For Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a list of HistoryExtra podcast episodes you can listen to featuring inspirational historical women and their achievements
Looking for a new podcast recommendation? In Women’s History Month, learn more about remarkable women through history and their stories with these fascinating episodes from the HistoryExtra podcast…
Madame Restell: the abortionist who shocked and fascinated 19th-century New York
Jennifer Wright discusses the dramatic life of Madame Restell, a New York businesswoman who made millions – and horrified many – by selling abortions and birth control in the 19th century
Sirens, succubi & sex symbols: a history of female monsters
Sarah Clegg explores how and why historical myths have portrayed women as monstrous beings – from seductive, child-killing monsters to mermaids, sirens and vampires
Medieval women: everything you wanted to know
Eleanor Janega busts popular myths surrounding women in the Middle Ages, revealing how society was more open-minded than we might initially expect
Female spies who forged the CIA
Nathalia Holt discusses four women who undertook life-threatening missions and harnessed crucial intelligence in the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency
Breastfeeding: a cultural history
From ancient baby bottles to the perceived moral dangers of wetnursing, Joanna Wolfarth investigates what we can learn from changing attitudes to breastfeeding through history
How six women programmed the world’s first modern computer
During the Second World War, six talented mathematicians were brought together to make history. These women had one mission: to program the world’s first and only supercomputer. Speaking with Rachel Dinning, Kathy Kleiman explores the vital but overlooked role the “Eniac 6” played in the history of computing during and after the Second World War
Njinga: queen, warrior, diplomat
Luke Pepera tells Kev Lochun about the dramatic life and reign of Queen Njinga, the formidable 17th-century ruler of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern-day Angola
Women who served in WW2
Tessa Dunlop explores the lives of the last surviving women who served in Britain’s armed forces during the Second World War
Countryside campaigners: four women who fought for our green spaces
Matthew Kelly explores the lives of four women who helped to protect the English countryside in the 19th and 20th centuries
Warrior queens & quiet revolutionaries: forgotten women from history
Author Kate Mosse shares inspirational stories of women from across global history – including the forgotten life of her great grandmother Lily Watson
Want to know more about women’s history? You can read our articles on the topic here.