Unruly Figures

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing tale of the Polly Adler, remembered as New York's greatest madam. She immigrated to the US from Russia, destined for a life of poverty and struggle, but rose above it to dizzying heights of money and glamour--and crime. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing tale of the 1930s race car driver and Grand Prix team owner, Lucy Schell. She was the first ever female Grand Prix team manager, and in the 1938 season, she fielded a revolutionary car driven by a talented Jewish driver to beat the Nazis. Listen to learn more about their under-dog win. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

Today, host & historian Valorie Clark is finally getting around to answering your questions from the first ever Unruly Figures AMA! If you want to ask questions in the next AMA (or listen to the full version of this bonus episode) you can do that on the Unruly Figures Substack. 

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the third and final part of the story of Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the second part of the story of Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out.  As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering Zheng Yi Sao, the Chinese Pirate Queen and the greatest pirate to have ever lived.  As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us! A note on the photo used for the cover art--this is a photo of actress Crystal Yu, who played Zheng Yi Sao in a 2022 episode of Doctor Who. 

In this episode, historian and host Valorie Clark covers the mysterious and harrowing tale of Herman the Recluse, the monk who might have done a deal with the devil to save his own life.  As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us! Cover art by Stuart Kolkovic, who goes by Herman Inclusus for his art practice.  Links: High-res images of the Codex Gigas from the National Library of Sweden. Short film about the Devil's Bible from the National Library of Sweden.

In this episode, historian and host Valorie Clark covers Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri. Better known as simply Qamar, this singer became known as the Queen of Persian Music, and is still beloved by people today. But to become the queen, she had to break the rules--like singing in public and performing without a hijab in front of men. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!

In the season 2 premiere, historian and host Valorie Clark covers the earliest known female ruler in history: Queen Kubaba. She rose from brewing beer to ruling a city-state in ancient Sumer, an ascent historians are still trying to figure out.  This podcast is sponsored by Ritual. Visit ritual.com/unruly for 30% off your new Ritual subscription. As always, you can get ad-free versions of the episode, and much much more on the Unruly Figures Substack: http://unrulyfigures.substack.com That's always where you can find transcripts of each episode, photos of each episode's subject, and behind-the-scenes goodies. So come join us!