STORICAL FOOTNOTES:
Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece, The Raven, was inspired not by any ordinary raven, not by a harbinger of doom, it was a talking pet raven named Grip owned by none other than Charles Dickens. Tune in for the story of Grip…then go visit the real Grip who is still on display at the Free Library of Philadelphia!
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: MARIE ANTOINETTE'S GHOST
In 1901, two British academics had a strange experience at Versailles. Listen in to learn about the Moberly-Jourdain incident, a tale of time travel and Marie Antoinette’s ghost.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: MARIE ANTOINETTE’S HOLY TRINITY OF FASHION
Marie Antoinette’s fashion is iconic to this day. But how did she go from frumpy Austrian Archduchess to the reigning Queen of Couture? Three people were behind Marie Antoinette’s fashion transformation. Meet Rose Bertin, Léonard Autié, and Jean-Louis Fargeon. Rose was the Minister of Fashion, Léonard the hairdresser, and Jean-Louis the perfumer and cosmetics purveyor. Tune in!
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: LET THEM EAT CAKE
Did Marie Antoinette really say, “Let them eat cake?” NO! Then where did the phrase come from and how did it get attributed to her? Today, we’re talking cake, brioche, and Enlightenment philosophers!
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: THE WITCH OF LIME STREET VS HOUDINI
Margery the Medium used the ghost of her dead brother Walter to conduct her séances. When Scientific American Magazine put forth a contest with a $2500 prize for any medium who could produce verifiable psychic phenomena , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recommended her. Harry Houdini was not having it and made it his mission to expose Margery as a fraud.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: AGATHA CHRISTIE THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
After her divorce from Archie Christie, Agatha Christie found new love and a new life with a young archaeologist. Tune in to learn how the Middle East inspired her and how she made contributions to the field of archaeology.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: AGATHA CHRISTIE'S ROMANCE NOVELS
You’ve read her detective novels, but did you know that Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott? Tune in to learn more!
STORICAL FOOTNOTES - FRIDA KAHLO'S MENAGERIE
Frida Kahlo had a lot of pets. Many of them even made it into her most famous works of art. Listen in to learn all about Frida's animals.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES - FRIDA'S FRENEMY
Lupe Marin was more than just the ex-wife who taught Frida Kahlo how to cook for Diego Rivera. In this edition of Storical Footnotes, we take a look at Frida and Lupe’s complicated relationship.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES - FRIDA KAHLO’S PERFUME COLLECTION
Introducing Storical Footnotes! Schedule permitting, I’ll be posting these little bite sized nuggets between longer episodes. I’ll continue posting them on Mondays.