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.

Shakespeare’s late 16th century play, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, is a perfect literary work to illustrate the dynamic of a fallen woman. The accusation. The shame. The desire for retribution. The ruined family. The confident accuser. But this story, being a comedy, allows all rifts to heal, and everyone leaves happy, except for the villain, who–surprise, surprise–is literally a bastard...born of a fallen woman.

Nothing we read this season this will have a scene in which an accused virgin ends up literally on the floor as her accuser rants, nor will any other work give the virgin a do-over, so make sure you join Sonja and Vanessa as they take you through this classic treatment of the fallen woman theme. What does Shakespeare seem to make of ruining a woman’s reputation (and quite possibly ending her life) with a rumor? Is it always about the woman? What recourse do she and her family have? Can she even count on her family to defend her? Can we go so far as to say that this nearly 430-year old play subverts patriarchy’s obsession with virginity?

Along the way, Sonja sings a song about lying men and crowns the best film version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and Vanessa swipes right on a few bastards.

REFERENCES:

The internet Shakespeare guru that Sonja cites is Sarah Spring, Actor & Coach, and you can find her at @shakespearemadeclear

Candice Millard shares how she learned to do deep research and the leap of faith she took to land her dream job. She explains how she knows which topics she can develop into books, including how she came across the idea for her next historical study. Millard also shares some teasers about her next book that will thrill you if you like women's stories and a bit of wartime intrigue. Click play now: this is such a special interview with one of America’s most eloquent popular historians.

If you have not read one of Candice Millard's riveting historical accounts, you should run–not walk–to your local bookseller to get a copy. Where to start? No better place than her gripping, revelatory telling of President Garfield’s assassination attempt, in DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A TALE OF MADNESS, MEDICINE AND THE MURDER OF A PRESIDENT. Then, treat yourself to the wonderful Netflix adaptation, DEATH BY LIGHTNING. The convention scene is fantastic, and Matthew MacFayden gives a brilliant performance as Garfield's crazed assassin.

If you have not read any Traci Brimhall, you’ve missed out on seeing through the eyes of someone who somehow–almost magically, at points–sews disparate parts together: grief and joy, loss and abundance, science and poetry.

Yes, we take her brave and incandescent 2024 collection, LOVE PRODIGAL, as our starting point, and yes, this episode is about poetry, but that’s not all: it’s a truly fulfilling conversation about the power of words to shape us and help us understand how to keep on living when we’ve been utterly burned to the ground. Can we reemerge? Can that old story of the Phoenix help us? Or do we need a new story?

Traci has published 4 acclaimed poetry collections, she is a distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University, the 2023-2026 Kansas Poet Laureate, and the 2025 Guggenheim Poet-in-Residence. That’s all pretty impressive, but when you hear Traci, you’ll be struck by how warm, relatable, and downright funny she is. Plus, Traci has some pretty ingenious methods to help aspiring writers find their voice. If you like poetry, you’ll love this episode. If you are a writer–of any kind–you’ll value Traci’s insights. If you find the creative process fascinating–as Sonja and Vanessa do–you may even find new pathways, as Traci explains her tricks for bringing that withering inner critic to heel.

Along the way, we enjoy the sweet, romantic give-and-take of a physicist + poet’s love story; Vanessa requests an aubade, minus the lover, and Sonja takes another stab at poor little Bella Swan.

Yes, you kinda have to be LIKE a virgin because, really, who knows if there is such a thing as REAL virginity? Hanne Blank, historian and author of VIRGINITY: THE UNTOUCHED HISTORY (2007), certainly makes a girl question the whole story–and virginity IS a story, not a biological fact.

If you haven’t heard of Blank’s thoroughly researched, sharply-written and entertainingly wry history of virginity, treat yourself to a great read–you’ll be glad you did! As you drive to the bookstore, listen to this episode, as we take you through highlights of a history that lays the groundwork for our season on “fallen women.” After all, if you are going to fall, you have to fall from somewhere, and virginity has traditionally been the precipice from which patriarchy most enjoys watching women tumble to their doom.

Join Sonja and Vanessa as they share Blank’s surprising and yet predictable, funny and yet tragic findings, on all things virginal. For starters, what defines virginity? Is there even such a thing as a hymen? Why was virginity thought to give you superpowers? Does Jesus even care about virginity? Why is virginity still seen as a way to cure sexually transmitted diseases? Why–if you could go back in a time machine to ancient Rome–might you consider signing up to be a Vestal Virgin? What’s the link between Martin Luther’s Reformation and the concept of the “old maid” that haunts many a Jane Austen heroine? How are concepts of virginity and colonialism intertwined? And why, dear listener, would you ever think it was a good idea to put a leech…down there?

Along the way, find out why Sonja is a virgin martyr fan girl, and discover the shocking results of Vanessa’s head/neck ratio virginity test.

REFERENCES:

Hanne Blank’s Virgin: The Untouched History is such a great read that we hope you buy it or check it out from your library. Our episode only touches the surface of the detailed and fascinating research she presents on the topic.

If you are interested in Virginia Woolf’s assertion that virginity is a “fetish,” it’s best to read her entire section, "If Shakespeare Had a Sister" from A Room of One’s Own.

We reference several previous episodes: Season 2 Episode 1 explains Gerda Lerner’s theories on the beginnings of patriarchy; Season 4 Episode 5 explores DRACULA and the medical use of wine to help with vampiric blood loss; Season 3 Episode 10 discusses Sarah Waters’s THE PAYING GUESTS and early 20th century abortive concoctions.

Please Note: The internet was not playing nice on the day we interviewed Polly, and though we tried several strategies, we could not totally resolve some technical difficulties. That being said, as you listen, you’ll hear that Polly’s warm authenticity and her lovely personality just totally outshine the tech issues.

No woman totally escapes the fact that she lives in a body made for making other humans. Whether she wants to have kids or not, her body and the society she lives have agendas. Polly Rosenwaike’s moving collection, LOOK HOW HAPPY I’M MAKING YOU, explores the challenges of deciding whether to become a mother, the obstacles to becoming a mother, and the the learning curve of adapting to motherhood.

Named one of the Best Books of 2019 by Kirkus Review, Glamour, and an Editor’s Pick on Amazon, Rosenwaike’s empathetic and beautifully-written collection offers a window into the lives of a dozen women who couldn’t know what awaited them, from trying to get pregnant and stay pregnant, to the hard-earned lessons of what day-to-day mothering involves for each of them.

Join Sonja and Vanessa as they ask Polly about her creative process, how she came up with the concept of the collection, the nitty gritty of working with an editor, what she thinks of first when she writes, how she chose the collection’s clever title, and her literary influences. As we do with all our visiting writers, we ask Polly about a story that shaped her, and we just loved what she shared–you won’t want to miss it!

Along the way, Sonja and Vanessa cast themselves back into the misty past, reminiscing about pregnancy and shiny-new motherhood, and Vanessa confesses that she sucked at breastfeeding.

REFERENCES:
If you do not have a favorite local bookstore, remember that you can always order online from Lawrence Kansas’s beloved bookseller, The Raven Bookstore. Here is a link to Polly Rosenwaike’s LOOK HOW HAPPY I'M MAKING YOU.