logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
10m 15s

Gloria Steinem: The start of Ms. Magazin...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In 1972, feminist campaigner Gloria Steinem co-founded the first magazine in the US which was owned, run and written by women.

Called Ms. Magazine, it covered issues including equal rights, abortion and domestic violence. The glossy covers helped bring feminism into the mainstream.

In 2022, Gloria Steinem told Louise Hidalgo that it's one of the projects of which she's most proud.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Gloria Steinem at the office of Ms. Magazine. Credit: PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)

Up next
Yesterday
Argentina’s national genetics bank created to identify stolen babies
In 1982, Argentine geneticist Victor Penchaszadeh was living in exile in New York when he received a call that would change the course of his career. Two founding members of the campaign group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, were asking for his help to find their kidnappe ... Show More
10m 41s
Jul 8
The mystery of Evita’s corpse
When Eva Peron, Argentina's most famous First Lady, died in 1952, her body was embalmed. Three years later, her widower, Juan Peron, was deposed in a coup. But military officers feared her corpse would become a rallying point of protest against the new government. So they stole i ... Show More
10m 34s
Jul 7
Argentina’s 'trial of the juntas'
In 1985, Argentina’s former military leaders were put on trial accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering thousands of their own people. The ‘trial of the juntas’ was the first major prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg trials following World War Two. Between 1976 an ... Show More
10m 40s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Best of Design Matters: Gloria Steinem
For over sixty years, Gloria Steinem has been at the center of American culture and political life, where she has been instrumental in shaping our ideas about feminism, humanity, and equal rights for all people. She joins to talk about her legendary career as an award-winning jou ... Show More
1h 14m
May 2024
India’s ambitious ID scheme and the iconic Princess Diana photo
This week, how more than one billion people living in India were given a unique digital ID during the world's largest biometric project. The Aadhaar scheme was launched in 2009 but it wasn't without controversy. Our guest, digital identity expert Dr Edgar Whitley, tells us about ... Show More
51m 1s
Oct 2010
Suffragette-defaced penny
Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects from the British Museum in London. The objects he has chosen this week have reflected on mass production and mass consumption in the 19th century. Today' he is with the first object from the 20th century, a coin that leads Neil ... Show More
14m 2s
May 2024
Workers: Hiratsuka Raichō
Hiratsuka Raichō (1886-1971) was a Japanese feminist and social reformer, who founded a literary magazine by and for women. After becoming a mother, she became an advocate for working women in Japan, fighting for suffrage and better working conditions.  For Further Reading:  “In ... Show More
7m 33s
Mar 2025
545. The French Revolution: The First Feminist (Part 2)
In the summer and Autumn of 1792 - with the Prussians bearing down on Paris, the streets thronged with the stirring swell of the Marseillaise, but also the rotting bodies of those brutally killed during the September Massacres - the French Revolution bore a new symbol of optimism ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2025
Aphra Behn: Revolutionary, Author, Spy
Aphra Behn was a true original. Not only was she the first woman to earn a living by writing, she was also a spy, a political propagandist and a revolutionary. Publicly she was all brash sexuality and outspoken politics, but what is known about the woman beneath? Professor Suzann ... Show More
40m 26s
Mar 2025
Gloria Steinem: Laughing Our Way to Liberation (Best Of)
GLORIA STEINEM – who dedicates her life to ensuring we know that we are not broken, but were born into a system intended to break us – lives in the DNA of millions who are giving birth to movements or to themselves. She reminds us why there’s nothing more radical than telling the ... Show More
57m 15s
Jun 2024
Dwight D Eisenhower: life of the week
Few men did more to shape the course of the 20th century than Dwight D Eisenhower. Not only did 'Ike' mastermind the Allied invasion of western Europe on D-Day, but he also went on to become president of the United States as it cemented its status as the world's most powerful nat ... Show More
40m 18s
Mar 2025
What's the state of women's history in 2025?
What is new research revealing about women's lives in the past? Does all women's history have to be feminist? And why do we need to be cautious about the 'girlbossification' of historical figures? To mark International Women's Day, Ellie Cawthorne speaks to three expert historian ... Show More
40m 57s
May 2024
Workers: Luisa Capetillo
Lusia Capetillo (1879-1922) was a Puerto Rican union organizer, reporter, and author who saw feminism and workers' rights as inseparable from one another. She fought for the intellectual and financial independence of women and encouraged education for the working class. She helpe ... Show More
5m 40s