In Episode 34, we’re once more in Muenster as guests of the Burg Hülshoff Centre for Literature, which happens to be named after a Dead Lady poet, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff! This time around, we’ll get introduced to Willa Muir, a prolific translator who brought Kafka into English for the first time. Born on a small Scottish isle, she was eyewitness to some of Europe’s most important moments. She worked in tandem with her husband Edwin, who somehow managed to get all the credit.  

Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire translates Willa’s life and work, and our other co-founder Florian Duijsens joins host & producer Susan Stone to reveal more about forgotten German writers, some translated by Willa Muir. 

We also meet the Leseburger*innen, the reading citizens. This community group of engaged literature and art fans create their own activities and interpretations around the many events and festivals put on by the Burg Hülshoff Center for Literature. 

Images of Willa and links to the Leseburger*innen and info about the Burg Hülshoff Center for Literature and its Droste Festival are on our website here: https://deadladiesshow.com/2020/06/17/podcast-34-willa-muir/

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

*thumbnail image: painting of Willa Muir by Nigel McIsaac, 1944 via National Galleries Scotland

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast

Episode 33 takes us virtually to Muenster as guests of the Burg Hülshoff Centre for Literature, which happens to be named after a Dead Lady poet, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff! However, we’re here to talk about mystery queen Dorothy L. Sayers.  

Dorothy, or DLS, as she preferred to be called, is probably best known for her crime novels featuring posh amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey. But she also gave us an impressive English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, much loved to this day. Something of a child prodigy, she learned Latin at six and studied at Oxford before women were actually awarded degrees. She made an early living in advertising and later wrote essays on both Christian and feminist subjects, including the fabulously titled “Are Women Human?” All this while publishing sixteen detective novels, plus numerous plays and short stories, and leading what might best be called a turbulent private life.

Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens unravels the complicated plot of her life, as other co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host & producer Susan Stone to set the stage. 

We’ll have photos of DLS (the lady) and the DLS (live show) in Muenster at our website: https://deadladiesshow.com/2020/05/13/podcast-33-dorothy-l-sayers/

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast

Episode 32 introduces enthusiastic ghost-buster Rose Mackenberg! Sometimes called “Harry Houdini’s Girl Detective,” Rose was dedicated to debunking psychics who scammed vulnerable and grieving Americans recovering from the tragedies of World War I and the Spanish Flu of 1918. She started out as a stenographer and private investigator, joining forces with famed magician Houdini to crusade against fraud and psychic swindlers. 

Rose is conjured up from the stage at KGB Bar’s Red Room in New York, by presenters Nicole Saraniero and Dana Lewis.

The talk was recorded live by Christopher Neil at a 2019 edition of NYC DLS, and hosted and curated by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, with support from Nicolas Kemper and Lori Schwarz, general manager of the KGB Bar's Red Room, where the event was held.

Please consider supporting our beloved venues in Berlin and New York (which are closed and unable to operate during the Coronavirus crisis) with the links below, or help out your local bar, theatre, or another venue you love.

ACUD: https://www.startnext.com/save-acud-macht-neu

KGB BAR’S RED ROOM: https://fundly.com/literary-landmark-kgb-bar-nyc-aid

Find photos of Rose in her various disguises on our website: https://deadladiesshow.com/2020/04/17/podcast-32-rose-mackenberg/

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

Welcome to Episode 31, released on International Women’s Day 2020. In honor of this day, we meet a woman who was involved in women’s rights, as well as the vote in 1910 at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen in favor of a day honoring working women, to promote equal rights and inspire action.

Alexandra Kollontai was a Marxist revolutionary who became one of the first female diplomats, representing the Soviet Union in Norway and elsewhere from 1922. After the revolution, she founded the “Women’s Department” to improve women’s lives in the new state. Kollontai wrote about marriage and traditional families as oppressive and about sexuality as a natural human instinct, and she lived by these values for many years. 

She left her first husband to study economics in Switzerland, and later took various lovers, mostly younger. A vocal internal critic of the Communist Party, her diplomatic postings were effectively a form of exile to prevent her meddling in politics. When Stalin’s purges began, she lost many of her friends and former lovers, but her son and nephew survived. She was the only leading Bolshevik from revolutionary times to die a natural death, aside of course from Stalin.  DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire tells her story. 

Delightful photos and links can be found here: show notes

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work on our patreon page

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link

Episode 30! Can you believe it? For a little inspiration in these grim political times, podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone chooses a brand spanking new presentation from Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens. 

Our other dear co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins in on the comfy couch to introduce the fabulous Emma Goldman. This anarchist philosopher, activist, and writer was determined, persistent, and sure in her convictions. Which, duly, got her convicted. Often called Red Emma, she’s surely no true role model, but a heck of a lot of fun to learn about. 

Susan and Katy also talk about the inaugural Emma Goldman Awards that just took place in Vienna, and provide some rather poppy musical inspiration. 

Find all relevant photos and links - a veritable Emma Goldman extravaganza - in our show notes:  https://deadladiesshow.com/2020/02/14/podcast-30-emma-goldman/

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast

Episode 29 presents a giant of the Harlem Renaissance: writer, anthropologist and zombie finder Zora Neale Hurston! Zora may be best known for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” but her love of adventure and willingness to re-write her own biography are sure to delight fans old and new. Writer and scholar Fatin Abbas tells Zora’s tale from the stage in ACUD, and Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone to put things in motion. We’ll have photos and links so you can learn more about this African American great at our website: https://deadladiesshow.com/2020/01/15/podcast-28-zora-neale-hurston Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast! **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast

Episode 28 - mal auf Deutsch! Autorin, Aktivistin und Creative Director Mary Scherpe erzählt von der recht exzentrischen Fernsehköchin Fanny Cradock. Dazu, die beiden Gründer*innen der Dead Ladies Show,, Katy Derbyshire und Florian Duijsens, sind dabei mit Produzentin Susan Stone und wir reden ueber Weihnachten- und Silvester-Traditionen. __ Die Dead Ladies Show feiert famose, vergessene und manchmal verrufene Frauen, die Unglaubliches erreichten, obwohl sie es im Leben oft schwer hatten. Die Show wird vor einem wunderbaren Publikum hier in Berlin live aufgenommen, und wir schenken euch im Podcast eine Sonderauswahl der veranstalteten Vorträge. Mehr: deadladiesshow.com/podcast

Episode 28 brings you the delicious delights of pioneering TV chef and all-around extravagant character Fanny Cradock! This English Dead Lady invented her history and sculpted her future out of oysters, champagne, and tiaras.

Fanny could sell out the Albert Hall in London for a crowd who gathered to see her make cooking into entertainment. Her hold-no-bars approach, however, meant her life wasn’t all smooth sailing - her story includes bigamy, exploding yachts, and child abandonment.

Mary Scherpe, the founder of Berlin’s Feminist Food Club and the website Stil in Berlin  brings us the tale of fabulous Fanny.

Dead Ladies Show co-founders Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire join podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone around the kitchen table — where else— to toast Dead Ladies past and future, and to talk about their own favorite holiday treats.

Find photos and video of Fanny Cradock’s most infamous moments on our  website

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work here

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link

On Episode 27, we meet a Dead Lady Lepidopterist! Dead Ladies Show co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Margaret Fountaine, an English explorer and naturalist who collected butterflies and loved love. Her exciting scientific life and world travels were well-known, but her romantic adventures were only revealed when Margaret’s copious diaries were read in 1978, 100 years after she first started them at age 15.

Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone to revel in Margaret’s lovely and at times heart-breaking tale, and to discuss how diaries open doors to the lives of women from the past.

Find photos of Margaret Fountaine and some lovely butterflies and more on our website: deadladiesshow.com/2019/11/14/podcast-27-margaret-fountaine

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast

Episode 26 brings you spooky Dead Lady tales all the way from NYC! First, Claire Carroll introduces us to England’s Doreen Valiente, known as the mother of modern witchcraft. In the UK and beyond, she was key in the spread of modern day Wicca, now a world-wide religion. Doreen also had more than a few secrets under her cape. **SECOND TALK CONTAINS ENTHUSIASTIC SWEARING** Then, it’s time for a live lady taxidermist talking about a Dead Lady taxidermist! Divya Anantharaman of Gotham Taxidermy brings us the story of American naturalist and taxidermy pioneer Martha Maxwell. The talks were recorded live at two separate editions of NYC DLS, which is hosted and curated by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, with support from Nicolas Kemper and Christopher Neil and Lori Schwarz, general manager of the KGB Bar's Red Room, where the event is held. Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins podcast producer & presenter Susan Stone to chat about these spooky wonderful dames and more. Find photos of Ep 26's Dead Ladies and images of very bad taxidermy on our website: https://deadladiesshow.com/2019/10/17/podcast-26-doreen-valiente-martha-maxwell/

Follow us on social media @deadladiesshow and please share, rate, and review the show as it helps others to find our feminist women's history podcast!

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. We now have a Patreon! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast