Dr. Sarah Lonsdale - Journalist, Author of Wildly Different, and Advocate for Women in Nature

Dr. Sarah Lonsdale is an accomplished journalist, author, and lecturer at City University of London. With a career spanning over three decades, Sarah has written for major newspapers, including The Observer, and has dedicated her work to uncovering untold stories—particularly those of trailblazing women in history. Her latest book, Wildly Different: How Five Women Reclaimed Nature in a Man’s World, explores the lives of remarkable women who defied societal expectations to forge their own paths in the great outdoors.

In this episode, Sarah shares her journey from working as a journalist since 1988 to becoming a passionate educator and historian of women’s stories. She discusses the challenges women have faced in both journalism and exploration, the importance of rewriting history to include the female perspective, and the incredible women who inspired Wildly Different. 

From mountaineers and adventurers to environmental pioneers, Sarah’s research sheds light on the resilience, courage, and passion of these extraordinary figures.

What to Expect in This Episode: 📚 Sarah’s journey in journalism and academia 🌿 Her love for storytelling, history, and the outdoors 📝 The process of uncovering hidden stories of women adventurers ⛰️ The inspiring legacy of female explorers like Dorothy Pilley and Mina Hubbard 💡 The need to challenge historical narratives and amplify women’s voices ✍️ Her writing process and what’s next on her literary journey

Sarah’s work is a testament to the power of persistence, curiosity, and the importance of reclaiming women’s place in history. Whether you're passionate about adventure, history, or storytelling, this conversation is sure to inspire.

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Show notes

• Who is Sarah Lonsdale
• Teaching journalism to under graduates at City University of London
• Working as a journalist since 1988
• Living in rural Kent 
• Her early years growing up
• Being brought up in a very bookish, academic environment in Cambridge 
• Her love of nature the outdoors and landscapes 
• Her love for telling stories 
• Wanting to work for the Observer Newspaper
• History and Herstory 
• Historic stories with the “great male hero” 
• Being a girl in the 70s and 80s
• Why we need to keep pushing back 
• Not seeing many women role model out there for her
• Why history is about ‘great men’
• The unfairness of how the system is constructed against women 
• Book: Rebel Women Between the Wars: Fearless Writers and Adventurers (Manchester University Press, 2020)  
• Writing the book and the process of sharing the stories 
• Not being a brave person and being scared easily 
• Not having the heart of a lion….
• Wanting to learn from the women she was writing about - how they managed to break through 
• Studying the life of Shiela Grant Duff an author, journalist and foreign correspondent.  
• Journalist and war correspondant, Martha Gellhorn
• Thinking about writing her next book: Wildly Different 
• Finding private diaries of the women through their families or visiting the Bodleian Library in Oxford
• Finding out about the women from over 100 years ago and finding out what makes them tick, what makes them cry, what makes them passionate or angry
• Spending many hours digging through old archives 
• The thread from ‘Rebel Women' to ‘Wildly Different’ 
• Being inspired by mountaineer; Dorothy Pilley
• The Pinnacle Club for women climbers since 1921 
• First ascent of the north west ridge of Dent Blanche in the Alps 
• Being inspired by Dorothy and wanting to know more about her life 
• Wanting to write about women in the great outdoors 
• Book: East of the Sun - West of the Moon “I am not afraid”
• Medusa being misunderstood
• The Odyssey Homer - Translated by Emily Wilson 
• How male archaeologists dismissed women as hunters
• Who gets to tell the story?!
• Wanting the book to be a journey from the 20th century to the early 21st century 
• Canadian Explorer - Mina Hubbard
• Evelyn Cheesman - British entomologist and traveler 
• Ethel Haythornthwaite - environmental campaigner and pioneer of the countryside movement plus instrumental in getting the Peak District made into a National Park
• Wangari Maathai - Kenya women part of the moment to plant 30 million trees across Kenya
• The next book?!
• New text book on journalism history from the women’s perspective 
• Not being as agile minded as previously 
• Being disciplined and needing to write for the first 2 hours of every morning
• Why her favourite woman was….  Evelyn Cheesman
• How to connect with Sarah
• Final words of advice
• Ignore the people who say you shouldn’t be doing that 
• Wear a pretend cloak of courage 

 

Social Media

Website: www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/about/people/academics/sarah-lonsdale 

Bluesky: @sarahjlonsdale.bsky.social 

Books: Rebel Women Between the Wars: Fearless Writers and Adventurers (Manchester University Press, 2020) Wildly Different: how five women reclaimed nature in a man's world (Manchester University Press, 2025)