In Walks a Woman

Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence, which is depicted in the Netflix series. Please make sure this episode is a good fit for you.

In a spoiler-filled review of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's eight-part series MONSTER: THE LIZZIE BORDEN STORY, ax expert Rachel McCarthy James joins us in the studio to discuss how closely the show follows the historical record.

• Were Lizzie and her maid, Bridget, in a sexual relationship?

• Was Lizzie obsessed with doves?

• How similar is the house in the show to the actual Borden house?

• Did Mr. Borden really have a closet full of axes with women's names?

• How did Lizzie clean up a double ax murder in thirty minutes?

• Did she even commit the crime?

  
  

And, perhaps most importantly, we tackle the pressing question of whether cherry trees can bloom and bear ripe cherries at the same time, from April to June.

If you don't plan to watch the show (and no one would think less of you), this is still a great episode for learning the true story of Lizzie Borden from Rachel McCarthy James, author of WHACK JOB: A HISTORY OF AXE MURDER, and for a look at how men tell women's stories. For starters, the series throws in nearly every woman ever linked to murder: Aileen Wuornos, Elizabeth Báthory, and Bertha Manchester all somehow make an appearance.

Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, written by Brennan, and with six of its eight episodes directed by Max Winkler, the series may end up being a revealing window into how men think about women in 2026. Rather than shedding light on Lizzie Borden, it tells us more about what men think they understand about female relationships, psychology, and rage.

Along the way, Sonja does her Beavis and Butt-Head impression, Vanessa asks about imperforate hymens, and Rachel recommends a good "beginner murder weapon."

REFERENCES:

Rachel McCarthy James's 2025 book, WHACK JOB: A HISTORY OF AXE MURDER, is a far more reliable source on Lizzie and all things axe-related. Plus, it's a fascinating read!

We also recommend THE MAN FROM THE TRAIN: THE SOLVING OF A CENTURY-OLD SERIAL KILLER MYSTERY, co-authored by Rachel McCarthy James and her father, baseball statistician Bill James. It's a great read!

If you, too, missed the wild song about vaginas in THE LIZZIE BORDEN STORY, check out Episode 2 and fast-forward to the scene where the rotten oyster soup is made.

Clay Wirestone, award-winning opinion editor at the Kansas Reflector, was so generous to join us in studio for a great interview about his new book, Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now, published by the University Press of Kansas.

In his impressive tour of Kansas journalism from the 1920s to the 1970s, Clay honors some truly remarkable women who helped build and sustain their communities through their writing. Clay shares wonderful details about Mamie Boyd of Mankato, Zula Bennington Greene of Topeka, Donna Burough Opat of Lindsborg, and Lucile Bluford, who edited the Kansas City Call.

We talk about a time when newspapers were truly local, and the people writing them were deeply woven into the lives of their towns. These women wrote about their neighbors, their politics, and their daily lives, and much of that writing has been lost, buried in the archives of small towns, some of which are nearly ghost towns today. Clay's book brings their words back into the light.

Kansas is remarkable for so many reasons, and its legacy of fearless local opinion writing is one of them. As an opinion writer himself, Clay isn't studying the craft from the outside. He explores these columnists with the insight of someone who knows exactly what it takes to put your opinions in print, week after week, for the community you call home.

Content Note: This episode discusses war, physical trauma and injury, PTSD, and suicide, as portrayed in the novel and in the historical record. Please take care while listening, and feel free to skip or pause as needed.

IWAW Welcomes Guest Reader, Carmen Caffey RN:

This episode takes a closer look at Kristin Hannah's #1 bestselling novel THE WOMEN (St. Martin's Press, 2024), the story of Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a young nurse who serves with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War and returns home to a country that isn't ready to see her.

Joining us is guest reader Carmen Caffey, a nurse who specializes in burn trauma care and is also a cancer survivor. Carmen brings a clinician's eye to the novel, weighing in on the medical realities of trauma nursing.  

Sonja rounds out the conversation with historical research into how Vietnam veterans were received upon returning home, the long fight to recognize the women who served as nurses, oral history projects that have preserved their stories, and the progress made over the decades to honor them.

If you've read THE WOMEN, this episode is a chance to get a medical and historical perspective on the events in the novel. 

Thank you for listening. If this episode brought up anything difficult, please reach out to someone you trust, or to a crisis or veterans' support line in your area.

REFERENCES:

Echoes of the War podcast

Myth of the spat-on Vietnam veteran

The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke

• Argues that contrary to popular myth, relations between veterans and antiwar activists were mutually empathetic and supportive for the most part 

  
  

Diane Carlson Evan’s book: Healing Wounds

Diane Carlson Evans: “The memorial was established not only to honor those women who served, but also for the families who lost loved ones in the war, so they would know about the women who provided comfort, care, and a human touch for those who were suffering and dying.” VVMF.org

Remember, if you'd like a chance to be a guest reader and pick a book and visit with us on the show, there is a chance in February 2027. We are proud faculty of Bishop Seabury Academy, and if you get in touch at [email protected], we'll get you set up to bid on the chance. You can do this from literally anywhere in the world! We'd love to have you suggest a new read to us, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on it in 2027--and you'd be supporting a wonderful independent school in Lawrence, Kansas.

You know the story: Eve came from Adam's rib--a variation on a theme. Science has believed some version of that for centuries, treating the female body as simply a lesser version of the male body.

The belief in this story means researchers have long excluded female bodies from studies because hormones make the data "messier”--and besides, the thinking goes, bodies are bodies, regardless of gender.  The result is a massive blind spot in medicine, built on the assumption that male-as-default was good enough.

Turns out it's not that simple. It's not even close.

In this episode, Cat Bohannon, author of  Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Evolution  joins us to explain how the female body evolved as its own ingenious system, not as a variation on the male one. 

Cat is gifted at explaining complicated science in a way that anyone can understand, and she makes a compelling case for embracing research into diverse bodies because it will benefit us all. 

REFERENCES:

Once again, Kate Manne’s  Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny comes up in conversation.

There is also a teen version of Cat Bohannon’s book: Eve (Adapted for Young Adults): How the Female Body Shaped Human Evolution

Here is a link to Cat Bohannon’s appearance on The Daily Show.

In Part 2 of our analysis of John Steinbeck’s EAST OF EDEN, we look at the third and fourth parts of the novel.  Adam Trask makes Cathy his Eve. Sadly for Adam, John Steinbeck openly said he made Cathy "Satan."

And yet, regardless of how things started, was Steinbeck able to sustain Satanic Cathy/Kate for 600 pages?  

Yes…and no.  

If you are wondering how Netflix can build a whole series focusing on Cathy, this is the part of the book that makes it possible, and it's fascinating.

Along the way, Sonja learns how to start a Model T and Vanessa gleefully describes some bloody documents.

REFERENCES:

Here is the trailer/teaser for Netflix's EAST OF EDEN series coming out this fall.

If you are looking for the episode covering the first part of the book, the Spotify link is this: 81. Made in the USA: Steinbeck's EAST OF EDEN It is also available on Apple, Amazon, and Goodpods.

Kate Manne Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny

In this 600+ page, semi-autobiographical epic by John Steinbeck, the Genesis story unfolds a little in Connecticut and a little in the Salinas Valley in California.

Adam (Steinbeck's not subtle) meets a beautiful woman with a complicated but mysterious past...and he instantly makes her into the woman he wants her to be: his Eve.

What could go wrong?

REFERENCES:

Kate Manne Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny

The Kurt Vonnegut story mentioned is “Adam” from his 1968 collection Welcome to the Monkey House

Consider this your back-to-school episode!  Time to shop for lunches and snacks, hoping we can find things that will appeal to our thoroughly picky children.

We know picky eaters exist.  No one denies that, but is it “natural” for kids to be picky eaters?  Is there a biological cause? 

What if the answer is no?

Join us for a fascinating episode with author Helen Zoe Veit, who spent over a decade researching the eating habits of American children.  The results will astound you.  

And no, no one was forcing them to eat a wide variety of foods. American kids, historically, were famous for eating anything and everything and LOVING it.

So how did we get here?  In her new book PICKY: HOW AMERICAN CHILDREN BECAME THE FUSSIEST EATERS IN HISTORY, Helen Zoe Veit has answers.  It’s not just one cause–it’s many factors that have led to daily battles with trying to get kids to eat.  One factor–surprise, surprise–might just be stories that parents have been told.

Even better, Helen Zoe Veit has great advice for parents who’d like to acclimate their kids to foods beyond chicken nuggets and french fries.  

Along the way, Sonja finds a way to mention mushrooms, and Vanessa reminisces about eating entrails.

First, if you have not read Emily Hauser's  PENELOPE'S BONES, remedy that immediately. You've never read anything like it. It is revolutionary.

Why? Because we all grew up with the story of Indiana Jones finding treasures he'd read about in ancient texts and then he'd invariably hustle said treasures back home.

But what if generations of male historians and archaeologists had blind spots?

Did they really look at the evidence, or just for reinforcement of narratives they wanted to believe?

Is there another way? Oh, yes, there is–because in walks a woman, Emily Hauser, who highlights the work of other scholars --including women--and points us to a path that was there all along.

How does the use of DNA analysis transform what we thought we knew? Or the techniques of experimental archaeology?

Also in the interview, Emily shares specific revelations about Homer's women that change how we read THE ODYSSEY.

She discusses "presentism" and why we should worry about it, and yes, she has thoughts about Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY (2026). And since she was invited to the World Premiere in London, you don't want to miss what she has to say!

REFERENCES:

Here is a link to the book that first revealed the hard work of American classicist Alice Kober in deciphering Linear B: Margalit Fox's THE RIDDLE OF THE LABYRINTH: THE QUEST TO CRACK AN ANCIENT CODE

Here is a link to a great BBC Magazine article about Alice Kober and her uncelebrated dedication to decoding Linear B.

Check out Emily Hauser's insightful and balanced review of Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY in The Guardian, 15 July 2026

The book that Dr. Hauser suggests could be Christopher Nolan's main source on the "Sea Peoples" theory is this:  Eric H. Cline's 1177 BC: THE YEAR CIVILIZATION COLLAPSED 

Here is a link to the article Vanessa references about the camera not being unbiased: Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in SCREEN magazine.

And just to be fair, here is a link to the Britannica entry on Michael Ventris, the man who announced on BBC radio in June 1952 that he'd deciphered Linear B. Ventris is not a villain, of course, but you'll notice there is no mention of Alice Kober. Anyone looking up Ventris today in Britannica would think he just started from scratch on this very complicated ancient language system. Kober's erasure continues.

SPOILERS:  Go See the Movie FIRST!!!!

When you see a film based on a book, you get the rare opportunity to peek inside the head of a specific reader, namely the director.  Whatever else, we now know how Christopher Nolan reads Homer’s THE ODYSSEY.

So let’s dig in!

This episode will give you some background:  What are “the sea people”?  Did people in the “Bronze Age” know they were in the Bronze Age?  Did Helen really talk about trade routes during dinners with out-of-town guests?

And the women…we gotta talk about the women.  

We look at the Sirens, Helen, Calypso, Circe, Athena, Melantho, and Penelope, and for each, we tell you how they are described in the poem and what Nolan kept in, took out…and in some cases, just 100% invented.

We’ll also pinpoint some powerful female characters who got tossed overboard and didn’t even make it into the movie.  

Maybe at the end of the day, the movie says more (than anything else) about the wealthy, powerful director who was lucky enough to make his dream version of THE ODYSSEY.  And yet, it gives us an excuse to talk about Homer--again!  We get to talk about odysseys--again!  This whole thing is trending!  How often does that happen???

Along the way, Sonja surprisingly says something complimentary about Emerald Fennell, and Vanessa tries to picture an ad for Viking Cruises on PBS.

REFERENCES:

Treat yourself to this great conversation with the legendary classics scholar, Mary Beard as she offers her wisdom on what was lost in Nolan’s version of the poem.

Emily Hauser’s Guardian Review of Nolan’s film is really insightful, and she’s our next guest on In Walks a Woman where she’ll talk about her book PENELOPE’S BONES and she’ll discuss the movie.

We have several episodes that are about the Odyssey or related to the Odyssey.  Below are links to the episodes on Spotify.  If you’re on another platform, note the episode number, and you should be able to find it pretty easily.

Episode 1. Do Heroes Make Good Husbands?: The Case of Penelope and Two Decades of No Sex 

Episode 2. Penelope in Fact and in Fiction

Episode 3. What Does THE RETURN Get Right, or Wrong About Penelope and Odysseus?

Episode 4. Can Witches Have Odysseys? The Case of Circe in Home and Madeline Miller

Episode 6. Helpers & Monsters: Women Making THE ODYSSEY Possible

Episode 7. The Dark Side of the Hero: Margaret Atwood’s THE PENELOPIAD

Episode 8. Are Older Women Allowed to Have Odysseys? The Case of Janie Crawford in Zora Neale Hurston’s THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

Episode 9. Can a Lowly Governess Have an Odyssey? The Case of Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE

What if women are naturally as intelligent as men, but refusing them an education is the reason men know more?  Seems like a no-brainer…and yet, in the late 1700’s, a woman had to point this out to “enlightened” men. 

That woman was Judith Sargent Murray, and to explain why women were just as intelligent as men, she had to address the Eve story. 

Her essay, “On the Equality of the Sexes,”  is a tour de force argument for women’s education.  Truth be told, it probably illustrates the real reason men didn’t want women to have an education:  they’d end up with a nation of women like Judith Sargent Murray, running intellectual circles around them.

Along the way, Sonja hopes there’s pudding in Heaven, and Vanessa delves into some very scientific rib-distance-from-head intelligence theory. 

REFERENCES

While we are not enough versed on Hebrew to completely evaluate Sargent Murray’s claim about serpent/seraph, even wikipedia suggests that she might be on to something.

Here is a link to the book Sonja mentions: A Terrible Intimacy: Interracial Life in the Slaveholding South by Melvin Patrick Ely. 

When Sonja mentions the use of pseudonyms in newspaper writing, that refers to our episode 70. Take the Rake to Court about the 1783 Sewing Girl Rape Case.

We also reference these two episodes in which we interview Elizabeth Lesser and Sharon McMahon.