This review has something for everyone. If you hated it, we got you. If you loved it, we got you. Sonja and Vanessa don’t agree on everything, and this is one of those things. Settle in and cheer for your side, and then close it out with a hug and gratitude for conversations in which we can say what we truly feel, not agree, and yet not go to war over it.

Along the way, Sonja asks for a dehumidifier, and Vanessa makes some good historical points about aspic.

If you’re into Women’s History, you will LOVE this episode. Dr. Sarah Bell, Director of the newly-renovated Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas, joins IWAW and shares fascinating stories of three Kansas women: Clarina Nichols, Annie Diggs, & Mamie Dillard.

In the 19th century, the story of women was supposed to take place–exclusively–in the “home,” and yet, everything outside the home profoundly affected women. The only way forward was to change the narrative. And that’s what these three women did, rewriting women’s story through writing, public speaking, teaching, and mentoring.

You may not know this, but Kansas claims a lot of “firsts” in American history, and the lives of Nichols, Diggs, and Dillard intersect with crucial 19th century issues like abolition, suffrage, reforms in women’s dress and diet, temperance, and gaining custody and property rights for women. Dr. Bell says, “Kansas is full of surprises,” and, indeed, so is her interview. Have you heard of the Moneka Women’s Rights Association? Do you know why voting rights and prohibiting alcohol went hand-in-hand? And what on earth was the Octagon Colony? Dr. Bell knows!

Along the way, Sonja organizes a field trip, and Vanessa explains how she got a glass bowl with a rose floating in it 25 years ago.

Please Note that this episode contains spoilers and discussion of sexual assault.

“You have to get through the first 500 pages, and then you can’t put it down,” said no one ever…except Sonja about Clarissa, the longest novel in the English language.

In the mid 18th century, Samuel Richardson was living in a world that strongly believed a woman should marry the man who “ruined” her–even if the act was not consensual. Clarissa: or, the History of a Young Lady is Richardson’s eloquent, impassioned, surprising response.

Even if you have no plans to read this enormous novel, tune in to hear Sonja’s how Richardson pushed his audience to question some of their firmly-held beliefs about virginity, rape, marriage, and the definition of virtue in his tragic and compelling story.

Along the way, Pamela Andrews and Clarissa Harlowe find themselves in a cage match, Sonja explains her vision for Clarissa-meets-Heated Rivalry fan fiction, and Vanessa parries with a link to Fifty Shades of Grey.