Dead Ladies Show Podcast

• Episode 83 - Flora Tristan

  In this episode, DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Flora Tristan.  A French-Peruvian writer, socialist activist and feminist theorist, Flora was amongst the first to tie women’s equality to social equality. Her personal life was touched by hardship, scandal, and the nefarious acts of various men. Seeking her own emancipation, she was moved to fight for universal freedom. And though she may not be well-known, Flora’s inspiring ideas live on today, when people stand united against oppression. To find out more about Flora and her work, visit our episode page over at https://deadladiesshow.com/2025/07/18/podcast-83-flora-tristan/ If you’d like to get even more Dead Lady info, why not join us over on Patreon, where we have special previews, interviews, and book chats. Get all the goodies by supporting us with just a couple of dollars, pounds or euros a month. Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/c/deadladiesshowpodcast You can also help us out by rating and reviewing our podcast wherever you like to listen, and by sharing our content on social media.  The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, and edited by me, Susan Stone.  Our theme tune is Little Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon.  We’ll be back again next month with another fabulous Dead Lady. Good bye!  

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• Episode 82 - Caroline of Brunswick

  In this episode, we hear a bit of our lovely 10th anniversary show in Berlin, and DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire gives us the rundown on  Caroline of Brunswick, who was officially Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover for three whole weeks before she died in 1821, long-estranged from her horrible husband, her cousin King George IV. They had separated shortly after the birth of their only child, and Caroline’s access to her daughter was restricted. She later moved to Italy, celebrated the right to bare arms, and lived with a handsome secretary, prompting huge amounts of gossip and countless caricatures. When George ascended to the throne, Caroline tried to cash in on her popularity and become queen, but she was literally locked out of the coronation.    For more on the unruly queen Caroline, and to see some of those wicked caricatures and portraits of handsome gentlemen and ladies in wigs, do visit our episode notes at https://deadladiesshow.com/2025/06/23/podcast-82-caroline-of-brunswick/   You’ll be able to hear more of our 10th anniversary show on Patreon — that’s at patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast in our next Dead Lady Book Club segment which will be live the first week in July. It’s an exclusive segment (unless you were in the audience in Berlin May 13th!)  as writer Saskia Vogel grills DLS cofounders Katy and Florian in front of a live audience to get the inside scoop on all things Dead Ladies behind the scenes.    Our next live show in Berlin will be on September 14th at 7pm in ACUD so please save the date! Subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed here: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com   If you’re in the New York area you won’t want to miss Dead Ladies NYC and their cavalcade of bad girls on July 5th. Find out more here: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com and here: @deadladiesnyc    If you like, follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via [email protected]  and we’re on BlueSky, too: https://bsky.app/profile/deadladiesshow.bsky.social   Our theme music is  “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.  

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• Episode 81 - May Ziadeh

  In this episode, we hop over to New York to encounter our Dead Lady of the hour, May Ziadeh, a Lebanese-Palestinian poet, writer, translator, and feminist, whose work explored themes of love, identity, and the liberation of women. Books were her beloved companions throughout her life, and proved more steadfast than people. May began writing at an early age, started an important literary salon, and had moments of fame, but is perhaps better known for the years of isolation and tragedy that marked her life. She deserves more. May wrote in her diary: “After my death, I hope that someone will do me justice and find the sincerity and honesty contained in my small writings.”   Our presenter is Rosana Elkhatib, a designer, researcher, and curator. She is a co-founding principal of feminist architecture collaborative f-architecture and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.   DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the talk. Thanks to the team at Dead Ladies NYC for sharing this presentation with us: Molly O'Laughlin Kemper, Sheila Enright, Christopher Neil and the KGB Bar's Lori Schwarz.  Visit our episode page to see photos of May Ziadeh and get more information about her:  https://deadladiesshow.com/2025/05/31/podcast-81-may-ziadeh/ Read three of her poems in English translation here: https://losangelesreview.org/3-poems-translated-rose-demaris/ Find our more about Rosana Elkhatib and her work here: https://rosanakhatib.work/ If you're in New York and want to see the show live, stay up-to-date with Dead Ladies NYC via their newsletter here: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/ If you're in Berlin and want to stay in touch, our newsletter is here: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com And find us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/deadladiesshow Need even more Dead Ladies in your life? Become a member of our Patreon and get exclusive episodes of our Dead Lady Book Club, where we chat about books, ideas, music and more —  by and about Dead Ladies. For just a couple of dollars, pounds or euros a month, you can support our work and join in the fun. Check it out at patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast  

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• Episode 80 - Dorothy Thompson

  In this episode of our podcast, DLS co-host Florian Duijsens tells us about journalist, writer, and witness to history Dorothy Thompson.  As a foreign correspondent in Germany, she was among the first to caution against the growing tides of fascism, warning urgently against the Nazis and Hitler. Unfortunately, the world didn’t listen. Dorothy continued to speak out throughout her life, and during her career peak, was read and heard on the radio by millions.       Her personal life at times also made the news — she was married to Pulitzer Prize-winning author and alcoholic Sinclair ‘Hal’ Lewis but was also less openly involved with German-Hungarian novelist, playwright and sculptor Christa Winsloe, the author of the notorious girl’s boarding school lesbian story which became Mädchen in Uniform, an even more notorious film starring Dead Lady Romy Schneider.   Katy Derbyshire, our other DLS co-founder joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the story.    Visit our episode page to get more info on Dorothy Thompson: https://deadladiesshow.com/2025/04/24/podcast-80-dorothy-thompson/   You can find NPR’s recent feature on Dorothy Thompson here:  https://www.npr.org/2025/03/14/nx-s1-5324672/dorothy-thompson-hitler   Join our newsletter to stay updated on our events, including our May 13th Anniversary Show in Berlin: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com/   Tickets can be found here: https://literatur-berlin.tickettoaster.de/produkte/3707-tickets-dead-ladies-show-39-the-10th-anniversary-edition-lettretage-berlin-am-13-05-2025   Join the newsletter for Dead Ladies NYC here. Their next show is May 8: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/ Thanks for listening! We will be back next month with another fabulous Dead Lady.   

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• Episode 79 - Boudica

  We’re back with Season Eight of the Dead Ladies Show Podcast!  In this episode, DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire brings us the story of Boudica, an ancient British queen who fought the Romans. Though she led her Iceni tribe in a rebellion, the Romans prevailed, but wrote a fair bit about her in the history books.  In her afterlife, Boudica became a mascot for the suffragettes but also co-opted as a symbol for all things British; also, Enya wrote a song about her.  DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens joins producer/host Susan Stone to set the stage.   Get more info on Boudica in our episode notes: https://deadladiesshow.com/2025/3/xx/podcast-79-boudica/ For more on the Boudica-inspired perfume Susan mentioned, look here:   https://www.boudiccawode.com/ Dead Ladies NYC has a show March 6 — find out more here on their newsletter: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/ As it happens, Caroline Knapp of DLS NYC actually presented Boudica back in 2020 during lockdown, so the show was on Zoom! And in Berlin we are celebrating 10 years of DLS! Come see us May 13th, and find out more via our website: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com/ Please consider joining our Patreon! We have lots of fun interviews and book chat and more over at patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast If you like, follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via [email protected]  and we’re on BlueSky, too: https://bsky.app/profile/deadladiesshow.bsky.social Our theme music is  “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

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