Women’s Labour and the History of the Book in Early Modern England (Bloomsbury, 2020) reveals the valuable work that women achieved in publishing, printing, writing and reading early modern English books, from those who worked in the book trade to those who composed, selected, collected and annotated books. Women gathered rags for paper production, invested ... Show More
Sep 15
Catherine A John, "Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice" (Duke UP, 2026)
In Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice (Duke University Press, 2026), Catherine A. John addresses the underbelly of spiritual resilience shaping a range of African diasporic institutions, traditions, and practices. John argues that repressed forms of indi ... Show More
42m 4s
Sep 12
Han Hsien Liew, "Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam: Ibn Al-Jawzi's Political Thought" (Edinburgh UP, 2026)
Han Hsien Liew’s fascinating and insightful new book, Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam: Ibn al-Jawzi’s Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2026) offers a new way of understanding the political thought of one of medieval Islam’s most influential preachers, Ib ... Show More
1h 26m
Sep 10
A Nation Wrestles With God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands
Spanning more than 400 years of spiritual transformation and imagination, A Nation Wrestles With God (Restless Books, 2026) collects diverse writers—poets, novelists, theologians, scientists, musicians, politicians, comedians, artists, mavericks, naturalists, futurists, and more ... Show More
1h 15m
Oct 2024
Helena Taylor, "Women Writing Antiquity: Gender and Learning in Early Modern France" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Women Writing Antiquity: Gender and Learning in Early Modern France (Oxford UP, 2024) recounts women authors' struggle to define the female intellectual through their engagement with the classical world in early modern France. Bringing together the fields of classical reception a ... Show More
59m 25s
May 2024
Forgotten women writers of the Renaissance
You've heard of Shakespeare, but have you heard of his contemporary Mary Sidney, the first person to translate the Book of Psalms into English poetry? Or what about Elizabeth Cary, who published the first original play known to be written by a woman in English? In her new book Sh ... Show More
42m 36s
Feb 2025
Wages for Housework – then and now
From the early 1970s feminist activists from across the globe campaigned under a single demand – Wages for Housework. The historian Emily Callaci traces the lives and ideas of its key creators in her new book, Wages for Housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise. The ... Show More
41m 37s
Aug 2024
Life Lessons From Historical Women
When women's stories aren't being flat-out ignored from the history books, they can often be sidelined.Well not here! Joining Kate today is the comedian and author of Life Lessons from Historical Women, Eleanor Morton, to share some of her favourite stories of inspirational women ... Show More
35m 48s
Nov 2022
Arabian queens, Bangladeshi mothers and women's tales
Shahidha Bari looks at the voices of women emerging from new writing in novels, plays and histories. Zenobia, Mavia, and Khadijah are Arabian queens and noblewomen who feature in the new book by Emran Iqbal El-Badawi which looks at the way female rulers of Arabia were crucial in ... Show More
44m 52s
Mar 2025
Women killers of the early modern era
From true crime pamphlets to reports from the scaffold, early modern Britain was gripped by tales of women who killed. But were these cases as common as they seemed, or was something else at play? Speaking to Lauren Good, historian Blessin Adams explores the obsession with female ... Show More
34m 56s