Listen to learn why in many cultures a groom must pay a brideprice to the bride's family, why in many others the bride's family must pay a dowry to the groom, why in many modern societies we don't do either, and why in some modern cultures dowry prices just keep going up.

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In this episode, I discuss how women used (and didn't use) credit in Mesopotamia, Rome, medieval Europe, 20th century USA, and finally into the microfinance world of southeast Asia and South America.

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GDP is a mysterious number on which politicians soar or sink, businesses thrive or tumble, and folks like you and me pay our bills or go bankrupt. Despite being considerably more important than the rules of football or the relationship status of your favorite celebrity, most of us know very little about its history. This episode explains how it came to be, how a whole lot of women's work got left out for multiple reasons, and some of the objections to our obsession with the GDP.

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 Unless you live in the British Commonwealth, the bills and coins in your wallet are far more likely to be looking at men than you are at women. But it hasn't always been like this. This episode is a brief history of women featured on the currency.

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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 Like it or loathe it, we live in a world dominated by money. In the coming weeks I'll take a look at how women have fared under that system. I will talk about women and credit, women and the GDP, women and marital property, women and taxation without representation, and women in high finance. But this episode covers how we got to this state in the first place, starting with ancient Sumeria, the switch to precious metals, and just how baffling some other cultures found the whole money concept.

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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This episode is a retrospective look at Cleopatra, Wu Zetian, Elizabeth I of Russia, Catherine the Great, and Ranavalona. I discuss a three-step strategy that all of them used to get to power. Along the way, we hear about Musa of Parthia who also seized control, and Jeanne II of Navarre, who didn't. This wraps up the series Women Who Seized Power.

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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Life: 1787 to 1861

Reign: 1828 to 1861

Extremely Brief Summary: Ranavalona was born an insignificant member of a low-status tribe. She married into the royal family and as a widow ousted her husband’s successor. She ruled Madagascar for 33 years with bloody, brutal efficiency. She successfully kept her country independent during a time of rampant European imperialism.

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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Catherine got to power by overthrowing her husband. She ruled Russia as an Enlightened despot. She held many high principles but had mixed results on putting them into practice. Her main legacy to Russia was that she transformed it from a relative backwater to a major player on the European stage.

Life: 1729 to 1796

Reign: 1762 to 1796

One of many quotes: “What I despair of overthrowing, I undermine.”

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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Life: 1709 to 1761 

Reign: 1741 to 1761

Memorable Moment: As empress, Elizabeth held a ball every Tuesday night. The catch was the men had to dress like women and the women had to dress like the men. Oh, for a time machine and a camera!

Extremely Brief Summary: Elizabeth seized power in a bloodless coup that she seems to have done only reluctantly. She loved parties, dresses, and horses, and her main legacy to her country was putting Catherine in position to become the fifth female ruler of Russia in under a century.

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Empress Wu shattered the glass ceiling in her rise from low level wife to de facto ruler to Divine Ruler in her own right. Sources on Wu give vastly different accounts of her, ranging from proud, capable feminist to seriously evil dictator. Either way she dominated for more than fifty years and became the only female emperor in 4,000 years of Chinese history.

Visit the ⁠website⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

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