For the Love of History - world history, women’s history, weird history

• The Unlikely Spies | Author Interview with Mathew Goodman

  Ever heard of a spy duo in their 60s walking three Cocker Spaniels around Nazi-occupied Paris by day and running a secret escape line by night? No? Then buckle in. In this episode, TK interviews bestselling author Matthew Goodman about his riveting new book, *Paris Undercover*—a deep-dive into the true story of two real-life badass women who defied fascism during World War II. We talk about the historical detective work that uncovered the truth behind a bestselling memoir, the women erased from standard war narratives, and how even “elderly” ladies can outmaneuver the Gestapo. This isn’t your average WWII tale—it’s got espionage, pseudonyms, betrayal, friendship, and... waffles? 🕵️‍♀️The Hidden Heroines – Meet Etta and Kate, two women "of a certain age" who created an escape route across France to rescue Allied soldiers—without any training or backup. 📖 **Memoir vs. Reality** – Matthew uncovers that the popular wartime memoir *Paris Underground* wasn’t entirely factual—and wasn’t written by the woman who supposedly penned it. 🔍 Research as Spycraft– From sealed military archives in France to ghostwriters with ghostwriters, Matthew shares how pandemic-era sleuthing led to unexpected twists in the story. 📚 Narrative Nonfiction Gold – With a background in fiction and a passion for history, Matthew shows how using storytelling techniques can bring history to life *without* sacrificing accuracy. 🧠 Modern Parallels – We also explore how themes of resistance, misinformation, and female agency remain powerful and painfully relevant today. --- 💙💛Why You’ll Love This Episode: If you love juicy historical mysteries, stories of women who defy expectations, or just want to know how an Upper East Side widow ends up sneaking British pilots past Nazis, this episode is for you. --- 🎧 Listen if you’re into: - Hidden Figures of WWII - Feminist history - Narrative nonfiction and storytelling - Rewriting the historical record - Dogs. Obviously. 👋 Support the Show (and your inner nerd): 💬 Comment & subscribe if you're watching on YouTube! ⭐ Leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app 📬 Share this episode with a history-loving bestie 💌 Join the Patreon crew for early access, bonus content & sleepy history episodes 🛍 Grab some podcast merch—because espionage looks better in a hoodie --- 🌐 Learn More About Matthew Goodman: 📚 [MatthewGoodmanBooks.com] (https://matthewgoodmanbooks.com/) – Browse his books, drop him an email, or snoop around his research journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• The Dressmakers of London | Fashion, Rationing, and Sisterhood in WWII with Julia Kelly

  Welcome, delicious donuts! 🍩 In this episode of For the Love of History, we’re unraveling the fascinating story behind The Dressmakers of London with award-winning author and Emmy-nominated journalist Julia Kelly. It's part historical deep-dive, part emotional sister saga, and 100% packed with nerdy joy — just how we like it. 🧵 What You’ll Learn: 💙How women navigated fashion rationing in WWII (spoiler: red lipstick was patriotic). 💙What it really meant to be conscripted as a woman in 1941. 💙The role of letters — the OG DMs — in wartime relationships. 💙Why class, fashion, femininity, and grief are intricately stitched together in this story. 💙Julia’s personal connection to sewing, vintage fashion, and the inspiration behind her characters. 💙An almost plotline in Egypt that got cut for historical accuracy! 📚 About the Book: The Dressmakers of London tells the story of two estranged sisters forced to run their late mother’s dress shop amid the chaos of WWII. With rationing, conscription, and buried trauma in the mix, this book weaves together personal loss, reconciliation, and the politics of fashion under fire. ✂️ Favorite Moments: 00:02:15 – Julia’s pivot from romance to historical fiction 00:04:20 – The dress shop inheritance and conscription twist 00:06:00 – Writing emotionally grounded history 00:12:30 – How fashion rationing reshaped femininity 00:20:00 – When fashion becomes politics: the Utility Clothing Order 00:25:00 – Stationery obsessions and letter-writing as wartime lifelines 00:34:00 – Why Egypt had to go, and Norfolk got the spotlight 🧵 Links & Where to Find Julia Kelly: 📚 Book: The Dressmakers of London 🌐 Website: juliakellywrites.com 📬 Newsletter: juliakellywrites.substack.com 📸 Instagram & TikTok: @JuliaKellyWrites ✉️ Your Turn! How would YOU spend your 66 clothing ration coupons in WWII? Dresses? Socks? Underwear? Sound off in the comments with your fave historical clothing facts or tell us when you last wrote a letter by hand! 🎙️ Like what you hear? Be sure to: 👍 Like this video 💬 Comment below (we respond!) 🔔 Subscribe for more world, women’s, and weird history 📝 Rate and review the pod — it’s the free 99 way to support indie history nerds everywhere! Instagram  Website TikTok Merch Store YouTube Patreon⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Caligula: Rome’s Most Unhinged Emperor (and His Floating Sex Boat)

  This week, we’re diving toga-first into the life and utter chaos of Caligula—the Roman emperor who ruled for just four years and made every single second a full-blown historical fever dream. From horse palaces and floating orgy boats to stabbing Poseidon and bullying his own guards, Caligula redefined what it meant to rule like a god (or at least think he was one). But was he really mad… or just the ultimate troll in a laurel wreath? This is Roman history at its weirdest—and honestly, its most fun. ⏱️ What You’ll Hear 00:02:00 – Who was Caligula really? And why did soldiers call him “Little Boots”? 00:06:00 – Roman power struggles, poisoned dads, and childhood trauma 00:08:00 – The golden-boy emperor everyone loved… until he got sick 00:11:00 – Enter: the villain era. Tormenting senators, gladiator cosplay, and birthday revenge 00:13:00 – Floating bridges, floating orgies, and Mussolini’s wild archaeological discovery 00:17:00 – Declaring war on the ocean and forcing soldiers to collect seashells 00:20:00 – The assassination that changed Roman history—and why the public still loved him 🤯 Why You’ll Love This Episode If you like: Ancient history with drama that rivals reality TV Stories of power, pettiness, and possible mental illness Tangents about orgy boats and emotionally sensitive dictators …this one’s for you. 🧠 Fun Facts You’ll Be Googling After This “Caligula” literally means Little Boots He once declared war on Poseidon and made his army stab the sea His orgy boats were real—and Mussolini found them He might have made it illegal to mention goats in front of him Caligula’s biographers: Suetonius and Cassius Dio Upcoming Patreon lecture: Samurai Ladies A love letter to weird history episodes past (yes, even the Pope excommunicating cats) This one is vintage For the Love of History—chaotic, messy, and full of weird Roman facts you’ll absolutely bring up at brunch. Thank you for helping me hit a new download record (!!!) and for being the best little history nerds on the internet. 💌 Call to Action If Caligula didn’t ban public affection, I won’t either. So please: Subscribe & review (mention your weirdest Roman fact!) Share with your favorite toga-wearing friends Support on Patreon for sleepy history, lectures, and more chaos Use code THANKYOU for free shipping on your merch (you earned it) Patreon  Instagram  Website TikTok Merch Store YouTube Don’t forget: drink your water, do something kind for yourself, and maybe don’t stab the sea today. Just a thought. 🐚 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• From Brothel to Battlefleet: The Rise of Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao

  Forget everything you thought you knew about pirates—because this week, we’re telling the real story of the woman who ran the South China Sea and left Blackbeard in the dust. Meet Zheng Yi Sao: sex worker turned pirate queen, ruthless businesswoman, and literal nightmare of the Qing Dynasty. In this wild ride through 18th-century China, you’ll hear how a nameless girl from a fishing village built the most powerful pirate confederation the world has ever seen—and retired with her head (and fortune) intact. TLDR: She didn’t die in battle. She negotiated her way out and opened a salt empire. Iconic. ⏱️ What You’ll Hear The Origins – How a Tonka girl outsmarted a pirate king and negotiated her way into power Fleet Boss Moves – Zheng Yi Sao's brutal pirate code (decapitations included) Protection Rackets & Political Games – When piracy meets mafia tactics and government bribes The Retirement Plot Twist – Why this pirate queen walked away, rich and respected Legacy – Her influence on Pirates of the Caribbean, feminist history, and pop culture 🧠 Why This Episode Slaps (Historically Speaking) Zheng Yi Sao led a 70,000-strong pirate fleet and enforced one of the most progressive (and deadly) pirate codes of all time She outmaneuvered the navies of China, Britain, and Portugal—then walked into retirement as a government official She is a textbook example of a woman who used the patriarchy against itself—Confucian law? She laughed in its face 💥 Fun Facts She required pirates to bank 80% of their loot in a centralized pirate fund She chopped off heads for cheating… or skipping work Her fleet had more vessels than the Spanish Armada She transitioned her pirates into military and civil service with full pardons 📚 Mentions & References Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (yes, she inspired that pirate council scene) Sleepy History, Patreon goodies, and secret projects with the International Spy Museum (!!!) Shoutout to TK’s dad and their shared pirate obsession—Blackbeard shirts included 🎙️ From Your Host, TK This episode is dedicated to my dad, who taught me pirate flags before I learned cursive. And yes, I absolutely wore a child-sized wench costume to pirate festivals. No regrets. I hope you love this one as much as I do—it’s got revenge, politics, gay throuples, decapitations, and a business-savvy queen. What more could you want? 🚀 Help Us Climb the Charts! If you enjoyed this episode: Rate & review on your podcast app (or just tell me what snacks you eat while listening) Subscribe so you never miss another fierce lady from history Support the pod on Patreon for exclusive extras and more pirate nerdery Patreon  Instagram  Website TikTok Merch Store YouTube Stay badass. Stay curious. And remember: Zheng Yi Sao wasn’t legendary in spite of being a woman—she was legendary because she was one. 🖤 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Indiginous Tattoo History | With Lars Krutak

  What do Catholic women in the Balkans, tattooed mummies in the Philippines, and Arctic medicinal ink have in common? They've all left their mark—literally and metaphorically—on the history of indigenous tattoo traditions. In this episode of For the Love of History, I sit down with renowned tattoo anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak to explore his latest book: Indigenous Tattoo Traditions. We dive deep into the meaning, evolution, and resistance etched into skin across continents and centuries. 🖋️ From the sacred tattoos of Ainu women to anti-colonial Catholic ink in Bosnia 📸 From healing scars to lost libraries of tattooed skin 🔥 From cultural preservation to painful commodification This isn't just body art—it’s a global language of identity, resistance, and storytelling. 👉 TELL US your favorite tattoo story in the comments 🗓️ 📚 Subscribe for more history that doesn’t make the textbooks 🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss our weird, feminist, global episodes 📖 Grab Lars’s new book, Indigenous Tattoo Traditions, via Princeton University Press 🎥 Treasure of the Rice Terraces, Ft Apo Whang Od - Official Teaser 🎤 Read Lars's interview with Princeton Press Patreon  Instagram  Website TikTok Merch Store YouTube 📌 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro to Lars & Indigenous Tattoo Traditions 04:00 – Tattoo anthropology 101 08:00 – The search for tattooed Catholic grandmas in the Balkans 12:00 – Indigenous tattoos in Africa 18:00 – Sacred, therapeutic tattoos in Japan & the Arctic 23:00 – Cultural appropriation vs. cultural revival 28:00 – Tattooed skin at Oxford?! 😱 32:00 – Gender & tattooing: women as artists and recipients 35:00 – The legacy of Whang-Od and the Philippines’ tattoo revival 40:00 – Modern indigenous artists keeping traditions alive 45:00 – Lars’s wildest discoveries and why museums are sleeping on this history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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