Violet Trefusis was a famously passionate writerly footnote in the love affair of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West courtesy of the character of Sasha in Woolf’s Orlando, but who exactly was the woman behind the portrait, the woman who famously said, “Across my life only one word will be written: “waste” – waste of life,Continue reading "A Not Shrinking Violet – Ep.25"

Winnaretta Singer funded a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés included Debussy and Ravel, and numerous public health projects in Paris, but she also had outraged husbands yell dueling challenges under her windows when she stole their wives.

Famous and then forgotten in her own time, Edna St. Vincent Millay is well known today, and you’ve probably heard her poetry before, such as: “My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes and oh my friends—It gives a lovely light!” While primarily a poet, she also wrote plays,Continue reading "“American Sappho” – Ep.23"

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven wore dresses of New York City refuse, got arrested for only wearing a Mexican blanket in public, and once waved a giant dildo around in the streets. She brought dada to the US before the better known movement rose in Zurich in 1916. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Baroness Elsa: Gender, Dada,Continue reading "Queen of Dada – Ep.22"

After finally ditching Hemingway and making it through World War II, Martha Gellhorn continued with her career through the Vietnam War and well in the 1990s. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life by Caroline Moorehead Yours, for probably always: Martha Gellhorn’s letters of Love & War (1930-1949) by Janet Somerville Travels withContinue reading "Greatest Female War Correspondent Part Two – Ep.21"

Known as the greatest female war correspondent of the 20th century, Martha Gellhorn’s reporting took her from the Great Depression, through the Spanish Civil War and World War II to the Vietnam War. Along the way, she covered other conflicts, wrote novels, and ended up married to Hemingway, which led to deliberately crashing a carContinue reading "Greatest Female War Correspondent – Ep.20"

When it comes to women named Barney in the world of Paris Lesbos, the focus is usually Natalie Barney. However, her mother and sister had their own adventures and scandals from British explorers to nude statues in DC. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Wild Heart: A Life by Suzanne Rodriguez Alice Pike Barney: Her LifeContinue reading "Behind the Amazon – Ep.19"

Caroline Otero was renowned for dancing and seducing kings as one of the three top courtesans of La Belle Époque France. Her dancing career took her all over Europe and briefly into the opera Carmen. However, she also bet her own ass at the gambling tables of Monte Carlo and lost $25 million. Sources (Used/Consulted/ReadContinue reading "A Real Life Carmen – Ep.18"

Émilienne d’Alençon is what one co-host likes to call the forgotten member of Les Grandes Trois of Belle Époque France. She is also the reason for the rabbits down this rabbit hole. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Émilienne d’Alençon: Vivre d’amour en 1900 by Carole Wrona Trois Grâces de la Belle Époque by Claude DufresneContinue reading "The Rabbit Tamer – Ep.17"

As Pixie calls her, Liane de Pougy’s fairy godmother of courtesanship started in the gutters of Paris and rose to the level of calling on the Emperor of France. Valtesse is even said to be the real life inspiration for Zola’s Nana. Not that she would ever be amused by that. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along theContinue reading "Real Life Nana – Ep. 16"