Once again, we are dropping in to bring you the history of an unsung Christmas hero - Mrs. Claus. Where did she come from? What is her role in the festive season? We'll tell you all about her in this annual minicast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Line by line over the course of her life, Frances Perkins drew the blueprint for a better society; one that protected the weak, curbed the unethical, and provided a humanist framework for government. As the first woman ever to serve in a Presidential cabinet, Ms. Perkins was officially empowered to go ahead and build her vision of a better country, enacting reforms that affect each of us, even today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pocahontas did save lives... just not the way (or the one) that you've been taught. For both Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving, we revisit this 2017 episode to tell her real, not Disneyfied, story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She was just a teen when she took on lighthouse keeper responsibilities and bravely began saving lives--and risking her own--while doing what she looked at as her daily responsibilities. She attracted (not necessarily welcome) worldwide attention, but would she ever get official recognition and compensation for her work? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forty travelers, four hosts, and thirty seagulls headed out to experience podcast-based adventures in historic and iconic New England. We laughed, we cried, we learned a lot - and made friends (and memories) that we'll keep for life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've combined our previous coverage of Empress Sisi of Austria because she's getting a lot of screen time these days and we found ourselves in need of a refresher, so we thought you might be, too. Both the Netflix series, The Empress, and a theatrical release, Corsage, cover different time periods in the life of this young noblewoman who was plucked from obscurity and shoved onto the world stage. She found the limelight a difficult place in which to live, but her beauty and her genuine concern for the common people earned her the status of a reluctant icon. Sisi's ultimate death shocked the whole world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a deprived childhood bereft of opportunities, Nell Gwynn endeavored to parlay her charm and talent in order to improve her lot in life. She captured the attention of a king, delighted the public both onstage and off, and became a folklore heroine who is still remembered today as the "pretty, witty" personality who might have been created especially to put her world into a good humor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus episode, we both chat with Liza Powel O'Brien, host of Significant Others Podcast. We talk about a lot, but it's mostly like listening to a great conversation at the next table in a coffee shop where the people talking are all female history podcasters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Britain's Queen Elizabeth 2 - we offer this homage, from our second show The Recappery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mary Walker challenged society's ideas of what a woman should look like, how a woman should think, and what a woman could become. During her military service, and within the suffrage movement, she often had to seize what she wanted from unwilling hands... and her rivals in both realms attempted to erase her from history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices