Dead Ladies Show Podcast

The Dead Ladies Show presents the stories of amazing women from history told live on stage in Berlin and beyond. Inspiring, irreverent, and entertaining! @deadladiesshow on Instagram and Twitter. Facebook: thedeadladiesshow.

Episode 72 - Miriam Rothschild 06/15/2024

Episode 72 - Miriam Rothschild In this episode, DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Dame Miriam Rothschild, a British zoologist, entomologist, and botanist. Coming from a wealthy family (yes, those Rothschilds) with an active interest in nature, she started collecting ladybirds and caterpillars and taking a tame quail to bed with her at the age of four. During a stint of WWII codebreaking at Bletchley Park, she pressured the British government to take in more Jewish refugees, providing housing for 49 children in her own (stately) home. She then became a leading authority on fleas, with sidelines in other parasites, butterflies, and meadow restoration. DLS co-host Katy Derbyshire joins producer Susan Stone to kick off the fun. For pictures of Dame Miriam and some of her many natural obsessions, hop (like a flea) on over to https://deadladiesshow.com/2024/06/15/podcast-72-miriam-rothschild. You can also flock like a starling to our newsletter to find out when our next live show will be by clicking this link: If you are in New York, you can see a Dead Ladies Show July 17 and September 25 at the KGB Bar’s Red Room. Find out more from them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc or join up for their newsletter if you like here: Don’t forget we have a Patreon! This month, Florian is there telling Susan all about another Rothschild — Pannonica, Miriam’s sister, who was named for a moth, and known as the Jazz Baroness for her patronage of and friendships with musical greats including Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. You can join up for as little as $2 or 2 euros a month and enjoy our full archive of special features, and our eternal gratitude. Here’s the link: We’d also be grateful if you follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via Our theme music is . Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/31755813

Episode 71 - Patricia Highsmith 05/15/2024

Episode 71 - Patricia Highsmith In this episode, we take a jaunt to New York to find out about the talented and difficult Patricia Highsmith. You might know one of her most notorious characters, Tom Ripley, from your Netflix queue (the new series Ripley) or via one of the many films based on what might be Highsmith’s best-known novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Highsmith wrote several books that redefined the concept of the thriller, as well as one of the few stories to give a lesbian couple a happy ending. That novel, The Price of Salt, was adapted into the 2015 film Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was inspired by one of Highsmith's many obsessive relationships (or in this case, just an obsession) with women. Long a closeted lesbian, Highsmith was engaged to a man (as required by 1950s societal mores) yet aggressively seduced lady after lady. She also wrote obsessively, was highly ambitious, and kept thousands of pages of diaries written in various languages to avoid spilling her secrets (they have been translated since her death in 1995). She was misanthropic and bigoted, and even her friends considered her unpleasant to be around, but her psychological thrillers have remained classics, partly for how they provide insight into the mind of the criminal. The talk by writer and educator Hannah Meyer comes courtesy of our friends at Dead Ladies NYC. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens was there for the event in NYC, and he joins producer/host Susan Stone to help introduce the episode. See photos and get links on our episode page: Find Dead Ladies NYC on Instagram: @deadladiesnyc and follow Hannah Meyer @hannahrenee_m Read Hannah’s essay about Patricia Highsmith and obsession on LitHub here: Subscribe to the NYC newsletter here: In New York? Get tickets to the NYC May 22nd show here: In Berlin? Get tickets for our May 16th show: If you’re a Patreon member, you already got an early preview of this episode! Not a member? Join up at Thanks to Molly O'Laughlin Kemper, Sheila Enright, Christopher Neil, and Lori Schwartz, general manager of the KGB Bar Red Room. Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Drop us a line or find us on social media @deadladiesshow Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/31305282

Episode 70 - Phoolan Devi 04/11/2024

Episode 70 - Phoolan Devi *** IMPORTANT NOTE: This episode’s Dead Lady had a very challenging existence, particularly when she was younger, and her story is marked by multiple incidents of violence and sexual abuse. Please use caution when listening *** In this episode, we join forces with the Ms Informed podcast to bring you the story of Phoolan Devi. Known as “India’s Bandit Queen,” Phoolan Devi overcame a life of poverty, illiteracy, and abuse, first as a child bride, and later enduring after being kidnapped by bandits and rising to lead the gang. She eventually became a politician, campaigning for women’s causes and the poor. Even today, Phoolan is a symbol for the anger, vengeance and injustice against women in India, as well as an inspiration for the lower classes. Madhvi Ramani and Rina Grob told her story at a recent live DLS show in Berlin. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce this episode. Find our more about Phoolan Devi’s amazing story on our episode page: Discover the Ms Informed podcast wherever you like to listen, and here: As mentioned, Katy and Susan have done an interview with them which will appear on Ms Informed Episode 165 You can also follow them on Instagram: Mentioned by Madhvi and Rina: The Mann Deshi Foundation, a woman-founded charity that set up the first rural bank for women in India and helps women and girls in rural areas: Daughters of Destiny on Netflix, which follows five girls from the Dalit class, who enter Shanti Bhavan, a school that educates the poorest children in India so that they are given a chance in life and help their communities: The book The Furies: Three Women and their Fight for Justice by journalist and writer Elizabeth Flock: Their sources: I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, by Phoolan Devi India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi, by Mala Sen If you are interested in attending the upcoming Dead Ladies Show at the Droste Festival in Muenster, get more details on the event here: And if you’d like to come see us in Berlin May 16th, buy tickets here: and consider subscribing to our newsletter to receive updates: Fans of the New York show can get their newsletter here: Want to see the CBS News feature about us? You can find it linked to on our about page and pinned on our Instagram feed Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: Drop us a line or find us on social media @deadladiesshow Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/30781888

Episode 69 - Sister Mary Ignatius Davies 03/08/2024

Episode 69 - Sister Mary Ignatius Davies Welcome to Season Seven! In this episode, we bring you…the woman known as the “Mother Theresa of Reggae! Sister Mary Ignatius, a white Jamaican Catholic nun dedicated her life to the Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, where she taught football, cricket, boxing, table tennis and dominoes – but most importantly, music. A lover of jazz and blues, she inspired hundreds of “wayward boys” to become professional musicians, including future Skatalites Tommy McCook and Don Drummond, trombonist Rico Rodriguez and Leslie Thompson, the first black conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Without Sister Mary Ignatius, who died at the age of 81 in 2003, we might never have had reggae. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire tells the story of the woman known to her young charges as “Sister Iggy.” And she joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce this episode, the first of Season Seven of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast, and to wish you all a happy International Women’s Day on March 8th! Go see some fun images of Sister Mary Ignatius Davies and explore our delightful info links on our episode page: Definitely give a listen to the internet radio site for the Alpha Boys School here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: You can see us in Berlin on March 27th. Tickets here: If you're in New York, you can go to a show March 19th. Tix: Drop us a line or find us on social media @deadladiesshow Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/30269593

Guest Episode from Her Half of History - Ellen Craft, a First-Class Escape 02/12/2024

Episode 68 - June Tarpé Mills 10/21/2023

Episode 68 - June Tarpé Mills In this episode, the last of Season Six, we bring you a show live from ! DLS-ers Susan Stone and Katy Derbyshire joined the city’s fine and friendly podcasters at the yearly event in front of a small but perfectly formed audience. From that event, producer Susan brings us the fascinating story of June Tarpé Mills, a comics pioneer and the first woman to create a female superhero, Miss Fury. The alter ego of socialite Marla Drake, Miss Fury wore a cursed black leopard skin and travelled the world fighting evil (mostly Nazis). She was sexy and smart, and a global hit from 1941-1951, during which she appeared in 100 newspapers, millions of comic books, and on the side of several US bombers. Then she, like her creator, largely disappeared. Decades after her death in obscurity, Mills is finally getting the recognition she deserves, from a headstone for her unmarked grave to induction into the Comic Industry Hall of Fame. You’ll definitely want to check out Miss Fury and June Tarpé Mills’ other works, and you can find some great examples, plus images of the lovely June herself over on our website at We mentioned our wonderful friend Andy Horn, who introduced us to Tarpé Mills. Read more about Andy here: One last note — If you’d like to support us and get a bit of Dead Lady content before we come back with season seven, please check out our page where we have loads of exclusive content including interviews and book reviews, and even entire Dead Ladies Show presentations that you’ll get to hear before (almost) anyone else. Thanks to everyone who already supports us there, including our new friend Rita Durant! Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon You can browse our TeePublic shop at this link: We are on Instagram and Twitter @deadladiesshow and on BlueSky @deadladiesshow.bsky.social Thanks for listening! We’ll be back soon with a new season full of fabulous Dead Ladies! **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/28382798

Episode 67 - Amrita Sher-Gil 09/13/2023

Episode 66 - Doreen Massey 08/17/2023

Episode 66 - Doreen Massey In this episode, we encounter the show’s very first featured geographer. UK-born Doreen Massey was a pioneer in her field. She challenged existing ideas about space, place and power, was compassionate, politically active, and hopeful. She worked in academia and as a public intellectual, including at British early-morning TV fans’ beloved Open University – teaching students who didn’t have access to a traditional university education – and also in Nicaragua, Venezuela and South Africa. That work focused on economic geography and the geography of gender, and she spoke eloquently about place or space as “a pincushion of a million stories”. Her list of publications vies in length with her honors and awards – including a pretty impressive total of six honorary degrees. Our talk is presented by Agata Lisiak, a professor of Migration Studies at Bard College Berlin, and a DLS regular, who has previously talked about Marie Curie and Rosa Luxemburg. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce the episode, and talk a bit about the Open University, an important place for Doreen Massey and many others. You can find Agata’s podcast series on Doreen Massey, Spatial Delight, where ever you like to listen, and also here, where there are additional features: Photos and clips of Massey can also be found on our podcast episode page here: To get tickets for our upcoming PodFest Berlin event in October just click here: Sign up for the Dead Ladies Show newsletter here: and find us on social media @deadladiesshow and @deadladiesshow.bsky.social For DLS NYC info and tickets, sign up to their newsletter here: or follow them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon Find our Patreon page here: The TeePublic shop for DLS logo treats is here: Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/27779031

Episode 65 - Romy Schneider 07/12/2023

Episode 64 - Hildegard Knef 06/14/2023

Episode 63 — Djuna Barnes 05/11/2023

Episode 63 — Djuna Barnes In this episode, translator Laura Radosh introduces us to the fascinating and troubled writer Djuna Barnes. The journalist, novelist, and artist mixed with everyone from James Joyce to Peggy Guggenheim, and was at the center of Bohemian life in 1920s New York and Paris, though perhaps not quite as much as she would like. Best known (if at all) for her modernist novel “Nightwood,” Djuna once called herself ''the most famous unknown in the world.'' DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens joins producer/host Susan Stone to muse about Djuna and her circle of modernist Dead Ladies. Find out more about Djuna and her work, and see her polka-dot portrait here: Djuna Barnes intersects with a great number of our previously presented Dead Ladies, including: photographer Berenice Abbott (who took the above mentioned portrait): and dadaist Elsa von Freytag Loringhoven: Here’s the documentary Laura cited where you can see Natalie Barney’s Parisian home and garden with its Temple of Friendship: The documentary we mentioned is “Paris Was a Woman” by Greta Schiller And Will Self’s radio segment on “Nightwood” can be found here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Want to suggest a Dead Lady for us? Drop us a line to or tell us on social media @deadladiesshow If you’d like to get advance tickets for our May show in Berlin they are here: DLS NYC tickets can be purchased here: Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/26812041

Episode 62 - Leonor Fini 04/13/2023

Episode 62 - Leonor Fini Our story for this episode comes from our friends at the Dead Ladies Show NYC, which is organized and hosted by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper with Sheila Enright. Photographer, professional eccentric and guinea pig lover JR Pepper tells the tale of artist Leonor Fini, a glamorous, passionate iconoclast (and cat lover) with a brilliant creative mind who was fiercely independent — at a time when women were allowed to be muses, not painters. Fini is often called a Surrealist, but she didn’t consider herself one of their group due to their misogynistic attitudes, which included viewing women as either a childlike muse or femme fatale. Her paintings utilized the female gaze, and often featured catlike and other creatures inspired by Fini’s own appearance, accompanied by languid men. Leonor Fini’s life was as rule-breaking as her art; she had many lovers, and spent much of her life living in a happy throuple — along with about 20 cats. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce this episode’s featured Dead Lady. For more on Leonor Fini, please visit our episode notes at: For DLS NYC info and tickets, sign up to their newsletter here: or follow them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc Find JR Pepper on Instagram @girlduality and listen to her talk about Mae West here: Our episode on surrealist Leonora Carrington is here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/26530791

Episode 61 - Emmy Noether 03/16/2023

Episode 61 - Emmy Noether Dead Ladies Show Podcast Episode 61 - Emmy Noether For this episode, we bring back the presenter who appeared in our very first podcast episode, writer and translator Karen Margolis. Drawing from her own history in higher mathematics, Karen ably tells the tale of Germany’s Emmy Noether, who developed key theorems in theoretical physics and made important contributions to abstract algebra. Excluded from academic positions in Germany as a woman, she worked unpaid and under other lecturers’ names. Once she was finally allowed to teach in 1919, she had only 14 years until the Nazis banned her as a Jew. In American exile, she taught at the women’s college Bryn Mawr and occasionally at Princeton, though she felt she was not welcome at “the men’s university, where nothing female is admitted.” Nowadays, everything from fellowships to a crater on the moon has honored Emmy, so it was clearly our turn to do so. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce things. (by the way - due to a numbering discrepancy, this podcast was numbered 60 when we recorded it, and is now adjusted to 61. Math!) For more on Emmy Noether, please visit our episode notes at For DLS NYC info and tickets, sign up to their newsletter here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/26247441

Episode 60 - Delia Derbyshire 02/14/2023

Episode 59 - Berenice Abbott 01/20/2023

Episode 59 - Berenice Abbott Dead Ladies Show Podcast - Berenice Abbott Welcome to our first podcast of 2023! In this episode, we zoom in on photographer Berenice Abbott. This American artist has a bit of a six-degrees-of separation going on with a number of our previous Dead Ladies, including Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven and Emma Goldman. As told by DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens, Berenice’s story includes stints in Paris and Berlin, falling in love with eligible ladies, and learning photography from Man Ray. She took portraits of various greats, and when she returned to New York she switched to documenting the changing city, resulting in what’s called the "the greatest collection of photographs of New York City ever made."Later in life she also excelled at scientific photography, taking with her studies of light and motion contributing to the understanding of physical laws and properties of solids and liquids, as she also made innovations in camera technology. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer Susan Stone to introduce our episode. You can see Berenice and her art, and learn more about her decades of photography work on our episode notes page here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Drop us a line or reach us on social media @deadladiesshow Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/25669224

Episode 58 — Ruth Asawa 12/14/2022

Episode 58 — Ruth Asawa Episode 58 — Ruth Asawa It’s our final podcast of 2022! DLS co-founders Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire join producer Susan Stone to toast the holiday season, chat about this year’s good news in Dead Ladies, and to introduce our featured Dead Lady, artist Ruth Asawa. Born to Japanese parents on a farm in California, Ruth Asawa first developed her artistic tendencies tracing shapes in the dirt. When her family was interned during World War II by the US government (along with thousands of US citizens with Japanese heritage, following the bombing of US military base Pearl Harbor by the Japanese) her life was put on hold, but she made opportunity where she could find it. When she was prevented from becoming a teacher by anti-Japanese prejudice and laws, she studied art and became a sculptor, often weaving cheap found material and wire. Her public artworks and her art education advocacy made her chosen home city, San Francisco, a more beautiful place, and her sculptures are now auctioned for millions, and exhibited around the world. You can see wonderful pictures of Ruth and her art, and learn more about her on our episode notes page here: Her estate’s website, a tremendous resource, can be found at We also mentioned the podcast Spatial Delight about geographer Doreen Massey, which is edited by Susan and hosted and produced by 2-time DLS Podcast star Agata Lisiak. You can find it here: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. What’s your favorite Dead Lady news of the year? Drop us a line or tell us on social media @deadladiesshow Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/25324557

Episode 57 - Angela Carter 11/17/2022

Episode 57 - Angela Carter To kick off Season 6 of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast, writer Leon Craig brings us the story of award-winning English author Angela Carter. Known for her feminist, gothic and erotic sensibilities and re-inventing folk and fairy tales for her now seminal collection The Bloody Chamber, Carter’s life had quite a few plot twists of its own. In her 51 years she wrote nine novels, five short story collections, several children's books and countless essays and articles. She also collected quite a few lovers after awakening from stifling marriage, harvesting them first from her social circle and friends’ husbands, then later more randomly during her two years living in Japan. Shortly after her death from cancer, Angela Carter received a strong wave of recognition, and her writing is now taught to generations of British school kids. Our presenter Leon Craig has received more than a few comparisons to Carter for her own debut story collection, Parallel Hells which is now out in paperback from Sceptre Books. You can read Leon’s story 'Lick the Dust’ from that collection, which was selected for Best British Short Stories 2022 at the White Review DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce the episode and talk more about writers Carter and Craig. Find our more about both authors on our episode notes page here: Angela Carter’s estate has a great website here: and is on Twitter here: @AngelaOCarter Leon Craig can be found at and on Twitter: @Leon_c_c You can get tickets to our next show in Berlin Our theme music is Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/25048029

Episode 56 - Mae West 08/17/2022

Episode 55 - Virginia Andrews (V.C. Andrews) 07/22/2022

Episode 55 - Virginia Andrews (V.C. Andrews) This episode was recorded at the second-ever , a local two-day event full of workshops, networking, free ice cream, and live tapings from podcasts in various languages, including one from us. Dead Ladies Show co-founder Katy Derbyshire and podcast producer/host Susan Stone were there for a mini DLS, and took turns hosting and presenting bilingually in German and English in front of a small but perfectly formed audience. In this episode, we hear Susan tell the story of Virginia Andrews. Better known as V.C. Andrews, this blockbusting American author probably launched the sexual curiosities of generations of teens and pre-teens — for better or worse. Her psychological horror/romance books, starting with 1979’s best-selling Flowers in the Attic, were banned in school districts and libraries, but earned millions internationally. The tale of children held captive by an evil grandmother was sadly somewhat mirrored in Virginia’s own reclusive, highly controlled life. Though she was disabled by a medical condition from her teen years on, Virginia supported her family through her artwork and writing. After her death, a prolific ghostwriter was appointed to continue books under her name, but her legacy really endures on the strength of her original seven bestsellers, which merged classic fairy tale themes with contemporary issues of trauma and abuse. Find out more about Virginia Andrews and her work on our show notes page here: Our theme music is . Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/23826812

Episode 54 - Memphis Minnie 06/16/2022

Episode 54 - Memphis Minnie Episode 54 - Memphis Minnie In this episode, we drop in on our New York-based sister spinoff show, DLS NYC, which returned to the KGB Bar’s Red Room after a long hiatus. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens happened to be visiting from Berlin, and took to the stage to introduce the fabulous Memphis Minnie. Tobacco-chewing blues singer MEMPHIS MINNIE (1897–1973) ran away from home at the age of 13 and made a living off music from then on, from street performances to hundreds of now classic recordings. It was said she never put her guitar down until she could no longer hold it in her hands, and she was known to use it as a weapon when required. Her songs were about the joys and hardships of everyday Black life; according to the poet Langston Hughes, she played “music with so much in it folks remember, that sometimes it makes them holler out loud.” Largely forgotten for many years while white men covered her songs, she is now celebrated for her huge contribution to blues music and what came after. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone for the introducing duties, and to flag up some of our upcoming shows, at Muenster’s Center for Literature’s Droste Festival on June 18: And at Podfest Berlin July 16-17: Listen along to all of Florian’s favorites with our Memphis Minnie playlist: And see photos of the well-dressed Minnie and get more info on our episode notes page: DLS NYC is curated and hosted by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, and was recorded by Jennifer Nulsen, all under the auspices of the KGB Bar’s Lori Schwarz. If you're in the NY area, why not sign up for their newsletter so you can find out when the next show will be? Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/23446379

Episode 53 - Eva Crane 05/12/2022

Episode 52 - Katherine Mansfield 04/14/2022

Episode 52 - Katherine Mansfield Episode 52 - Katherine Mansfield In this episode we’ll be hearing from the multi-talented Hinemoana Baker. Hinemoana hails from New Zealand, she is a writer and musician of Māori and Pākehā heritage; she will be presenting her reflections on the life of another New Zealand writer — Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield was a very influential modernist writer, who left New Zealand for Europe at the age of 19, and hung out with Virginia Woolf, DH Lawrence, and the Bloomsbury Group gang, including her “wife,” writer Ida Baker. Mansfield is called by some the Godmother of the Short Story in the English language, and she wrote a great many in her tragically short life. DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce an episode full of personal reflections, music, and poetry. Find our more about Katherine Mansfield on our episode notes page here: And you can read many of her short stories at the website of the Katherine Mansfield Society here: Learn more about the Mansfield album here: Explore the work of presenter Hinemoana Baker here: For more New Zealand Dead Ladies, check out our Episode 19 recorded at at a literary festival in Wellington, NZ: Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/22790453

Episode 51 - Rosa Luxemburg 03/08/2022

Episode 50 - Adelaide Herrmann 02/18/2022

Episode 50 - Adelaide Herrmann Episode 50 - Adelaide Herrmann In this episode, DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire conjures up a Victorian-era Dead Lady magician who dazzled audiences and broke boundaries. Starting from her childhood in England, Adelaide Herrmann (née Scarcez) was a born performer, first notable for dance, acrobatics, and trick cycling. She met and married magician Alexander Herrmann, and became his on-stage assistant and the star of many of his illusions, first dressed as his double and later in many guises. Following his death, she eventually took over the act, becoming the Queen of Magic, and collecting a menagerie of animals for her show. Highly successful, she toured for 25 years, performing up to the age of 74. She was buried next to her husband. His headstone reads: HERRMANN THE GREAT. Adelaide’s states more simply, WIFE. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens joins producer Susan Stone for the introducing duties. Find out more Find our more about Adelaide Herrmann on our show notes page here: Our theme music is Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. This episode of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast was created as part of the Droste Festival 2021 - Dark Magic by Funding came from the NEUSTART KULTUR program of the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media through the German Literature Fund and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/22180421

Episode 49 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu 01/20/2022

Episode 49 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu We kick off 2022 with an episode devoted to a woman famed for her wit and beauty, and later for her status as a sort of early inoculation influencer. Her tale is told by DLS co-founder and devoted traveler, Florian Duijsens. English aristocrat Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was raised to keep her opinions to herself, be it at home or in the King’s court, but she travelled widely, published secretly, and convinced many to take important steps that saved lives. When her husband became ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1716, she accompanied him to Constantinople. Gaining access to female spaces in Turkey, she witnessed smallpox inoculations there and had her son immunized in the same way, using a small sample of the live virus that had killed her brother and caused severe scarring to her own face. The principle was adapted into what we now know as vaccination. Lady Mary later left her husband behind in England after falling for an Italian count, only returning after she was widowed. She wrote poetry, essays, and copious letters, many of which were published after her death, encouraging other ladies to travel as she had done. DLS other co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer Susan Stone to introduce the featured Dead Lady. Find our more about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu on our show notes page here: https://deadladiesshow.com/2022/01/19/podcast-49-lady-mary-wortley-montagu/ Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/21834290

Episode 48 - Zaha Hadid 12/15/2021

Episode 48 - Zaha Hadid Episode 48 - Zaha Hadid In our last episode of 2021, The DLS team of Susan Stone, Katy Derbyshire, and Florian Duijsens all come together to clink glasses of bubbly, and discuss our favorite Dead Lady news of the year. Plus, DLS Producer and journalist Susan Stone presents our featured Dead Lady, architect Zaha Hadid. Born in Baghdad, Zaha started her creative life early, designing her own clothes and furniture at the age of 7 or 8. She studied at, then taught at, the Architectural Association School in London, where she honed her boundary-breaking skills and unmatchable style. Both life and her designs threw a series\ of curves her way, but she excelled and inspired, becoming the first woman to with the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for architecture, as well as many more accolades and contracts, eventually designing everything from schools to shoes. Along the way she faced notable sexism and racism as one of few women and Arabs in the field. But she wowed critics, and created some of the most incredible buildings the world has ever seen before her death at the age of 65 in 2016. Find our more about Zaha Hadid on our show notes page here: https://deadladiesshow.com/2021/12/15/podcast-48-zaha-hadid/ Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/21491315

Episode 47 - Milena Jesenská 11/19/2021

Episode 46 - Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven 10/16/2021

Episode 46 - Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven **This episode contains brief mentions of suicide and suicide attempts, as well as some humorous profanity** In this edition of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast, DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to the eccentric Dada artist Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. An eternally eclectic, German-born New Yorker, the Baroness was known for living life as a work of art, wearing a collage of found items, from tin cans to postage stamps to live birds, seducing almost everyone she met, and creating mind-blowing poetry and sculptures, and never making money for her art, leading to her poverty. These days, she deserves some reclaimed recognition for creating the found art genre known as Readymades, including a particular infamous sculpture credited to French artist Marcel Duchamp (or Marcel Dushit, as the Baroness called him). DLS other co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce the show, which was recorded in front of a live audience of enthusiastic college students as part of the Bard College Berlin event Pankumenta back in 2019. Find our more about Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and see her art and self-fashioned fashions on our show notes page here: Our theme music is “” by . Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month. **** The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history. The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: /episode/index/show/deadladiesshowpodcast/id/20837486

Episode 45 - Nana Yaa Asantewaa 09/16/2021

Episode 44 - Irmgard Keun 06/20/2021

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