People Hidden In History

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George S. Boutwell played an important role across key moments of American history - including the Civil War, the Reconstruction period and later in his career - the Anti-Imperialist movement. You will hear the fascinating arc of his life - from humble beginnings in a Massachusetts farming family, to Governor of that that state, and then onto roles as a cabinet appointee through multiple presidents including Lincoln and Grant.

I was delighted to interview Jeffrey Boutwell, who is a writer, historian, and science policy specialist living in Columbia, Maryland. He came to write the biography of Boutwell, a distant relative, after a 40-year career in journalism, government and international scientific research organizations. He has written and spoken widely on issues ranging from nuclear weapons arms control to Middle East peace to environmental degradation and conflict.

Links of interest:

1. Book - Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy (link here)
2. Jeffrey Boutwell Website (link here) or www.jeffreyboutwell.com
3. Museum of American Finance (link here)

There are other historically related episodes in this series as follows:

1. Teddy Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge - A Valuable Friendship.
2. General Lew Wallace - Key Historical Figure of the 19th Century, Author and Civil War General

My website link is here or www.kathleenlangone.com. The biography, The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, is available at all major book outlets such Barnes and Noble, Amazon with links to all outlets at the website. Feel free to connect with me using the Contact page at that website.

Social Media:

Facebook: Kathleen Langone Author (link here)

Instagram: @phihpod (link here)

Substack: @kathleenlangone and title: Gilded Age History (link here)

Bluesky: @phihpod.bsky.social (link here)

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This is a fun episode discussing the soon to be published book by Lucy Jane Santos: Nobody’s Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot - obviously referring to the famous Marilyn Monroe movie which debuted in 1959. In my interview with Lucy we will highlight aspects of Monroe that aren’t well known - like her role in influencing the script of the movie and overall that she took her acting roles quite seriously. We’ll also highlight the actors - Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. And last but not least we'll talk about the director Billy Wilder. This book will also coincide with the global celebrations of Monroe’s centenary.

Lucy Jane Santos has many talents and is a writer, presenter and consultant who has sought out many surprising stories that sit at the edges of familiar history. Her publications range across beauty, science, technology and popular entertainment. Her past publications include: Half LIves: The Unlikely History of Radium and also Chain Reactions: A Hopeful history of Uranium. 

Link to pre-order the book is here (or at Amazon). Her website is www.lucyjanesantos.com or at this link.

My biography, The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, has just won a Bronze award from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book is available at all major outlets such Barnes and Noble, Amazon and links to all outlets are at my website. It is available in both hardcover and as an eBook. Feel free to connect with me using the Contact page at that website.

My website link is here or www.kathleenlangone.com.

Social Media:

Facebook: Kathleen Langone Author

Instagram: @phihpod

Substack: @kathleenlangone and title: Gilded Age History

Bluesky: @phihpod.bsky.social

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The 2025 movie, Nuremberg, based on the book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, was written by author Jack El-Hai. The psychiatrist being Dr. Douglas Kelley, who at the time was a Lt. Colonel in the Army and assigned to assess the Nazi leadership imprisoned at Nuremberg - most importantly being Reichmarshall Hermann Göring. This episode is an in-depth interview with El-Hai covering the interwoven topics of: his writing and research for the book, who Dr. Kelley was as a person and the "translation" of this book into the movie. You will find this interview was both revealing and engaging.

Jack's website (listing his publications and including all upcoming speaking engagements) can be found at this link or www.el-hai.com.

My website link is here or www.kathleenlangone.com. The biography, The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, is available at all major book outlets such Barnes and Noble, Amazon with links to all outlets at the website. Feel free to connect with me using the Contact page at that website.

Social Media:

Facebook: Kathleen Langone Author

Instagram: @phihpod

Substack: @kathleenlangone and title: Gilded Age History

Bluesky: @phihpod.bsky.social

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This episode will cover a fascinating and little known period in the art history of Paris as told in the book titled: "The Club - Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris". I will interview Jennifer Dasal, author of the book, who will share fascinating highlights. You will learn about what was essentially a boarding house in Paris that supported a generation of independent American women artists as early as 1893 for a number of decades. These women were a broad mixture of artists - in all fields of artistic talents - painters, sculptors, etc. The "Club" allowed them the opportunity to interact with other famous and established artists like Mary Cassatt and Auguste Rodin. 

I was interested in "The Club", since my book, the biography of miniature portrait artist, Amalia Kussner - covered a similar time period. And there was indeed some interesting overlap in content between the two books - such as with sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Note: Some of the works of the impressive sculptor, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, who is discussed in this episode, can be seen at the Danforth Museum, in Framingham, MA.

Jennifer's Website link is here or www.jenniferdasal.com. If you are interested in ordering her book - you can use this link from her website.

My website link is here or www.kathleenlangone.com. The biography, The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, is available at all major book outlets such Barnes and Noble, Amazon with links at the website. Feel free to connect with me using the Contact page at that website.

Social Media:

Facebook: Kathleen Langone Author

Instagram: @phihpod

Substack: @kathleenlangone and title: Gilded Age History

Bluesky: @phihpod.bsky.social

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Dear LIsteners,

I am providing some exciting news about three upcoming episodes that will all be available by the end of May (update: Episodes available now!).

1) Talking with author Jennifer Dasal about her recently published book - The Club - which details the "hidden history" of a women's art club that provided lodging and support for women artists coming to Paris from America during the Belle Epoque period. This "club" allowed them career opportunities and an ability to challenge the "male-dominiated" art world. 

2) A fascinating discussion with author, Jack El-Hai, who wrote The Nazi and the Psychiatrist. This book was an indepth study of army psychiatrist, Dr. Douglas Kelley and his numerous interviews with Hermann Göring leading up to the Nuremberg trials. This book was also the basis of the movie, Nuremberg from 2025. 

3) This episode will detail the "behind the scenes" life of Marilyn Monroe, during the filming of Some Like it Hot. Author Lucy Jane Santos will share some of the "hidden in history" aspects of the film and some recent found materials about Marilyn Monroe. 

Also a reminder that this series now has 34 full length episodes and has almost 10,000 downloads! Please do review all of them - that cover four centuries of "hidden history" and fascinating people.

And finally - please do checkout my book, The Miniature Painter Revealed, the biography of Gilded Age artist, Amalia Kussner. Details can be found at my website, link here, or www.kathleenlangone.com.

Enjoy!!

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This episode recommended for those 16 and older. 

This episode covers the brave relationship between Margarete and Milena, when imprisoned in the Ravensbrück concentration camp during WW2 and how those in same-sex relationships were viewed in Germany. The author of their story, Gwen Strauss, also shares details about the only all-women concentration camp and the worsening conditions with time. 

Gwen Strauss is a New York Times bestselling author and poet, whose titles include Trail of Stones, The Night Shimmy, Ruth and the Green Book, The Hiding Game, and The Nine, a work of historical non-fiction, released in 2021 and sold to seventeen countries, as well as being under option for a TV series. This episode we'll discuss her most recent historical non-fiction, Milena and Margarete, A Love Story in Ravensbrück, which Publisher’s Weekly described as “a propulsive recounting of a powerful love.” Strauss lives in Southern France and works as the Executive Director of the Dora Maar House, an artist residency program and cultural center. 

Ms. Strauss's website: link here or www.gwenstrauss.com.

Book link: Link at MacMillan.

As mentioned this podcast series has two other episodes that detail the importance and "power" of the arts in the WW2 concentration camps. Those episodes are:

1) The Women of Terezin, Jan 2024 and 2) Viktor Ullman: Music and a Will to Live During the Holocaust, Aug 2022. 

I am also pleased to announce my podcasts about Amalia Kussner resulted in her biography titled: The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Pursuit of Fame and Fortune. See my website, for online links to purchase (www.kathleenlangone.com).

Kathleen's social media: Instagram/Threads: @phihpod, Facebook: Kathleen Langone Author.

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In this episode we’ll go back to the middle of the 20th century and learn about one of the most iconic children’s programs - Howdy Doody. We’ll hear that history from Ron Current - who grew up watching Howdy Doody and has truly become an expert on all aspects of that show. You’ll hear how the show was started and fun anecdotes. Ron has his own online history blog and that link and some others related to this children’s how are in this show write-up below. 

Note that I have published a book this year - its a biography of a fascinating Gilded Age artist - Amalia Kussner. There are two podcasts on Kussner in this series (Jan 2022 and Apr 2020). See below a link for my book website.

Ron’s blog about Howdy Doody (in 12 parts).

Note: His blog is called: Still Current is available through Wordpress.com at this link or this address: stillcurrent.blog, and covers a number of history topics. 

Other Links related to Howdy Doody:

Facebook Page: The Doodyville Historical Society

YouTube: Howdy Doody offered through Mill Creek Entertainment. 

Kathleen's website and information on her book (or www.kathleenlangone.com).

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Dear Listeners,  I have just published a Gilded Age biography of Amalia Kussner titled: The Miniature Painter Revealed - Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Forutne.  Kussner was the famed miniature portrait artist during the 1890's through the 1900's. The start of this book - was in part the two podcasts that I published in April of 2020 and January of 2022, which you can find in this podcast series. 

This book covers her whole life, from simple beginnings being born in Indiana, then on to her meteoric career in New York City, and then onto Europe, to paint Royalty and many titled women. The book not only details her life but the many fascinating people she painted - such as Edward VII and the Czar and Czarina of Russia. The biography contains more than 70 illustrations - with many images of her artwork and photographs of her family and husband. The book website is:

www.kathleenlangone.com or at this link. 

Please check your local bookstore or order online at these sites:

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Bookshop.org  (supporting local bookstores)
• Indiana Historical Society 

There is now also a separate podcast called - Searching for Amalia, which will detail more about her life and some of the mysteries, such as the details of the 1901 lawsuit against her and the locations of her many missing miniature paintings. This podcast series is available on all major platforms, just like People Hidden in History. The Apple link is here; the Spotify link is here. 

Feel free to get in touch with me with any  questions using the contact page at my website. My social media is:

Threads (@phihpod), Instagram (@phihpod), or Facebook ( Kathleen Langone Author). My website: www.kathleenlangone.com (link here). 

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This is an interview with author Elizabeth DeWolfe, who tells the fascinating story of two women "hidden in history" from the Gilded Age. Her recent book, Alias Agnes - The Notorious Tales of a Gilded Age Spy, brings to light a woman, Madeleine Pollard, who was promised a better life from a Kentucky congressman, and continued an affair with him for a number of years. The congressman eventually married someone else, and Madeline decided to bring him to trial, frankly with solid evidence that he had promised to marry her. The defense team for the congressman, came up with the clever idea to hire another woman - to become a friend of Madeleine's with an assumed alias, essentially to "spy" on her. This interview will definitely "whet your whistle" to learn more and read the full story of the outcome of this trial and eventually the lives of two women, navigating the sometimes difficult society of the 1890's. 

Elizabeth DeWolfe is professor of history at the University of New England (Biddeford, Maine) and the award-winning author of The Murder of Mary Bean, and, Shaking the Faith. Her most recent work is Alias Agnes: The Notorious Tale of a Gilded Age Spy. Her website is:

www.elizabeth.dewolfe.com or (link here). 

Her book is available at number of online venues or please check your local bookstore:

• University Press of Kentucky
• DeWolfe and Wood
• Bookshop
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

I too just published a Gilded Age biogrhapy - The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner's Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune. It can be purchased either at your local bookstore or online at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, or the Indiana Historical Society. 

There is a new podcast series, exclusively about her life and the many unsolved mysteries, Searching for Amalia - link here. It can also be found on Apple, Spotify and most other podcast platforms (just look up "Searching for Amalia").

My social media: Threads (@phihpod), Instagram (@phihpod), or Facebook ( Kathleen Langone Author). My website: www.kathleenlangone.com (link here). 

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An episode of a “different nature” for your listening pleasure - People Hidden in History was part of an episode swap with the impressive series - History Daily and I am sharing their episode titled “The Return of Lewis and Clark” discussing the journey in 1806.

It was narrated by Lindsay Graham - a host from the History Daily series. They in turn shared my episode about a Navy nurse in WW2 - a complete narrative of her wartime experiences and her return to civilian life. The link is here and was aired Saturday, May 24th, 2025.

The History Daily website is www.historydaily.com and at this link. 

Also informing my listeners - that my book, The Miniature Painter Revealed - Amalia Kussner’s Pursuit of Fame and Fortune - is officially published and please check out details at my author website - www.kathleenlangone.com or at this link. 

Please connect with me through my various social media outlets:

Instagram/Threads: @phihpod, BlueSky: @phihpod.bsky.social.