Sistory Sistory

This Sistory episode features a war hero referred to as a "real-life Black Widow," despite the fact that the Marvel character debuted almost twenty-five years after this teenager began taking Nazi soldiers out (in both senses of the word). We may never know just how many soldiers Freddie Oversteegen killed in her time with the Dutch resistance movement in World War Two, but we do know one thing: she is a badass.

In the much-awaited sequel of our special two-part episode, we discuss the true meaning of Jezebel and the best harebrained schemes to conquer Europe.

In this episode of Sistory, we begin to explore the life and times of King Kristina of Sweden, perhaps best known for contradicting every expectation imposed upon her from her literal birth, A queer (and possibly trans!) icon, Kristina talked loudly, swore notably, and became known as a great thinker of her time before her twenty-fifth birthday, all while driving her advisors up the wall.  If that sounds boring, there's also discussions of the true nature of sleepovers, borderline necrophilia, and church graverobbing! (There's less overlap than one might expect.)

What do superheroes, wombs, fortune tellers, and the specific meaning of the word affair have to do with Madame de Pompadour, head mistress to Louis VX? Not a lot, and yet we manage to bring all of them up in the pilot episode of Sistory.

Why we’re here and what we’re doing: actually, we’re not clear on all of that. Suggestions welcome. We do know that we’re an informally informative history podcast here to tell you about cool ladies in history. And we do know that we have social media! @sistorypodcast on Twitter and tumblr.