Lost Ladies of Lit

Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
  • 5.0 (71)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Lost Ladies of Lit

A book podcast hosted by writing partners Amy Helmes and Kim Askew. Guests include biographers, journalists, authors, and cultural historians discussing lost classics by women writers.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Katharine S. White — Shaping The New Yorker, with Amy Reading

    Send us a text One hundred years ago this week, The New Yorker published its first issue. A few months later, the magazine’s first (and for decades, only) female editor joined the staff. Katharine S. White spent the better part of the next 50 years wielding her pen and her editorial influence there, carefully tending to an ever-growing stable of talented (sometimes high-maintenance) writers and shaping the magazine into a cultural powerhouse. Biographer Amy Reading joins us to discuss White’s...

    48 min

  2. FEB 11 · BONUS

    🔒 Dorothy Parker's Last Wish: The NAACP and a Lost Urn

    Subscriber-only episode Send us a text How did Martin Luther King Jr. (and eventually, the NAACP) end up the stewards of Dorothy Parker’s literary estate? A life of bold activism prompted the witty writer to quietly bequeath her body of work to advocates for racial justice. But what happened to her actual body (or rather, her ashes) is another story entirely—one that involves misplaced remains, an abandoned urn, and a decades-long effort to find her a proper resting place. Mentioned in this e...

    12 min

  3. FEB 4

    Literary Jewelry with Leigh Batnick Plessner

    Send us a text January was dismal, but we’re distracting ourselves with something shiny in this first new full-length episode of the year. Catbird Chief Creative Officer Leigh Batnick Plessner joins us to explore three works by women writers, each of whom used jewelry as a powerful storytelling device. Louise de Vilmorin, Maria Edgeworth and Dorothy Parker feature diamond earrings, friendship bracelets and a pearl necklace, respectively, to reflect the deepest desires and ambitions of the cha...

    38 min

  4. JAN 28 · BONUS

    🔒 Bibliomasochism and "Pieces o' Eight"

    Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Octavia E. Butler’s prescient dystopian novel Parable of the Sower may or may not be the perfect book to kick off 2025, as Amy discusses in this week’s bonus episode. On the other hand, if it’s escapism you’re after, consider the cutlass-wielding scalawags of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island and learn about a new book that explores the impact Stevenson’s wife Fanny (a writer herself) had on his literary output. Mentioned in this episode:...

    11 min

  5. JAN 21

    Margaret Oliphant — Hester with Perri Klass

    Send us a text If you’re drawn to the hefty tomes of Victorian authors Anthony Trollope and George Eliot, we can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy this week’s novel, Hester, as much as we did. Margaret Oliphant is said to have been one of Queen Victoria’s favorite novelists, and she counted J.M. Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson among her many fans. Joining us to discuss Hester is New York Times columnist and pediatrician Dr. Perri Klass. Discussed in this episode: Hester by...

    45 min

  6. JAN 14

    🔒 Adventures in Highgate Cemetery

    Subscriber-only episode Send us a text This week’s episode was born out of Amy’s recent visit to London’s Highgate Cemetery, where fortuitous timing (or, perhaps, the graveside spirit of Christina Rossetti?) revealed a bit of juicy family drama. Find out why the tragic death (and later exhumation) of a pre-Raphaelite muse left another family member begging to not be buried next to her in the Rossetti family plot! Mentioned in this episode: Christina Rossetti Elizabeth Siddal Dante Gab...

    14 min

  7. JAN 7

    Hiatus Replay: Ukrainian Poet Lesya Ukrainka’s The Forest Song

    Send us a text In this week's hiatus replay, we’re focusing on one of Ukraine’s best-known poets and playwrights, Laryssa Kosach, who wrote under the pen name Lesya Ukrainka. Her play The Forest Song is a masterpiece of Ukrainian drama. Discussed in this episode: The Forest Song by Lesya Ukrainka Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles Lost Ladies of Lit episode on Virginia Cowles’ Looking for Trouble Invisible Battalion (2017 documentary) “Ukraine Isn’t Part ...

    16 min

  8. 12/31/2024 · BONUS

    🔒 Simona Kossak, Forest Queen

    Subscriber-only episode Send us a text Once upon a time, a young woman escaped to a primeval forest, befriended the animals there (including a lynx, raven and wild boar) and met her handsome prince. Sounds like a fairy tale, but in this week’s episode Amy discusses the enchanting true story of Simona Kossak, a Polish scientist who wrote about her deep love for the Bialowieza Forest and worked tirelessly to protect it. Poland awarded Kossak the Golden Cross of Merit for her ecological efforts ...

    16 min
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5
out of 5
71 Ratings

About

A book podcast hosted by writing partners Amy Helmes and Kim Askew. Guests include biographers, journalists, authors, and cultural historians discussing lost classics by women writers.

Information

  • Creator
    Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    234
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Lost Ladies of Lit
  • Show Website
    Lost Ladies of Lit

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