Hidden Half Book Review: from the Remedial Herstory Project

Let’s talk about historical narratives of gender and economics! Join us this November as we discuss Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power by Victoria Bateman. Unpack stories of women’s work with Victoria and Katherine as they interrogate Bateman’s core theses, consider whether the Dutch nuclear family invented capitalism, and outline some of the difficulties with making historical economic arguments.

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the Remedial Herstory Project at https://www.remedialherstory.com/giving.html#/
And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Ready to dive headfirst into African history? Join us this October as we discuss When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors by Paula Akpan. Watch bloody (pre-)colonial history unfold with Victoria and Katherine as they admire Apkan’s deft handling of complicated women, become overly invested in Madagascar’s 19th C isolationism, and deepen their understanding of African women’s political power.

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Want all the hottest gossip from 112 BCE? Join us this September as we discuss The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. Read all the latest (ancient) goings-on with Victoria and Katherine as they gloss over all the incest, admire the agency of murderous royals, and question how we handle biased sources in pop history.

Trigger Warning: for discussion of sexual assault and incest.

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Concerned that the 1873 Comstock Act feels too relevant in 2025? Join us this August as we read The Icon & The Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America by Stephanie Gorton. Dive in with Victoria and Katherine as they denounce liberal in-fighting, continue Victoria’s obsession with the 19th C free love movement, and unpack the historical ties between birth control and eugenics…

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Bring on the ballot box! This July we’re reading Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Wont the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All by Martha S. Jones. Like drinking from a firehose, this is an absolute whirlwind of names, dates and politics. Educate yourself with Victoria and Katherine as they marvel at the power of Black women, continue their age-old argument about biographies vs thematic histories, and search for Stacy Abrams’ AO3 account.

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks
And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Happy Pride! This June we’ve read Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line: A Hidden History of Queer Women by Elizabeth Lovatt, part memoir, part history of Lesbian call lines in 1990s London. Dial in with Victoria and Katherine as they call up questions around archival ethics, LGBTQ+ politics, and ask what exactly we’re looking for when we read history.

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks
And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Great man narratives of complicated women this month! This May we read Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene Cooper, so we’re all up to date on the fascinating history of Liberia, its horrifying civil wars, and Johnson Sirleaf’s political rise. Join Victoria and Katherine as they interrogate Liberia’s complex politics, Cooper’s framing of her subject, and the challenges of flawed protagonists in historical biographies.

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook
Buy this book and support independent bookstores at https://bookshop.org/shop/womensgenderhistorybook

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Cry havoc and let slip your love for all things Rome! For April 2025, we’ve read Emma Southon’s A Rome of One’s Own (US), otherwise known as A History of Rome in 21 Women (UK). Join Victoria and Katherine as they delve into Southon’s adept handling of difficult sources, meditate on the beauty of female friendship, and convert biography-lovers to the sweeping drama of grand histories!

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Check out the Hidden Half Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/hiddenhalfbook

We also name checked a few other excellent books and podcasts:

• History is Sexy: https://historyissexy.com/ 

• Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later: https://rustyquill.com/show/cry-havoc/ 

Buy this book and support independent bookstores at https://bookshop.org/shop/womensgenderhistorybook

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

Grab this one for your fiber arts circle! For Women’s History Month 2025 we’re reading the feminist classic Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. Join Victoria and Katherine as they piece together the history of fabric, weigh the merits of various disciples (ethnography, linguistics, archaeology and more!) and consider what Barber still has to contribute to the ongoing project of women’s history.

Donate to the RHP Women in World History textbook open access campaign: https://donorbox.org/publish-the-rhp-textbooks

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project at www.remedialherstory.com

Check out the Women's and Gender History Book Club socials at https://linktr.ee/wghbc

We also name checked a few other excellent books and podcasts:

• The History of English (Kevin Stroud): https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/

• The Children of Ash and Elm (Neil Price): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/298807/the-children-of-ash-and-elm-by-price-neil/9780141984445

• The Fabric of Civilization (Virginia Postrel): https://www.vpostrel.com/the-fabric-of-civilization

Buy this book and support independent bookstores at https://bookshop.org/shop/womensgenderhistorybook 

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook

We’re on the cusp of current events with Leslie Chang’sFactory Girls: Voices from the Heart of Modern China this month. Join Victoria and Katherine as they struggle along with the migrant women that formed the heart of industrial China at the turn of the 20th C, discussing work, family and the purpose of history.

Donate to our partner, the Remedial Herstory Project athttps://www.remedialherstory.com/giving.html#/

And learn more about the Remedial Herstory Project atwww.remedialherstory.com

Check out the Women's and Gender History Book Club socials athttps://linktr.ee/wghbc

Buy the book and support independent bookstores athttps://bookshop.org/shop/womensgenderhistorybook 

Host: Victoria Plutshack and Katherine Coumes

Editor: Tyler Cardwell

Producer: Haley Brook