logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
57m 41s

The History of Bad Ideas: Anti-Suffraget...

David Runciman
About this episode

In this episode of our series on the lingering hold of bad ideas David talks to the writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis about the arguments made at the turn of the last century against giving the vote to women. Why were so many women against female enfranchisement? What did attitudes to women in politics reveal about the failings of men? And where can the echoes of these arguments still be heard today?


Helen Lewis’s Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights is available wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/3wp8DNX 


Sign up now to PPF+ to get ad-free listening and bonus episodes to accompany every series. Coming soon: two bonus bad ideas just for PPF+ subscribers www.ppfideas.com 


Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Kathleen Stock discusses The Death of the Author.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Oct 8
Fixing Democracy: Compulsory Voting
In today’s episode David talks to political historian David Klemperer about whether voting should be required by law and what might change if non-participation was no longer an option. Why have some countries made voting compulsory? What difference has it made? Can the people who ... Show More
57m 53s
Oct 5
Fixing Democracy: What’s Wrong with Referendums?
In today’s episode David talks to Alan Renwick from UCL’s Constitution Unit about the pros and cons of referendums. When does a democratic question need to be put direct to the people? Do some countries do it better than others? How can referendums be used to open up political de ... Show More
1 h
Oct 1
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: From Kinnock to Corbyn to Starmer
The second part of David’s conversation with Robert Saunders marking the 40th anniversary of Neil Kinnock’s party conference speech attacking the Militant tendency takes the story up to the present and beyond. Was Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in the Labour leadership contest of 2015 t ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
Marie Stopes: Birth Control & Eugenics
Why would someone disown their son over a pair of glasses? How could an unmarried woman in 1918 have published a book about sexual pleasure? And what is an appropriate gift for a newlywed prince and princess?  Today, we’re looking at the complicated woman who was Marie Stopes - f ... Show More
35m 45s
Sep 2022
Mafia Women
Who was Pupetta Maresca? And what did she do to become the first woman in Italy to be prohibited from having a funeral? In this episode, Kate chats to Barbie Latza Nadeau, a journalist and author who has lived in Italy since 1996, and who, to find out more about the women of the ... Show More
38m 45s
Sep 2022
Women in Power
What do Hatshepsut and Hillary Clinton have in common? Well, what do they have in common with the vast majority of women who have been so successful as to gain power? Women like Britain’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, just the third woman to hold the title. They have been subjec ... Show More
33m 44s
Aug 2022
100 Years of British Political Nightmares
Over Britain’s first century of mass democracy, from the Great Depression to the pandemic, politics has lurched from crisis to crisis. How does this history of political agony illuminate our current age of upheaval? Phil Tinline is a leading producer and presenter of historical n ... Show More
29m 19s
Aug 2023
Eleanor Aquitaine: The Life of a Medieval Badass
You would think that a woman who was queen several times, commanded armies and was possibly the most powerful woman in medieval Europe would need no introduction…yet here we are. On today’s show we’re joined by author and new co-host of the History Hit podcast Gone Medieval, Elea ... Show More
43m 53s
Apr 2021
Difficult Women, with Helen Lewis and Rosamund Urwin
Helen Lewis argues that feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. ... Show More
40m 53s
Mar 2024
The Real Joan of Arc
How did a peasant girl go on to lead French armies at the age of 17? To mark International Women's Day on March 8th, Kate's joined by Eleanor Janega, co-host of sister podcast Gone Medieval, to explore the life of the formidable Joan of Arc. How did her visions of saving France f ... Show More
48m 25s
Jun 2023
Women Warriors: From Boudicca to Ukrainian Snipers
From Boudicca to Ukrainian snipers, battlefields have always contained a surprising number of women. Today Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets by Sarah Percy to get to the bottom of why women were allowed to be astronauts a full thirty years before they were allowed to fight in com ... Show More
44m 56s
Mar 2023
Women Rebels: The Spanish Civil War
From aristocratic rebels to Civil Rights activists, tens of thousands of people travelled to Spain during the Civil War - and not all of them were men... Whether they were fighting, nursing or reporting, in this episode of Betwixt the Sheets we are going to meet a few of the wome ... Show More
42m 35s
Jun 2024
The Anarchy: Disruptive Women
The Anarchy is an intriguing and often forgotten period of history. There are fascinating characters and moments of deep political importance to England's development as a state. The involvement of women in the Anarchy is vital to understanding how it played out over almost two d ... Show More
38m 18s