This week, Sara Gorsky brings us the incredible true story of Josephine Baker! Born into poverty in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906, Josephine works her way up the chorus line to NYC, but the discrimination she faces at every turn drives her to Europe where France falls in love with the girl in the banana skirt.
Her rise to fame is meteoric and she becomes one of the highest paid performers in all of Europe and the first Black woman in history to reach such astounding celebrity status. However, she does not stop there. Her accomplishments include incredible work as a spy for the French Resistance in WWII, adopting a "Rainbow Tribe" of children, forcing the desegregation of notorious nightclubs around the country and marching & speaking alongside Dr. MLK, Jr. at the March on Washington.
If you haven't heard of this woman whom Earnest Hemingway called “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw,” then this is the episode for you!
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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!
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ZENCASTR - the all-in-one podcast production suite that gives you studio quality audio and video without needing all the technical know-how. It's what we use to record BYSK and WE LOVE IT! Go to zen.ai/broadsyoushouldknow and enter the promo code broadsyoushouldknow, to get 30% off your first three months. It’s time to share your story!
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Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.
IG: @SaraGorsky
Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com
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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye
Alison Bechdel — Lesbian Feminist Cartoonist Who Gave Us the Bechdel Test [Jupiter Stone]
Queen Ranavolona I (aka Ranavolona the Cruel) — The Bloodiest Queen in Human History [Sara Gorsky]
Anna Jarvis — Founder of Mother's Day (Who Tried to Have it Destroyed) [Chloe Skye]
La Adelita (aka Las Soldaderas) — Female Soldiers of the Mexican Revolution [Sara Gorsky]
Queen Ka'ahumanu — First Queen of Hawaii Responsible for Women’s Rights and Uniting the Islands [Jupiter Stone]
Queen Ranavalona III — Last Queen of Madagascar Exiled for Fighting Colonization [Chloe Skye]
Pauli Murray — Queer Civil Rights Lawyer & Priest Who Wrote Civil Rights “Bible” [Jupiter Stone]
Shannon Faulkner — First Woman to Attend 'Men Only' State College in South Carolina [Chloe Skye]
Ma Rainey — Mother of the Blues who Inspired Generations [Jupiter Stone]
Ching Shih — From Prostitute to Ruler of a Pirate Empire [Sara Gorsky]
Sophie Scholl — Student Anti-Nazi Activist & Co-Founder of White Rose [Chloe Skye]
Broad Buffs #1: Nellie Bly — The Investigative Reporter Who Was the Inspiration for Lois Lane [David Blixt]
Julie d'Aubigny (aka Mademoiselle Maupin) — Bisexual French Duelist & Opera Singer [Sara Gorsky]
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander — First African American Woman to Practice Law in Pennsylvania [Chloe Skye]
Lucille Bogan — One of the First Recorded Blues Singers & Pioneer of "Dirty Blues" [Jupiter Stone]
Shere Hite — Sex Educator Who Discovered Women Don't Need Men to Achieve Pleasure [Sara Gorsky]
Coretta Scott King — Civil Rights Leader, Peace Advocate, & Wife of Martin Luther King Jr. [Sara Gorsky]
Audre Lorde — Black, Lesbian, Mother, Warrior, Poet; Advocate For Intersectionality [Chloe Skye]
Giulia Tofana — 17th Century Vigilante Responsible For Poisoning Over 600 Men [Sara Gorsky]
Pele — Hawaiian Goddess of Volcanoes and Fire [Jupiter Stone]
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