Long may she reign Ayden Fitzgerald

Matilda of Scotland has often been overshadowed in her accomplishments because of her saintly mother and empress daughter, but it was because of her mother that she became who she needed to be to make sure her daughter could be even better. Matilda had a rough but pretty normal Scottish royal childhood with a lot of murder and succession crises, but it hardened her to make her an astute politician in the court of her husband, Henry I. In addition to that, Matilda was worldly and generous and made her court one of culture and arts, and she made active efforts to be kind and helpulf to the less fortunate, a trait instilled in her by her mother. Come join me to learn about her facinating story.
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Many forget that Johnny Cash had a first wife, and if they do remember her, they think of her as a vindictive shrew who hated his career. Vivian Liberto Cash has been horribly misrepresented in popular culture, but she supported her husband throughout much of his early career and dealt with anxiety and depression from her husband's drug use and from attacks by the KKK concerning her non-European appearance. Come join me today to learn about the women who inspired the famous song "Walk the Line" Alexander, Harriet. “DNA Tests Reveals Johnny Cash’s First Wife Was Black and Her Great-Grandmother Was a Freed Slave.” Daily Mail, May 17, 2021. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9588299/Johnny-Cashs-wife-black-great-grandmother-freed-slave.html.
Betts, Stephen L. “Rolling Stone.” Rolling Stone, April 29, 2020. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/johnny-cash-first-wife-my-darling-vivian-movie-991700/.
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. “Johnny Cash.” Wikipedia, April 4, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash.
———. “Vivian Cash.” Wikipedia, April 4, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Cash.
Ishak, Natasha. “Vivian Cash, The Controversial First Wife Of Singer Johnny Cash.” All That’s Interesting, July 16, 2022. https://allthatsinteresting.com/vivian-cash-liberto.
Find a Grave Memorial. “Richard Laurence ‘Dick’ Distin (1937-2019) - Find...” Accessed April 6, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196577110/richard_laurence-distin.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Johnny Cash.” Encyclopedia Britannica, July 20, 1998. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johnny-Cash.
This Heart of Mine, LLC. “My Darling Vivian.” My Darling Vivian, January 1, 2020. https://www.mydarlingvivian.com/.
Tremaine, Julie. “Johnny Cash’s 7 Children: All About the Musical Legend’s Son and Daughters.” PEOPLE, January 19, 2024. https://people.com/all-about-johnny-cash-kids-8430822.
Trent, Sydney. “White Supremacists Attacked Johnny Cash for Marrying a ‘Negro’ Woman. But Was His First Wife Black?” The Washington Post, May 16, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/16/johnny-cash-first-wife-vivian-black/.

China has had many influential and ambitious Empresses in its history, such as Empress Wu, but Zhao Feiyan certainly gives them all a run for their money. Zhao Feiyan was born into a relatively poor family, but due to her talent as a dancer, she was able to get the attention of the emperor, and from there, hijinx ensued. Join me on today’s episode to learn about China’s most underrated and controversial Empress.

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As a hardcore Swiftie, I was elated when I found out that Taylor Swift had a new song named after Clara Bow, and I thought, what better time to help people who may not know her story get to know her better? Clara was born desperately poor in early 1900s New York and suffered from a bad home life with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother. However, by the time she was a teenager, she won a beauty contest that shot her into stardom. Her fame came with a price, and she had her life intruded on by paparazzi; she was exploited by her managers and suffered from her own mental health issues. Come join me on today’s episode to learn about the women who coined the term IT girl. Bibliography


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Biography.com Editors. “Clara Bow.” Biography, February 6, 2024. https://www.biography.com/actors/a45863068/clara-bow.
Carlton, Genevieve. “Clara Bow, The Wild Child ‘It Girl’ Of 1920s Hollywood.” All That’s Interesting, January 13, 2024. https://allthatsinteresting.com/clara-bow.
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———. “Rex Bell.” Wikipedia, February 28, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Bell.
Gibson, Kelsie. “Who Is Clara Bow? All About the Namesake of Taylor Swift’s New Song.” PEOPLE, February 6, 2024. https://people.com/who-is-clara-bow-all-about-actress-behind-taylor-swift-song-8559688.
Hutchinson, Pamela. “Clara Bow: The Hard-Partying Jazz-Baby Airbrushed from Hollywood History.” The Guardian, June 21, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/jun/21/clara-bow-wild-child-hollywood-history-silent-film.
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If you have not heard of Arsinoe II, you are missing out on a great story. Arsinoe started out as the daughter of the first Ptolemaic pharaoh of Egypt and, through her own grit, determination and political savvy, managed to survive the disastrous political consequences of her first husband's death and come back to her home country as its queen. Join me in learning about the women who set the standard for Greek-Egyptian queens!

Killers of the Flower Moon has brought the world's attention to one of the most vile murder cases in American history, and at the center of it all was Mollie Kyle-Burkhart. Mollie would have grown up in the traditional way of her Osage ancestors, but by the time she was an adult, her family was wealthy, and she lived in a big home with white servants and with a white husband. Mollie lost all of her family members during the reign of terror, and I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through something that horrible. On today's episode, we get into her story of resilience.

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