Famous for his dead-pan comedy style, Buster Keaton was one the kings of slapstick comedy. But behind his success hid battles with production studios, his wife, and his addiction. In today’s episode, we’re reading Keaton’s memoir “My Wonderful World of Slapstick”. 

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There is so much myth and speculation around who Marie Antoinette was as a person, that it’s really helpful to have historical texts from the era – like today’s “Memoirs of Madame Campan” - of people that really knew her. But how reliable are her observations? 

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Probably the farthest we’ve ever gone in our podcast time machine – today we’re in ancient Rome, in a crowd of very upset women, as described by Livy in “History of Rome”. 

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A feminist – bordering on misandrist – text from 1592? Written by a woman? Count me in! In today’s episode, we’re reading Moderata Fonte’s “The Merits of Women”, translated and edited by Virginia Cox. 

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While owning cats as pets goes back to antiquity and beyond, the existence of self-proclaimed “cat people” is a result of the popularization of the hobby in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today we’re reading Francis Simpson’s “Cats and All About Them” from 1902 to see what Edwardian cat ownership looked like. 

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In today’s episode we’re reading a rulebook on how to be an absolutely insufferable Victorian f*ckboy, by none other than the courtesan and dancer Lola Montez. Her “The Art of Fascinating” from 1858 should be a guide to anyone setting up a Tinder profile. 

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Not all women involved with the feminist movement were necessarily radical. Today we’re reading “Woman’s Thoughts on Women” by Dinah Craik, a British writer with an unusual life story, and discovering her views on female work, female friendships, and old women’s clothes. 

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Ever wondered what decisions were behind Victorian home decorating? No? Well now you are! “Handbook of Housekeeping on a Small Income” from 1897 guides the reader through comfortably arranging your own house while keeping things (relatively) budget friendly. 

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We all know about Victorian obsession with ankles. But they didn’t just leave things to take their own course – as documented in this 1858 manual by Lola Montez on keeping your ankles (and other body parts) fresh and sexy. 

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In the modern dating climate, we sometimes wish relationships came with a manual. In the 1920s, ladies could use one, written by the author of the previous episode’s “A Woman You Should Not Marry”. How does it compare? Is Reinhold Gerling, to quote Mr Darcy, equally “severe upon his own sex”? 

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