Love and War in Ancient Rome with Jenny Williamson

Season 6, Episode 8. Happy Pride Month! Join me and Eleanor Medhurst to discuss her book 'Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion,' which explores the intersection of fashion, identity, and politics within lesbian communities throughout history. We'll talk about historical figures like the slightly messy Queen Christina of Denmark and the queer-coded songs of 1920s jazz singer Ma Rainey. We'll also dive into the impact of social class on lesbian fashion choices, and the role of fashion in the suffragette movement and the activism of groups like the Lavender Menace. I learned so much from Eleanor and hope you do too. Make sure to stick around until the end to hear Ma Rainey's 1928 song "Prove It On Me." To learn more about Eleanor's work, visit her website Dressing Dykes.  Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS, and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 7. If you were living in Paris in the late 1600s and happened to pick up a newspaper, you might have read about the latest exploits of a beautiful and talented opera singer. She was famed for her many on-stage talents. But it was her behavior off-stage that made her notorious. And she wasn’t one to shrink away from drama. As this queer woman, known for crossdressing, illegal dueling, and her many affairs would one day say: “I am made for perils, as well as for tenderness.” In honor of Pride Month, let’s travel back to France and the court of the Sun King to learn about the adventures of Julie D’Aubigny. Allons voyager!  This episode was made possible by my wonderful patrons, who get exclusive access to the transcript for this episode, and every episode of the pod early and ad-free. Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 6. Welcome to Exploress Book Club! Join me in talking to Alison Goodman, author of The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, as she tells us what life was really like for the ladies in Regency England. Alison has done a LOT of research into this period, and she has a lot to tell us about the agency (or lack thereof) of women during this period and the societal expectations they faced. This conversation delves into the complexities of women's lives in Regency England, exploring themes of love, societal expectations, and the darker realities of the time. We'll talk about historical lesbian relationships, the brutal treatment of women in private madhouses, and the grim realities of child trafficking and prostitution...and so we don't end on too bleak a note, we'll also play a fun game of True or False: Regency Edition. To find out more about Alison's books, check out her website. The second book in the series, The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin, is out now! You can watch the video version of our chat over on Patreon for the rest of May 2025.  Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS, and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 5. One Thousand and One Nights – the famed collection of stories in which the vizier’s daughter, Scheherazade, agrees to wed a paranoid king who marries a new bride each night only to kill her in the morning. To delay her execution, Scheherazade starts to tell the king a different story every evening, but makes sure to leave it unfinished at sunrise so he’ll keep her alive for another day in order to hear the end. She weaves tales for 1,001 nights, until the king is cured of his paranoia, and he stops marrying and killing innocent women. The book is a compilation of tales from various civilizations added together over the centuries, with the earliest stories probably originating in India and Persia (modern-day Iran). The original text was translated into Arabic in the 8th century, with stories from Iraq, Syria, and Egypt added through the years and into the early modern period until it became the 1,001 tales we know today. The history of the stories themselves is, by now, very muddied, but it is believed that the witty, politically savvy Scheherazade may have been based upon an enslaved concubine named Al-Khayzuran, who eventually became the wife of a Caliph. Her son, the legendary Caliph Harun al-Rashid, and the descriptions of his luxurious court, would be immortalized in One Thousand and One Nights. Let’s jump aboard our magic carpet and travel back to Arabia and the Abbasid Dynasty to meet Al-Khayzuran. Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 4. In this series, we're exploring what life was like for women in the Viking (Norse) Age. In this episode, we're going to spend a day with your average Norse woman. We'll find out everything from what we're sleeping on, what sorts of chores we're doing, what we're wearing and eating, what our houses are like, where we're going to the bathroom, and so much more. Our experts for this series are Eleanor Barraclough, a broadcaster and author whose latest book studies the physical remains the Vikings left us, and Nancy Marie Brown, who has been writing about Vikings, and particularly warrior women, for decades.  Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 3. In this series, we're exploring what life was like for women in the Viking (Norse) Age. In this episode, we're going to find out more about what the Vikings looked for in their ladies: what traits did the ideal Norse woman possess, according to the Sagas? We'll also explore courtship and marriage: Norse runic love notes, fathers as marriage brokers, and some amorous adventures (with a side of contraception). Bonus: we'll meet some of the Saga's most impressive queens, from the impressive Åsa Haraldsdottir to the drama queen Olga of Kiev. Our experts for this series are Eleanor Barraclough, a broadcaster and author whose latest book studies the physical remains the Vikings left us, and Nancy Marie Brown, who has been writing about Vikings, and particularly warrior women, for decades. The music in this episode comes courtesy of Solas Composer and Kevin Macleod. Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 2. In this series, we're exploring what life was like for women in the Viking (Norse) Age. Let's start by talking about our sources: how do we know what we know about the Vikings? We'll explore our written sources, runes, and archeological material, as well as the biases male writers and scholars have brought to the study of women in this age. We'll find out who the Norse where - the time period we're dealing with, societal structure, law and order - and bust some myths about women in the Viking Age. Our experts for this series are Eleanor Barraclough, a broadcaster and author whose latest book studies the physical remains the Vikings left us, and Nancy Marie Brown, who has been writing about Vikings, and particularly warrior women, for decades. The music in this episode comes courtesy of Solas Composer and Kevin Macleod. Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the full episodes with both our Viking experts and some extra tales from the Norse sagas. Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS, and its sequel  FYREBIRDS

Season 6, Episode 1. In this series, we're going to explore what life was like for women in the Viking (Norse) Age. But first, let's meet Freyja, a powerful Nordic goddess, who will introduce us to the Viking religious pantheon. We'll hear some of her more famous stories and learn about her links to magic, fertility, sexuality, war, and death. She's quite the lady! CW: this one's clean in terms of language, but there are several references to sexy time. Ways to support The Exploress: Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including one about Tomoe Gozen, an infamous Japanese warrior, and a bonus about Japanese goddess Amaterasu. Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop Check out Kate's novel, NIGHTBIRDS, and its sequel  FYREBIRDS      

Season 6, Episode 1 -  It's Exploress Book Club time! Join me for this excellent chat with Jenny Williamson, one half of the podcast Ancient History Fangirl, about her debut steamy ancient Roman romantasy novel, Enemy of My Dreams. We'll discuss her inspiration, how much of the true ancient past made it into her fictional novel, some of the real ancient Roman imperial women who inspired her, and why she loves Alaric of the Goths. You can find out more about Jenny and her book right here. Listen to Ancient History Fangirl wherever you get your podcasts. If you like the Exploress, consider becoming a patron, unlocking access to lots of bonus episodes and behind-the-scenes goodness.

Season 5, Episode 15. Hey listener! I'm currently on maternity leave, but to get us in the Halloween spirit, I'm re-releasing my first ever Halloween special about the 19th-century mediums who used their connection to the dead to find fame and fortune. But this isn’t just an old episode repeating: I’ve remastered and re-recorded it to give it a 2024 glow up. The Exploress will be taking a break in November and December, but I’ll still be dropping new bonus episodes over on my Patreon during that time. So if you like the show and would like more of it, become a patron: they get 1 to 2 exclusive bonus episodes a month, and much more.