What'sHerName

[audio updated afternoon of 6/01] Marooned on a frigid island in 1641, a young French woman single-handedly fought off polar bears, starvation, and loneliness, buried her lover, her maidservant, and her newborn child, and spent almost two full years completely alone -- except, of course, for the 100,000 demons whose screams were her nightly companions. That she lived through it all is a miracle - and a mystery: How did Marguerite de La Rocque survive the infamous "Isle of Demons" - and how much of this enigmatic tale can we ever actually know?

Olivia interviews Allegra Goodman, author of the award-winning historical novel Isola.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of her 87 years, self-taught British entomologist Evelyn Cheesman went on eight solo insect-collecting expeditions across the South Pacific, collected almost 100,000 specimens, identified dozens (possibly hundreds!) of previously unknown species, and used her specialized knowledge of Oceania to save countless lives during WWII.

Meet the indomitable genius who persevered against unimaginable odds to build herself the life she wanted - no matter what stood in her way.

Our guest is Sarah Lonsdale, author of the book Wildly Different.

Music for this episode provided by: Emily Sprague, Jesse Gallagher, The Tides, Quincas Moreira, Kevin MacLeod, Brian Bolger, Asher Fulero, Myuu, Aaron Kenny, Geographer, and Nexus.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For 61 years, Ou Shee Eng's tiny apartment in Seattle's Chinatown was the heart of a community of women. Possessing the rare ability to read and write Chinese, Ou Shee was the reader and scribe of everyone's letters. What was happening in China while this circle of women lived quietly in America, and why did they never speak of it?

Join Katie on location at the Wing-Luke Museum in Seattle, with guest Elana Eng Lim to contemplate belonging, kindness, and taking family secrets to the grave.

____________________

Join us on our next women's history adventure! TOURS OPEN NOW

Read Elana Lim's poignant essay My Grandmother's Hand HERE.

Music in this episode: "Lau Tzu Erhu" by Doug Maxwell; The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto; "Under the Moon" by Annette Hanshaw; "Spirit of Fire" and "The Sleeping Prophet" by Jesse Gallagher; "Popularity March" by Victor Band 1923 at the Library of Congress; "Long Road Ahead" by Kevin MacLeod; "Please" by Wayne Jones." FDR's Pearl Harbor speech in the public domain.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

________________

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices