Broads You Should Know

Broad Opinion: On Violence Against Women

While last week we joyfully celebrated the inauguration of Mexico's first female President Claudia Sheinbaum (full BYSK episode on her coming soon!), the rest of the news in the past few months has been rife with stories of violence against women. From across the world, in India, Africa and Europe, to right here in our own backyards and even just blocks from Sara's apartment in Los Angeles. What gives?! Where does all this violence come from? And why? And how do we prevent it from happening?

Sara explores these incredibly challenging questions in this, more somber than usual, Broad Opinion episode.

CW: The news stories discussed in this episode include violence against women, including sexual assault and murder.

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

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3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

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Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Izumo no Okuni — Inventor of Kabuki Theater

This week, guest Steven Townshend brings us Izumo no Okuni, the original creator of Japanese Kabuki Theatre! A humble countryside shrine maiden, Izumo, travels to Kyoto in the early 1600s to help raise money for her temple, but her entertainment skills blow the minds of her audiences, giving birth to one of the most spectacular styles of theatre in existence. Why, then, don't we know her name? And why don't we see women performing Kabuki today?? You'll have to listen to find out!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

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3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky and edited by Chloe Skye, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Sarah Biffin - Limbless Renassiance Painter

Born without arms or legs, from her youngest days Sarah Biffin was not content to sit around bemoaning her difficulties - she got right to work! Sarah taught herself to sew, use scissors and write letters using her mouth!

She was so skilled, in fact, that when a sideshow owner Emmanuel Dukes, discovers her abilities, he quickly convinces her to join up with his traveling sideshow and is able to charge very high prices for passersby to stare with awe at "the astonishing curiosity”, “the limbless wonder” and “the 8th wonder”.

Under Dukes' tutelage, Sarah dives into the world of painting and is so remarkably good at it, that soon they are selling her miniature portraits for three Guineas a pop! Sarah's massive talent eventually attracts local nobility and even the royal courts and she's able to build a notable artistic career.

Her rise to fame and the rocky path that follow are almost as interesting as her origin store. Listen now to hear more about Sarah Biffin's incredible life and work.

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

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3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner — Holds the Most US Patents of Any African-American Woman

This week, Sara brings us Mary Kenner! Coming from a family of inventors, Mary wasted no time and went to work on her own first invention at six years old. She invented throughout her life, and received her first US Patent in 1957 for the Sanitary Belt - a precursor to the sanitary napkin! To this day Mary still holds the record for the most US Patents awarded to an African American woman - FIVE!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

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3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Elizabeth Packard - Fighter for Women's and Asylum Patient's Rights

Therese Oneill, author of the awesome book Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Shrews and Sluts That Shaped America, joins Sara to discuss a Broad we have long been wanting to cover - the incomparable Elizabeth Packard!

When Elizabeth's Reverend jerk of a husband has her committed to an insane asylum, (for disagreeing with his preaching, nonetheless!) Elizabeth bided her time patiently, working with Dr. McFarland on what she believed would be a path to quick release back to her family. However, the charade of the doctor soon became clear, and after losing her privileges, Elizabeth was relegated to the poor wing of the hospital where she witness atrocious patient treatment, even torture.

After her eventual release, home imprisonment by husband and subsequent trial to prove her sanity, Elizabeth began a long journey not only to regain her family and rebuild her prospects (after said husband stole her every penny and moved the children far away), but she also began a new fight - for the rights of asylum patients, and the rights for women and their property under the law.

Her story and her accomplishments are remarkable - listen now for her incredible story!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

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3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Nancy Dowd — Breakout Female Screenwriter of the 70’s

This week, guest Darren Callahan brings us the story of screenwriter Nancy Dowd! After graduating from Smith College, Nancy enrolls at UCLA determined to forge a career writing for film. Not only does she succeed, she ends up writing some of the most renowned films of the 70s and 80s, and even winning an Oscar for her first feature script COMING HOME, but while the original script was entirely her own, she had to share that Oscar with two other writers.

Listen now to find out how that film created a rift between her and Jane Fonda that would last a lifetime, and why much of her writing since has been credited under pseudonyms, and sometimes even uncredited!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Broad Opinion: A Tribute to Joan Davis - the Broad That Started It All

Another light went out of the world this week when we lost lost Joan Davis. "Ms. Davis" was Sara's High School History Teacher and was, arguably, THE BROAD THAT STARTED IT ALL! That's right, this podcast might never have come to being if it weren't for Ms. Davis. Teaching outside that standard curriculum and armed with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present, Ms. Davis made a profound impact teaching Sara and all of her students the importance of exploring history OUTSIDE of the viewpoint of the victors, the winners and the oppressors. That version of the story is not the full version - to understand fully how and why things in this world happened the way they did, you must understand the whole picture. It's not glossy, not beautiful, and often very unpleasant, but it's one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for the future.

Thank you, Ms. Davis, for your incredible work as a public school teacher. Your impact will continue to be felt for many years to come, and Sara thanks you for all you did to bring history to life and transforming us all into history (and herstory) lovers.

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Gudrid the Well-Traveled - Brave Viking Adventurer

Heather Pringle, author of the upcoming book The Northwomen: Untold Stories From the Other Half of the Viking World, brings us the incredible story of Gudrid the Well-Traveled! Gudrid was born into the Viking world which worshipped the old Norse Gods and their ways, but she was also born into a modern family that had adopted the hip new religion of the age: Christianity. This gave young Gudrid a unique ability to walk the line between the two religions, which would prove to be a giant stepping stone for Gudrid as she became the ultimate world traveler of her time.

Traveling was not quick or easy, and helping establish the first known European settlement in North America was even harder, but Gudrid did it all in epic fashion, and when she was pregnant, too! She clinked glasses with Leif Erikson and many other legends of the time, but Gudrid and her adventures across the Atlantic and back, and then all the way eventually to Rome, became so renowned that she appears in not one, but TWO of the surviving Viking Sagas. 

Listen now to hear the story of this Viking Wonder Woman and her trips across the globe! Heather also brings us fascinating information about Viking women and culture, and the recent developments in archaeology that have uncovered a whole new understanding of what it meant to be a Viking woman in this time period. It's an episode you won't want to miss!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Simone Biles - GOAT Gymnast and All-Around Human Being

Simone Biles has made history once more with an incredible performance at the Olympics, breaking records left and right, wowing us (and the judges) with stunning combinations and flawless execution. The past 8 years, though, her work has gone beyond the gymnastics floor and Simone has become a beacon of hope for abuse survivors and an advocate for mental wellness and self-care. She has changed the fabric and foundation of the sport - and not just gymnastics! All of athletics will never be the same because of her.

How in the world did Simone Biles become Simone Biles - the GOAT gymnast and all-around human being? Her story is just as amazing and her collection of medals, and Michael Slefinger is here to tell you her whole story. Listen now! 

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced and edited by Sara Gorsky, with original music by Darren Callahan.

Věra Čáslavská — Czechoslovakian Olympic Superstar Whose Anti-Government Protest Got Her Erased from History [Michael Slefinger]

Special guest Michael Slefinger tells us about gymnast Věra Čáslavská. Her meteoric rise to fame surprised the world, her talent was unmatched, and her charisma charmed the entire world, so why has nobody today even heard of her? Find out why in this week's episode of Broads You Should Know!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

YT/IG/FB @BroadsYouShouldKnow & TW @BYSKpodcast

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode with a friend or on social
3. Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye