Lost Ladies of Lit

Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
  • 5.0 (70)
  • 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. 2 DAYS AGO

    Margaret Drabble — The Millstone with Carrie Mullins

    Send us a textMargaret Drabble’s 1965 novel The Millstone offers a nuanced portrayal of single motherhood in 1960s London. Author Carrie Mullins, whose 2024 nonfiction work The Book of Mothers explores literary depictions of motherhood, joins us to discuss Drabble’s fearless protagonist, Rosamund. Together, we explore how The Millstone captures the joys and burdens of motherhood, and how Drabble’s sharp, ahead-of-its-time portrayal speaks to contemporary readers.Mentioned in this episode:The ...

    37 min

  2. NOV 5

    🔒 Wicked Little Letters — The Film and Crime That Inspired It

    Subscriber-only episodeSend us a textIn this week’s bonus episode Amy discusses the black comedy mystery film Wicked Little Letters starring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, then hones in on the real-life "poison-pen letter" incident the film is based on. Mentioned in this episode:British Airways in-flight safety filmWicked Little Letters trailerThe Lost Daughter filmThe Lost Daughter novelWaking Ned DevineGaudy Night by Dorothy L. SayersNational Archives Littlehampton Libel Case&...

    14 min

  3. OCT 29

    Elizabeth Garver Jordan — The Case of Lizzie Borden & Other Writings with Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-Kahan

    Send us a textElizabeth Garver Jordan’s riveting coverage of the Lizzie Borden trial for The New York World captivated true-crime junkies of the late 19th-century, and her lengthy career as a journalist, fiction writer and literary editor still resonates today. Lori Harrison-Kahan and Jane Carr, editors of a brand new collection of Garver Jordan’s work, join us this week to discuss her courtroom dispatches, her connection to today’s #MeToo movement and how her “invisible labor” shaped the wri...

    41 min

  4. OCT 22 · BONUS

    🔒 Blame it on the Bob (Haircut)

    Subscriber-only episodeSend us a textThe bob haircut shocked and appalled when it was popularized in the 1920s. A bob devotee herself, Amy has a laugh in this week’s bonus episode as she reads newspaper reports from the era which blame the hair trend for a wide array of societal ills including economic collapse, bigamy and unwanted facial hair. She’ll also read an excerpt from the F. Scott Fitzgerald story, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” which first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1920. Thi...

    15 min

  5. OCT 15

    Sanora Babb — Whose Names Are Unknown with Iris Jamahl Dunkle

    Send us a textGrowing up on the Great Plains and witnessing the struggles of migrant workers in California made Sanora Babb uniquely qualified to write the story of the Dust Bowl. Her novel Whose Names Are Unknown was slated for publication by Random House in 1939 until The Grapes of Wrath beat her book to the punch. John Steinbeck actually used Babb’s notes and research to write his Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, but did he get the story right? Iris Jamahl Dunkle, author of a new bi...

    44 min

  6. OCT 8 · BONUS

    🔒 How a "Lady of Lit" Inspired the Band Green Day

    Subscriber-only episodeSend us a textLook closely enough, and you can find “lost ladies of lit” almost anywhere — including at a rock concert! In this week’s bonus episode, Amy explains how a Saturday night spent attempting to sing along with Green Day on their world tour concert stop in Los Angeles started her down a lyrical rabbit hole that led to the writer Lakshmi Kannan. Learn how this Indian author’s feminist poem inspired a hit song on the band’s breakout album and why both the poem an...

    9 min

  7. OCT 1

    Eliza Haywood — The Female Spectator and Betsy Thoughtless with Kelly J. Plante

    Send us a textDetails of Eliza Haywood’s life may be murky today, but in the early 18th century, she was a literary force—writing plays and bestselling novels, editing periodicals, and ruffling the feathers of male contemporaries like Alexander Pope. Academic Kelly J. Plante joins us this week to discuss Haywood’s anonymous wartime writing for The Female Spectator, the first periodical written by and for women, as well as her 1751 novel, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless.Mentioned in this...

    35 min

  8. SEP 24 · BONUS

    🔒 The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff

    Subscriber-only episodeSend us a textAmy springboards off our discussion of last week’s “lost lady,” Mary MacLane, to further investigate the woman whose diary inspired her. From the age of 12 until her death at 25, Russian-born painter Marie Bashkirtseff detailed her daily life, frustrations, flirtations and family drama. First published in 1887, the diary enthralled readers including British Prime Minister William Gladstone and George Bernard Shaw, while future diarists like Anaïs Nin and K...

    19 min
See All (220)

Trailer

5
out of 5
70 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 - 2024
  • Episodes
    220
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Lost Ladies of Lit
  • Show Website
    Lost Ladies of Lit

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada