega
It’s the woman everyone loves to hate. The home wrecker, the social climber, the spendthrift, the whore. Mistresses have divided our society (and marriages) for centuries. But the Royal Mistress was a role in and of itself. In the early modern period it was a title as sought after as Duke or Comte. But it also provided a uniquely powerful role for a woman in a royal court, granting them political influence often seen as only belonging to the world of men. Today’s episode is going to be a little different than what I usually do. I am going to be uploading the entire interview that I conducted with historian, Dr. Eleanor Janega. In addition, I am not going to be talking about only a single woman but about a role they have occupied for centuries. Eleanor is a leading expert on the conceptualization of sex and sexuality throughout the medieval and early modern period. We will be discussing the historical role of the royal mistress, misconceptions, and some of the most iconic women to have received the title.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 28, 2023
57 min
Isabeau of Bavaria
Traitorous, wanton, frivolous, obese, foreign, deceitful. These are all terms used to describe Isabeau of Bavaria, a woman at the center of one of the most turbulent eras in French history. She shared the world stage with names like Joan of Arc, Henry V, and Charles VII but her name would not be revered and lionized by later generations. Instead, she would be cast as the ultimate villain in the tale of the struggle for France. She would be blamed for inflaming animosity and divisions within the French Court and driving her husband, King Charles VI, to madness. The information we have about Isabeau is often from years after her lifetime and none cite contemporary sources; leading us to question the validity of her legacy within the popular imagination. In the end, Isabeau’s life provides an opportunity for a much more nuanced legacy. Featured Guest: Dr. Tracy Adams, a medieval historian who focuses on French and English literature alongside feminist theory. She is the author of numerous books, most importantly for this podcast, her seminal work The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria.Special thanks to Kieren Peatling for the new theme music! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 13, 2023
55 min
Marie de Brinvilliers
On a hot humid Parisian July day, the aristocratic Marie, Marquise de Brinvilliers was carted out to the scaffold before a seething crowd. Marie was accused of poisoning over 50 people, including her own father and brothers. The massive crowd on July 17, 1676, had come to witness a common entertainment, an execution. Marie de Brinvilliers has run the gambit of public opinion, from femme fatale to hapless victim to hysterical woman to feminist icon. There may be partial truth in all these, but the real Marie never got to tell her own story, the legacy we have today has come to us through a tortured confession and journalistic flair. Featured Guest: Prof. Benedetta Duramy, a professor of law at California’s Golden Gate University and a participating scholar in the book Women Criminals: An Encyclopedia of People and Issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 13, 2023
24 min
Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna
Elizaveta (Elizabeth) Petrovna was the daughter of Peter the Great and his history-making wife Catherine I, believed to have risen from being a serf to becoming Empress in her own right. Elizabeth was not raised to be ruler, there were plenty of distant male relatives to take on the mantle of Tsar, but as we’ll discuss later in this episode, Elizabeth clawed through heartbreak, tragedy, and abuse to eventually be crowned Empress of Russia. However, her reign, much like the other 16th-century empresses, has been marred by scandal. The glorious and long reign of Catherine the Great has overshadowed that of Elizabeth. In addition, Catherine made sure to steer the narrative of her relationship with Elizabeth, often painting the empress as a heartless and cold manipulator, but she was far more capable and accomplished than she is often given credit for.Featured Guest: Author Ellen Alpsten is best known for her two novels on Elizabeth and her mother Catherine I titled Tsarina and The Tsarina’s Daughter. Note: Keep an eye on this page for some exciting announcements in February!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 21, 2023
38 min
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