On a day like any other in 1896, Shaaw Tláa was washing dishes in a Yukon creek. But something shiny caught her eye... and the Klondike Gold Rush began. It's an insane chapter of world history: 100,000 ill-prepared dreamers from all over the world trekked into the subarctic. But what would become of the indigenous woman who started it all? Shaaw Tláa, known to the world as Kate Carmack, was suddenly one the richest people in the world, and she was married to a man called Lying George...

Join Katie on location at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park for this larger-than-life story of gold, greed, and destiny.

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Want to lean more about Shaaw Tlaa? We've got you covered:

Music featured in this episode: "Gold Rush" and "Five Card Shuffle" by Kevin MacLeod; "Roundup in the Prairie" by Aaron Kenny; "A Ghost Town" by Quincas Moreira; "Over the Mountain" and "Inconsciousness" by Mini Vandals; "The Quiet Aftermath" by Sir Cubworth; "Horses and Trains" by Jesse Gallagher; historical recordings of the US Marine Band; "Honky Tonkin'" by Doug Maxwell; "Through and Through" by Amulets.

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Uno Chiyo rose to fame in 20th century Japan as a writer, designer, domestic goddess, and fashion icon - mostly by marketing herself as just a scandalous woman. But this "Bad Girl of Good Housekeeping" was so much more than just a writer of sexy stories. Guest Rebecca Copeland helps us uncover the secrets of this enigmatic, fascinating woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Hirano Aiko, JackJack9, Zac Zinger, Doug Maxwell, the Mini Vandals, Bounce Bay Records, and Kumi.

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To snowy Ontario, Canada for our 2026 Christmas Special!

Living out the dream of countless exhausted women, Laura Lee Davidson retreated to an island in the middle of a lake, and lived there alone through a long Canadian winter.

But she wasn't really alone. Wild creatures became her friends, and she was constantly the recipient of neighborly kindness from folks on the mainland.

Laura Lee's 1922 book about her winter on the island is now considered a classic of Canadian literature, and a vivid portrait of time gone by.

Katie reads some of her favorite excerpts from the book, and we all tag along with Laura Lee Davidson, retreating into a remote winter solitude, and marveling at the wonders of nature.

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Find Laura Lee Davidson's A Winter of Content HERE, or read a digital copy HERE. The What'sHerName SHOP is open, and check out our TOURS to join us on our next women's history adventure!

Music in this episode:

Deck the Halls, Air Prelude, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and Angels We Have Heard on High by Kevin MacLeod; The First Noel by Quincas Moreira; I Saw Three Ships by Audionautix; The Friendly Beasts by Marc Nelson; Unrequited by Asher Fulero; In the Bleak Midwinter by The Whalens; Growing Up by Nate Blaze; Auld Lang Syne by DJ Williams; The Anunnaki Return by Jesse Gallagher; When We Found the Horizon by Late Night Feeler.

With additional sounds from freesound.org including "St Marys River Dawn Chorus" and "Midnight Nature On The St. Marys River" by Ambient-X; and "Canadian loons" by Chance Media.

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At the recent Voices of Women Festival, we invited folks to pop into our ad-hoc recording box to record the 60-second story of their favorite historical woman. The results are a delight - and include some cast and crew members from Broadway's SUFFS! 

The Voices of Women Festival was held in Salt Lake City, UT, in tandem with Broadway's SUFFS on tour. Thanks to Victor Hamburger and the Utah Women's History Initiative for making this happen!

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The What'sHerName SHOP is open! Also check out our TOURS to join us on upcoming women's history adventures.

Music in this episode: "Please" by Wayne Jones; "Yoga Style" and "Western Spaghetti" by Chris Haugen; "Cowboy Sting" by Kevin MacLeod; "Lao Tzu Erhu" by Doug Maxwell.

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Queen Mother Audley Moore was one of the most respected, most influential, longest-lasting influences on the US Black Nationalist movement, the Pan-African movement, the movement for Reparations, and the Black American organizing community in general across almost the entire 20th century.

So why have most of us never even heard her name?

Returning guest Ashley Farmer introduces Olivia to the incredible, unexpected force that was Queen Mother Audley Moore.

Music featured in this episode provided by Daniel Henderson and his Big Band, The New Hot 5, Cynthia Meng and Kim Onah, TrackTribe, Kevin Macleod, and Emmit Fenn.

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In 1917, Katharine Gibbs rebounded from personal tragedy in an unusual way: she decided to train a subversive, feminist army. Nearly broke and with just a high school education, Gibbs trained women as executive secretaries, building a famous school in just a few years.

"Gibbs Girls" were so intelligent, competent, and polite, that no one could justify the dusty old notions that women belonged at home. The American workplace was changed forever.

Our guest is Vanda Krefft, author of Expect Great Things! How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women.

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Check out our upcoming TOURS: witness women's history with What'sHerName and find your people!

Music in this episode: Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, "If I Had You" and "All By Yourself in the Moonlight"; Nat Shikret & The Victor Orchestra, "The Things That Were Made for Love"; Johnny Marvin, "True Blue Lou"; Arden & Ohman, "We'll Be the Same"; Paul Whiteman Orchestra, "Love Me"; Fred Rich & His Orchestra, "Nobody But You"; Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, "I Kiss Your Hand Madame"; Amulets, "Resolver"; JVNA, "Athena".

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Catherine Crowe was a wildly acclaimed Victorian novelist,

For this year’s Halloween Special, Professor Ruth Heholt helps Olivia resurrect the wildly famous, wildly fascinating, wildly under-appreciated Catherine Crowe.

Selections from Catherine Crowe’s works read for us by Matthew Meikle and Emma Porter.

Music featured in this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Kevin MacLeod, Doug Maxwell, Myuu, Brian Bolger, Jesse Gallagher, and the Weber State University Choirs and Orchestra.

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When a history-making Copper Age burial was unearthed in southern Spain in 2008, the world was stunned by the incredibly beautiful - and utterly unprecedented - artifacts found in the tomb of the so-called 'Ivory Man.' But fifteen years later, the archaeology world would be rocked by an even more astonishing discovery - that 5,000-year-old Ivory Man was actually an Ivory Lady! Archaeologist Marta Cintas Peña helps Olivia dig into this remarkable 'prehistorical mystery.'

Music featured in this episode provided by: Doug Maxwell, Emmet Fenn, I Think I Can Help You, Chris Haugen and the Mini Vandals

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Violeta Parra needs no introduction in Latin America: not only did she record the greatest album in Chilean history, she also collected two thousand folk songs, danced in the Poor Circus, sang in the streets, and --incredibly-- exhibited at the Louvre. Over the years she also broke ...*checks notes*... 48 guitars over people's heads.

Discover the larger than life story of Violeta Parra with our guest Ericka Verba, author of Thanks to Life, A Biography of Violeta Parra.

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Travel with us! What'sHerName TOURS are open for registration. Or check out the What'sHerName SHOP! Every bit helps us make more episodes.

Music featured in this episode:

Violeta Parra recorded by Alan Lomax in 1953 in the Lomax Digital Archive; Puerto Montt is Trembling, and Gracias a la Vida by Violeta Parra; Las Hermanas Parra recored for RCA Victor in 1952; Corazon Maldito and El Guilatun by Desborde; Pink Flamenco by Doug Maxwell; Sus Remedios by Casa Rosa; Cha Cha Chango by Quincas Moreira; Despair and Triumph by Kevin MacLeod; Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher.

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Leonora Sansay lived through the last chaotic years of the Haitian Revolution - but the book she wrote about it would tell an entirely unexpected story.

Join returning guest Dr. Maria Windell as we explore the fascinatingly "messy-complicated" life of novelist Leonora Sansay - and uncover a fascinating link with "almost-Founding Father" (and 21st century Broadway icon) ...Vice President Aaron Burr?

Music featured in this episode provided by The Global Jukebox, the US Marine Band, Aaron Kenny, and Kevin MacLeod.

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