1 Sealed Letter

Kathryn Hastings

The legacy of letter writing and how to bring this beautiful art form into the 21st century

  1. 11/05/2025

    112. “My Soul, Not Just a Mother” – Paula Modersohn-Becker and the Art of Being Overwhelmed

    In this 15-minute episode of Her Canvas Speaks, we explore the life and letters of Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907), one of the first women to paint herself nude and a pioneer of early Expressionism. Through her correspondence, Paula offers a rare, unfiltered window into the emotional world of a woman artist caught between creativity, duty, and selfhood. This episode centers on one of Paula’s 1907 letters written while she was pregnant, a raw and revealing piece in which she pleads with her sister to stop calling her impending childbirth a “blessed event.” Tired of being defined only by motherhood, Paula confides her fear of losing her identity as an artist and admits, “I have worked so little.” We reflect on how Paula’s exhaustion, honesty, and fierce self-belief echo the struggles many still face today: the tension between personal purpose and societal roles, between ambition and expectation. Through historical context and Paula’s own words, this episode offers a meditation on identity, overwhelm, and the timeless courage to believe in oneself. Full Letter Featured: Letter from Paula Modersohn-Becker to her sister (Worpswede, 1907), translated from German. Primary Sources and References: • Bachrach, Susan. Paula Modersohn-Becker: Biography. Fembio. https://www.fembio.org • The Art Story Foundation. “Paula Modersohn-Becker Artist Overview and Analysis.” https://www.theartstory.org/artist/modersohn-becker-paula • Musée d’Orsay. “Women Painters in the 19th Century.” https://www.musee-orsay.fr • Radycki, Diane. Paula Modersohn-Becker: The First Modern Woman Artist. Yale University Press, 2013. • Modersohn-Becker, Paula. Letters and Journals. Translated by J. A. Underwood, 1960.

    34 min
  2. 10/01/2025

    110. God Save Benedict Arnold with Jack Kelly

    Jack Kelly is an award-winning author and historian. In his newest book God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man, Jack offers a fresh exploration of Arnold’s paradoxical career, shedding new light on this gutsy yet enigmatic figure. In this podcast episode, Jack delves into the life and personal letters of Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold, examining what they reveal about Arnold’s character and legacy nearly 250 years later. ⸻ Learn More about Jack Kelly • Website: JackKellyBooks.com — https://jackkellybooks.com • Substack (“Talking to America”): Subscribe for nuggets of history and updates — https://jackkellyattalkingtoamerica.substack.com • Pre-order his new book, Tom Paine’s War (publishing January 2026): • Macmillan page: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250331939/tompaineswar/ • Or wherever you get your books ⸻ Letters Discussed in This Episode 1. Letter from Arnold’s mother (Hannah Arnold, April 12, 1754): https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold._A_biography/1 2. Benedict Arnold to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety (Ticonderoga, May 11, 1775): https://www.fortticonderoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Capture-of-Fort-Ticonderoga.pdf 3. Arnold’s angry letter to General Horatio Gates (Camp at Stillwater, September 22, 1777): https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2024/09/22/otd-arnold-wrote-gates-9/ 4. The Nathaniel Bacheller letter (Oct 9, 1777): https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2019/08/a-benedict-arnold-letter-that-changed-history/ 5. Arnold’s love letters to Betsy DeBlois (1777–78) and recycled for Peggy Shippen (1778–79): https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/betsy-deblois-girl-got-away-benedict-arnold/

    51 min
  3. 09/17/2025

    109. Felice Cohen: A Love Letter to Letters

    In this episode, I sit down with Felice Cohen, an author and professional organizer whose lifelong love of letter writing has become her newest creative frontier. Felice is in the midst of a yearlong experiment of handwriting one letter every day, which she shares in her Substack, A Love Letter to Letters: https://felicecohen.substack.com. With more than 1,000 saved letters from her own life, she is also crafting an “epistolary memoir” that weaves together correspondence with reflections on intimacy, nostalgia, and the enduring beauty of putting pen to paper. Beyond her devotion to letters, Felice is the bestselling author of 90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (…or More), inspired by her time living in one of New York City’s smallest apartments, as well as Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love and What Papa Told Me, based on her grandfather’s Holocaust survival. Her books have been endorsed by Elie Wiesel, taught in classrooms worldwide, and honored with multiple awards. We talk about what letters preserve that digital communication cannot, how personal correspondence becomes a record of connection and resilience, and why handwriting remains a radical act of presence. Learn more about Felice at her website: https://www.felicecohen.com Follow her Substack: https://felicecohen.substack.com Watch her story on YouTube: • Living Large in 90 Square Feet: https://youtu.be/Z4LNwaTUE60?si=h4i-jtDhS7IvbnRF • Organizing Tips & Life Lessons: https://youtu.be/JZSdrtEqcHU?si=y117jtwudEXZCm1T

    41 min
  4. 08/27/2025

    107. Balloonomania: Benjamin Franklin’s Letters from Paris, 1783

    In this episode of One Sealed Letter, we take to the skies with Benjamin Franklin as he witnesses the first balloon flights of 1783. From the gardens of Versailles to the Champs de Mars in Paris, Franklin recorded these marvels in letters to his friend Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society. Franklin’s accounts blend diplomacy, science, and wonder. He details how balloons were constructed, the astonishment of crowds, and even his own anxiety for the first men to rise into the air. Along the way, we uncover what his correspondence teaches us about clarity, curiosity, and the art of writing letters that endure. His famous quip, “What good is a newborn baby?” reminds us that every new invention begins in uncertainty before it reshapes the world. As Franklin himself mused, “I begin to be almost sorry I was born so soon, since I cannot have the happiness of knowing what will be known a hundred years hence.” In his words we find not only history, but a timeless lesson for our own creative lives. Primary Sources Read in Full ​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, July 27, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Yale University)​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, August 30 – September 2, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin)​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, October 8, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin)​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, November 22–25, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin) Additional historical context drawn from: ​ The Papers of Benjamin Franklin Digital Edition (Yale University)​ Gillispie, Charles Coulston. The Montgolfier Brothers and the Invention of Aviation, 1783–1784. Princeton University Press, 1983.​ Sciama, Yves. “The Balloonomania of 1783.” Scientific American, November 2003.

    1h 6m
5
out of 5
23 Ratings

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The legacy of letter writing and how to bring this beautiful art form into the 21st century