She seized power from her weak husband and would go down in history as a strong and powerful Empress.
In this episode, we look at how Catherine The Great managed it, and how she was a victim of terrible double standards against women.
Full transcript, subtitles and key vocabulary available on the website: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/catherine- ... Show More
Jul 16
#622 | A Short History of Fire
A million years ago, in a cave in South Africa, our ancestors did something no other animal has ever done: they controlled fire. Fire cooked our food, shrank our guts, grew our brains, and gave us the deep sleep and fireside stories that made us human. This is the story of our sp ... Show More
24m 39s
Jul 2
#619 | Wyatt Earp | The Man Behind the Legend (English Listening Practice)
In 1881, a 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona made Wyatt Earp a legend of the Wild West. Earp was a gambler, a lawman, a fugitive, and later a showman who told his own legend for cash. So who fired first at the OK Corral, and how did Hollywood turn a frontier opportunist in ... Show More
23m 9s
Jun 18
#617 | Bob Denard: The Mercenary Who Ruled the Comoros (English Listening Practice)
In 1975, a French mercenary landed in the Comoros, a chain of small islands off East Africa, and decided he was going to run the place. Bob Denard staged four coups, converted to Islam, built a farm, and controlled the country from the shadows for over a decade. It was a story of ... Show More
25m 10s
Dec 2024
Catherine the Great: life of the week
Catherine the Great stands out from the rulers of Imperial Russia – a 'philosopher empress' whose wit, political savvy, and unyielding ambition transformed her empire into a European powerhouse. Seizing the throne through an audacious coup against her own husband, Catherine wield ... Show More
37m 15s
Feb 2020
Catherine the Great and her Husband the Mediocre
<p>Catherine the Great, Russia's most famous Empress, wasn't born in Russia—she was a minor German princess engaged to the future Emperor. But less than a year after her husband ascended to the Russian throne, Catherine overthrew him in a coup with the help of her lover in one of ... Show More
26m 42s