Her Half of History

Jan 29 2025 163 ep. 24 mins 314

Her Half of History Podcast artwork

Why don't women's clothes have more pockets? Who are the female writers and artists my education forgot to include? How does a woman go about seizing control of her government? What was it like to be a female slave and how did the lucky ones escape? When did women get to put their own name on their credit cards? Is the life of a female spy as glamorous as Hollywood has led me to believe?

In short, what were the women doing all that time? I explore these and other questions in this thematic approach to women's history.

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14.6 Jane, Anne, Catherine, and Catherine: The Last Four Wives of Henry VIII

Jan 29 2025 21 mins

Henry VIII was married to his first wife for 23 years. It took him only 15 years to blow through the next five wives. I covered the first two wives in episode 14.5. In this episode, I cover: Wife #3: Jane Seymour, who died of childbirth after providing Henry with his heir Wife #4: Anne of Cleves, who Henry called "loathsome" and was richly rewarded for going quietly Wife #5: Cat

14.5 Catherine and Anne: The First Two Wives of Henry VIII

Jan 23 2025 25 mins

If Henry had stopped at two wives, my guess is that your average person wouldn't know any more about him than they do about Henrys #1-7. But he did have six wives, and that made him so famous that people write award-winning musicals about him. Or rather about his wives. He is the connecting thread, but they are the story. This episode tells the stories of the amazing Catherine of

14.4 Isabella I, Sponsor of Columbus

Jan 15 2025 27 mins

Isabella was a force of natura before Columbus ever set foot in her court. As a teenager, she negotiated her own marriage contract, married behind her guardian's back, and seized the throne of Castile with questionable legitimacy. As queen and in partnership with her husband, she defeated first Portugal and then Granada. At a time when all of Christianity felt threated by the var

14.3 The Daughters of Genghis Khan

Jan 01 2025 18 mins

Genghis Khan's daughters are shadowy figures: we don't know exactly how many there were or what all of their names were, but historians have pieced together bits and pieces of a story. Enough to know that Genghis valued his daughters highly and they played an essential role in his strategy. An army-on-the-move needs someone to rule the lands they've already conquered, and the Great

14.2 Olympias, Mother of Alexander the Great

Dec 25 2024 25 mins

Alexander the Great conquered much of the known-to-him world in lightning speed. But he probably couldn't have done it without the support of his mother, Olympias, who served as queen, regent, and many other roles. Her name was dragged through the mud by ancient writers who struggled with the idea of a powerful woman. That means it is hard to sort out the truth from the slander, bu

14.1 Helena, Mother of Constantine the Great

Dec 18 2024 23 mins

Constantine the Great had a long list of accomplishments, including making Europe Christian for centuries to come. But he didn't do it alone. He had a good mom. This is the story of Helena, a girl from a low-class background who rose to be the most important woman in the empire. And she had a lot to do with making Europe Christian too. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for s

Mrs. Santa Claus

Dec 04 2024 24 mins

For a very long time, Santa was a single man. His wife occasionally peeped out of the historical record, but not often. Until a host of magazine writers in the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s decided that enough was enough. Mrs. Claus appeared with an astonishingly feminist stance on who was doing the real work of Christmas. (Hint: It wasn't Santa.) The closing music is by Clavier Clavier,

Laundry: An Interview with the History Fix Podcast

Nov 20 2024 43 mins

I am currently on break preparing Series 14, The Woman Behind the Man. For today, I am bringing you an interview I did a few months ago with Shea LaFountaine of the History Fix podcast. If you haven’t tuned into her show, you should give it a try! She and I connected over the surprisingly interesting history of laundry, but she has at the time of this recording, 86 other episodes

Announcement on Series 14

Nov 06 2024 4 mins

The voters have spoken! The topic of Series 14 will be: The Woman Behind the Man. I’ll be looking at women across the ages who had a hand (sometimes a major hand) in the success of some very well-known men. I’m hoping you’ll have heard of the men: I’m choosing the blockbusters. But I suspect the women you have not heard of. Most of them anyway. The research has already begu

Bonus Episode: Women Who Got Elected

Nov 04 2024 18 mins

I make no comment on the current US election because this is a history podcast. But the entire concept of a woman running a country with even the semblance of an election involved is a recent phenomenon, historically speaking. We’re not even at a century yet. We’re not even at three quarters of a century yet. This episode will give you the rundown on women who have done it, fro