“...by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” - Eleanor Roosevelt.

In episode 2 of our Ken Burn's style odyssey about Eleanor, Chesnaye covers the roaring 20s. Flappers, teapot dome, tariffs, and of course the lesbians arrive! We got hundred year old political smackdowns coming your way along with some woodworking because what are lesbians without woodworking, right? So sit back, grab a nice hot dog, and get ready to dig into the next phase of Eleanor Roosevelt's life and find out how she helped shape yours today!

Resources & Reading:

Eleanor in the Village: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Search for Freedom and Identity in New York’s

Greenwich Village. By Jan Jarboe Russell

Eleanor Roosevelt, vols 1-3, Blanche Wiesen Cook

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt

https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/timeline/

Ken Burns’ documentary, The Roosevelts

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (Fuck Robert Moses.)

"...the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt. This episode is part one of a series on the life and legacy of a first lady who rose so far above the office that it was never really the same. She is one of C's favorite historical figures and for good reason. Part of the Roosevelt Dynasty, Eleanor grew from oddly humble beginnings to become one of the family's brightest stars, which in a family that includes Teddy "Life of the Party and if not he'll create his own party" Roosevelt and her husband, our longest serving US president, that's really saying something. 

Resources:

Eleanor Roosevelt, vols 1-3, Blanche Wiesen Cook

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s Up to the Women, Eleanor Roosevelt

https://erpapers.columbian.gwu.edu/

The Roosevelts, documentary by Ken Burns

Eleanor, David Michaelis

https://www.history.com/articles/gilded-age-end-reason

Diving back into Arthuriana, C and John explore the power of sorceress supreme Morgan le Fay. She is a figure of stunning and unmatched female agency in the tales of King Arthur. Mother of Yvain, Master of the Green Knight, Guinevere's number 1 hater-in-chief, staunch admirer of Rube Goldberg, and eventually queen of Avalon. Also she should be the patron saint of sibling rivalry. So kick back, grab an apple fritter, and heal with us as we learn no one does it quite like Morgan le Fay.

References

“From The Lady to The Tramp: The Decline of Morgan le Fay in Medieval Romance.” Arthuriana, volume 4, issue 1, 1994, pp 1-18. Maureen Fries

https://theconversation.com/morgan-le-fay-how-arthurian-legend-turned-a-powerful-woman-from-healer-to-villain-109928

Armstrong, Dorsey. Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. University Press of Florida, 2003.

Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies, Lynne McNeill

Scott, Cynthia A. "Creating Her Own Power: "Morte Darthur's" Morgan Le Fay."

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8777&context=etd

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1885&context=leg_etd

Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory 

Erec and Enid; Yvain, the Knight of the Lion; and Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes

The Vulgate Cycle, Anonymous

Vita Merlini; Historia regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, handicraft, strategy, and the patron of Athens. Join C and John on a journey through her complicated origins and lore. From her clouded origins, through the myths of Arachne and Medusa to helping Odysseus on his epic journey, Athena is one of the most storied and iconic goddesses. A patron to heroes and even the sort of mother to one, she guided many Greek heroes on their journeys into myth and legend but that's only one aspect of the goddess. And of course, we've gotta talk about Ovid. 

(Apologies for the poor sound quality this episode. There were some minor recording issues.)

Sources

Hesiod, Theogany

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca

Ovid, Metamorphoses

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey

Martin Nilsson, Die Geschichte der griechischen Religion

Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion

Walter Burkert, Greek Religion

This episode for Women's History Month C takes us on a journey to Baroque era Italy and introduces us to one of the greats: Artemisia Gentileschi. A woman is more than just the stories they tell about her, more than her deeds, but Artemisia certainly lived a life with many great stories. One of the most famous artists of her era but shortly forgotten by history, her amazing tale and incredible artworks have been revived by women dedicated to bringing her epic life and artworks back into the public consciousness and now C is doing her part to present to you, dear listener, a story about a woman we all should know by now. You've seen her painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes, but there is so much to this artist than just the canvases she left behind.

Sources and links to paintings

Garrard, Mary D. (1989). Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/a-fuller-picture-of-artemisia-gentileschi

Cropper, Elizabeth (2020). "Artemisia Gentileschi: La Pittora".

https://dia.org/collection/judith-and-her-maidservant-head-holofernes-45746

https://www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/artemisia-gentileschi/susanna-and-the-elders/

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/15612/

https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103QTA

https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/judith-beheading-holofernes

https://www.caravaggio.org/judith-beheading-holofernes.jsp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_and_the_Elders_(Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Bologna)#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Susanna_and_the_Elders_near_a_Balcony.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene_in_Ecstasy#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Mary_Magdalene_in_Ecstasy.jpg 

This month C takes us on a deep dive into the Roman purification and fertility festival of Lupercalia! An oft misunderstood ritual with deep historical meanings, ties to many other cultures, and some truly fascinating origins. Also she tells us all about her historical crush Mark Antony and about Mark Antony's incredible thighs--thighs that saved Cesar's bacon a couple of times and were so famously nice that they're still remembered, and celebrated, to this day. 

Primary Sources:

Livy—Ab urbe condita

Ovid—Fasti, book two

Plutarch—Life of Romulus

Varro—On the Latin Language

Secondary Sources:

Julius Caesar—William Shakespeare

Agnes Kirsopp Michels—the calendar of the Roman Republic

Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898

Pat Southern—Mark Antony. Stroud: Tempus Publishing

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/FRALUP/home.html

This month, C. and John tackle myths related to women's labor. From crane wives to Victorians to even the humble potato chip, women's labor has been mythologized and largely erased. Rendered invisible by the people who benefit from it being that way. So let's drag that labor into the light.

References and extras

https://medium.com/swlh/speaking-up-the-double-bind-of-womens-voices-in-business-592b0b56732c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pAKtsiyxw

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-women-s-room-marilyn-french/11718465

https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/judith-beheading-holofernes

https://mermaidsofearth.com/mermaid-statues-mermaid-sculptures/public/mikladalur-mermaid-kopakonan/

https://bookshop.org/p/books/women-and-writing-virginia-woolf/6675111

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Concise_Encyclopedia_of_Sociology/Dz4wU64f_JYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA156&printsec

Not all men, some are dead. This month we'll be joining our hosts C. Alexandra and John as they explore stories across mythology, history, and folklore about killing dudes. From the husbands murdered by Aqua Tofana, to the men drowned by the Rusalka and on to Medea (with a couple others thrown in between.) We are going to excise some anger today and talk about what happens when people feel the best option they have is to end their oppression through any means necessary. 

References and other reading - 

Aqua Tofana:
Dangerous Garden by David C Stuart

La Voisin:
The Affair of the Poisons by Anne Somerset

Medea:
Medea by Euripides
Theogony of Hesiod
Herodotus histories

Rome had many, many, MANY controversial leaders. From Cesar himself all the way to little Caligula in his wee boots, Rome is no stranger to odd people at the helm. So when even Romans themselves considered someone the worst, most shocking emperor that should tell you how bad, and ultimately very weird, things are gonna get. This month our heroes C. Alexandra and John Cordial tackle Rome's most controversial emperor and first official twink. Maybe even the first historical twink, that's debatable, but he sounds delightful and horrible and we'd love you to join us for a little history of Elagabalus.

Sources:
Cassius Dio — Roman History

Heriodan — History of the Roman Empire

Historia Augusta

More reading:

Adrian Goldsworthy — How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower

Martijn Icks — The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor

And some fun books on Ancient Roman:

Emma Southon — A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; A Rome of One's Own; Agrippina

Mary Beard — SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

Suetonius — The Twelve Caesars

The History of Rome Podcast

Join C and John on an electrifying Halloween biographical tour of the Mother of Science Fiction, Mary Shelley! From her parents to her rocky and ultimately tragic love life and then right past all that and into who she was and what she wrote. Mary Shelley was more than Frankenstein, so much more than just the inventor of a genre and definitely a lot more than the teenager who lost her virginity in a graveyard. So grab a snack and settle in for a journey through Mary Shelley's life, her art, and ultimately who she was.

Resources and References

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420

To William Godwin - https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=tor#:

Mellor, Anne K. Mary Shelley: Her Life, her Fiction, Her Monsters. London: Routledge, 1990 - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/#PolPhil

Franklin, Caroline. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Literary Life. Springer, 2004. - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/61

Valperga by Mary Shelley - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63337