What'sHerName

In an abandoned house in Illinois, an astonishing treasure trove of handwritten sheet music was discovered in 2009. That cache was the life’s work of composer Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her work performed by major orchestras. But Price’s story is so much bigger – and so much wilder! – than even that headline-grabbing discovery could show. Her astonishing contributions to classical music are finally getting the attention – and the praise – they deserve.

Our guests are Dr. Guthrie Ramsey and Dr. Karen Walwyn, with music by Chineke! Orchestra, Dr. Ollie Watts Davis, Dr. Casey Robards, The Women’s Philharmonic, and Karen Walwyn.

A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.

Guest Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. is a music historian, pianist, composer, and the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s the author of Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop, and The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History and the Challenge of Bebop and recently edited and wrote a foreword for Rae Linda Brown’s The Heart of A Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price. As a producer, label head, and bandleader, he’s released five recording projects, including A Spiritual Vibe, vol. 1 and has performed at The Blue Note, The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and Harlem Stage. He recently scored the 2019 prize-winning documentary Making Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South and his documentary Amazing: The Tests and Triumph of Bud Powell was a selection of the BlackStar Film Festival. He co-curated the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s 2009 exhibition Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment and was a consultant and narrator in the 2020 Emmy Award winning HBO documentary Apollo: The Soul of American Culture.

Guest Karen Walwyn, Concert Pianist, Composer and an Albany Recording Artist, is the first female African American pianist/ composer to receive the Steinway Artist Award. As a Composer, she received the Global Award: Gold Medal -Award of Excellence for her recording of her composition entitled Reflections on 9/11, which was first premiered in full at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. As a Mellon Faculty Fellow at the John Hope Franklin Institute, Duke University, Walwyn composed her debut choral work entitled Of Dance & Struggle: A Musical Tribute on the Life of Nelson Mandela. She is Area Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Howard University, and has performed throughout the contiguous United States, Hawaii, West Indies and the Virgin Islands.

Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Alice Roosevelt's dad became President of the United States, her family became the center of attention for the entire country (and the world) - and that was just how she liked it. Whether smoking on the White House roof, racing her bright red motorcar through the streets of Washington DC, or wearing her snake Emily Spinach as jewelry while attending Congressional Balls - Alice scandalized her parents and delighted the nation. But that was just the beginning.

Olivia interviews Shelley Fraser Mickle, author of the new book White House Wild Child: How Alice Roosevelt Broke All the Rules and Won the Heart of America.

Music for this episode provided by Amanda Setlik Wilson, Aaron Kenny, The New Hot 5, Peak Duo, Victor Dance Orchestra, Esther Abrami, The Melody Weavers and the US Marine Corps Band.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most prolific poisoner of all time couldn’t possibly have been a woman. Right??! Goeie Mie, “Good Maria,” was such a selfless and kindly nurse that desperate folks in 19th-century Leiden called her when they were sick, knowing she’d come even if they couldn’t pay. But they got worse, and worse, and usually died in misery.

Goeie Mie had life insurance on all of them.

Travel on location to Leiden, The Netherlands with Katie in this spooky Halloween Special!

Guest Josine Heijnen holds an MA in humanities and studies history & theology – naturally she would end up having her own distillery, right? Maneuvering through the financial world right after graduating, she started distilling Goeie Mie Gin, named after Maria Swanenburg ‘the Leiden Poisoner.’ She expanded the business and now spreads these unbelievable-but-true stories in liquid form throughout Europe. (And more to come: do you know the greatest spy of all time, Mata Hari? Or ever tasted something called Radithor?)

Music featured in this episode by Esther Abrami, Aaron Kenny, Román Cano, Kevin MacLeod, and Camille Saint-Saens.

Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some say Tituba was the easy target in 1692, as an enslaved woman of color. But surprise! She confessed to witchcraft, offering elaborate descriptions of a widespread Satanic conspiracy. Her tales launched Salem, Massachusetts into an unparalleled witch mania. No one was safe...except Tituba herself. How did she start it all, and how did she escape? Join Katie on location in Salem, Massachusetts for this year’s Halloween special.

Our guest, army vet, playwright, and military historian David Tullis guides off-the-beaten-track tours of Salem and works as a historical pewtersmith.

Music featured in this episode by Aaron Kenny, Esther Abrami, Kevin MacLeod, and Elena Naumova, used by permission.

Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary Ware Dennett was one of the most important and influential activist for women's rights, contraception, free speech and sex education in early 20th century America. So why does her nemesis Margaret Sanger get all the attention?

Returning guest Stephanie Gorton helps Olivia unravel the mystery of this fascinating, forward-thinking woman.

Music featured in this episode provided by Asher Fulero, Kevin Macleod, The Mini Vandals, Late Night Feeler, Jeff Cuno, Cooper Cannell, Dan Bodan, and the American Quartet.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices