In this episode, we’re stepping into the birthing chambers, parish homes, and crowded streets of Tudor England to meet a group of women who were absolutely essential to their communities and yet often left out of the historical record: midwives.

For centuries, birth was women’s work; overseen, supported, and guided by other women. And at the center of that world stood the midwife. She was healer, witness, community authority. She carried knowledge passed down not through universities or textbooks, but through experience, memory, and trust.

And yet, like so many women whose power existed outside formal institutions, midwives have often been misunderstood, minimized, or erased.

Today, I’m joined by Brigitte Barnard, an author, historian, and midwife whose work brings these women back into focus. Brigitte is the author of a Tudor-era historical novel series that imagines the lives of women navigating birth, belief, and survival in Tudor England. Brigitte also shares details about her upcoming non-fiction work, which takes us even deeper into the historical realities of childbirth. Separating myth from evidence and restoring midwives to their rightful place in the story.

In our conversation, we talk about what it actually meant to be a midwife in Tudor England: the authority these women held, the dangers they faced, and why childbirth was never just a dangerous or private moment. Birth was communal. It was political. And it was deeply entangled with questions of power and control over women’s bodies.

Disclaimer: Topics covered in this episode may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1978 musical Evita introduced Eva Perón to a global audience, turning her life into a dramatic narrative of ambition, devotion, and power. Songs like “ Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” helped cement an image of Eva as a near-mythic figure: a woman who rose from obscurity to become the emotional heart of a nation.

Behind the music was María Eva Duarte, born into poverty to a single mother, who navigated class barriers, gender expectations, and political opportunism to reach the very center of Argentine public life.

As First Lady alongside Juan Perón, Eva became both a symbol and an actor in Argentina’s populist experiment. She championed labor rights, built a powerful foundation for social welfare, and played a central role in winning women the right to vote. At the same time, her influence was inseparable from a regime that curtailed press freedom and concentrated power.

To supporters, she was a voice for the poor who felt seen by the state for the first time. To critics, she was a political enforcer of tyranny wrapped in glamour.

In today’s episode, I am joined by Victoria Haddock, a fashion historian whose book The Life of Eva Perón looks into the influence Eva Perón had on fashion, politics, and daily life. In our interview, we delve into the image that Eva created for herself and the legacy we continue to see around the world today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was called proud. Ambitious. Dangerous. Born a duchess, widowed by war, and mother to two rival kings, Cecily Neville moved through England’s most treacherous century with the calm precision of a strategist. While men fought for thrones, she fought for legacy. Some saw her as the cold matriarch who helped ignite the Wars of the Roses, a woman willing to brand her own grandsons illegitimate to protect her favorite son’s claim. Others saw a survivor. Pious, dignified, and unbroken, even as her family destroyed itself in pursuit of power. Was she a mother or a monarch in disguise? The line between the two has never been clear.

Today, I’m speaking with Annie Garthwaite, author of The King’s Mother, a powerful new novel (and second in her series) that reimagines Cecily’s later years. Years often dismissed or forgotten by history. We talk about how Cecily navigated the dangerous politics of York and Lancaster, how her reputation was shaped by those who feared women’s influence, and what it means to reclaim a voice history tried to silence.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.