At the height of the Cold War, Ethel Rosenberg  was the first woman in America to be electrocuted for a crime other than murder, accused of being a Soviet spy, together with her husband Julius. She was thirty seven and the mother of two small boys. 

In her  meticulous biography, British biographer Anne Sebba  separates out Ethel’s story from her husband’s and examines her  difficult family history to paint a nuanced and often very moving portrait of a woman with a strong sense of honour and a steely courage. 

She also tells the story of a previous  quest which yielded every biographer’s dream - a cache of unpublished material whose contents were explosive.

Produced by David Roach for Two Heads Media and Jennifer Macey

Music composed and performed by Amanda Brown and produced by Lilly Pilli 

This podcast is made on Dharrawal country.

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