What'sHerName Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle

What'sHerName goes live!
To launch our new book, What's Her Name, A History of the World in 80 Lost Women, former episode guests convene in London from all over the world for a Night of Celebration! In rapid-fire succession, brilliant 3-minute performances of poetry, song, story and dance take us chronologically through the history of the world. The magic is punctuated throughout with short readings by Katie and Olivia from the new book. The packed house at the Vagina Museum, with the most enthusiastic audience, made for a heartwarming night we'll never forget!


Guest Performers in order of appearance:

Introduction and reading by GABBY NEMETH, Senior Editor at Michael O’Mara Books
Musician and composer SAM HENDERSON (our little brother!) performing the world's oldest written song, the Seikolos Epitaph
Chemist and poet KIRK STAPLEY, reading his poem "Naia"
SISTER RITA MINEHAN, Brigidine Sister and founding member of the Solas Bhríde Centre, reading St. Brigid's Lake of Beer Prayer
GABO CEMÉ, founder of Eco Maya Travel and Wild Animal Sanctuary, telling the story of Zazil-Ha
Westminster Abbey's AARON PATERSON, reading the 17th century petitions and receipts of Elizabeth Gregory, Head Carpenter of the Abbey
Award-winning Pakistani singer-songwriter and Bollywood music director ZEB BANGASH performing Roshe, a love poem by 16th century Persian mystic Habba Khatun
Professor WALEED ZIAD of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, telling the story of 19th century Sufi mystic Dadi Mithan
IAN MORTIMER, bestselling author of more than twenty books on the history of England, reflects on the life of Harriot Mellon
Composer JESSICA WADLEY performing her original song about Wild West Cowgirl Florence Hutchings
Dancer and choreographer JANET COLLARD performing her interpretation of 1920s cabaret dancer Valeska Gert's infamous "prostitute dance," Canaille.
KIP WILSON reading from her novel-in-verse One Last Shot, about Spanish Civil War photojournalist Gerda Taro
NIKKI DRUCE, host of the Macabre London podcast, recreates the final seance of Helen Duncan, Britain's last convicted witch
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter NEYLA PEKAREK, formerly of The Lumineers, performs "I Want Everything" from her 2022 musical Rattlesnake Kate
SOPHIE POLDERMANS, author of Seducing and Killing Nazis, telling the story of Truus and Freddie Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft
Composer and musician Erica Glenn, Director of Choral Activities at BYU - Hawaii, performing an Art Song by Ukranian composer Stefania Turkevych
Historian PAM TOLER tells the story of anti-fascist war correspondent Sigrid Schultz, from her forthcoming book The Dragon from Chicago
Art Historian MONICA WALKER, Events Manager at the Old Operating Theater Museum, performs a bellydance in honor of Samia Gamal of Egypt
Artist, designer, and illustrator ELLA KASPEROWICZ, illustrator of our second book A Stinky History of Toilets, whose whimsical illustrations brighten the future of the world
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story goes that the American Civil Rights movement started when Rosa Parks refused to leave her bus seat in 1955. But 89 years before that, Ellen Garrison refused to leave the waiting room at a Baltimore train station. When she was thrown out, she sued, in one of the first court cases to test African American civil rights. Criss-crossing America to teach former slaves wherever needed, Ellen Garrison devoted her life to lifting those who had been held down.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From arriving at the port of Constantinople as a teenage bride to the heir to the Byzantine Throne, to exiling - and blinding - her own son, Constantine IV, to boldly crowning herself the first Empress Regnant of the Byzantine Empire, Irene of Athens' life was a wildly unpredictable ride through one of the most tumultuous and fascinating periods of medieval history.
Olivia interviews archaeologist and historian Judith Herrin, author of Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium and Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A charming Indonesian orphan danced her way to fame and fortune... except literally everything about Mata Hari was a lie. She said she wanted to live like a butterfly in the sun. So in the end, could she really have been guilty of espionage? Katie takes us to Leiden to marvel at the incredible life of Mata Hari.
Music featured in this episode provided by Doug Maxwell, Jesse Gallagher, Patrick Patrikios, Amulets, Offenbach, Jimena Contreras, BizBaz Studio, Wayne Jones, Quincas Moreira, ELPHNT and E’s Jammy Jams.

Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Jewish mathematician Pepi Mehlberg was offered a new identity as Countess Janina Suchodolska in Nazi-occupied Poland, she took that chance and used it - to join the underground resistance, feed thousands of Nazi prisoners every week, and eventually rescue over 10,000 Poles from Majdanek concentration camp. And she was just getting started.
Our guests are Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, authors of the new book The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust.
Music featured in this episode provided by: Trialogo, Amanda Setlik Wilson, Kevin MacLeod, Esther Abrami, Myuu, Nico deNapoli, E's Jammy Jams, Adam Aston and Michael Levy.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1867, a ship bound for California with 400 Chinese passengers signaled distress as it drifted in the Pacific Ocean. The ship's captain was a woman, and her mutinous crew had refused to sail the ship even though they were running out of water. How did Captain Hannah Masury Howe come to be in such a predicament, and how could she possibly save herself and the ship?
Our guest is NYT bestselling author Katherine Howe, in this real-life high seas adventure.
Music featured in this episode by provided by: Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval, Jeff Cuno, Elphnt, Emmit Fenn, Jesse Gallagher, Chris Haugen, Kevin MacLeod and Doug Maxwell.
Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices