''The History Chicks'' is a history podcast about women in history. The show is hosted by Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider, and has been releasing episodes since 2011. In each episode, the hosts examine the life of a historic woman from birth to death as well as her legacy. The hosts also review any source materials that they used in researching the subject. They provide ways for listeners to learn more in their shownotes. Graham and Vollenweider are the writers, hosts, and producers of the podcast.

Background

The podcast began when Graham, not finding any podcasts solely covering women's history, decided to create the show she wanted to listen to. She found Vollenweider on an online moms' message board. Vollenweider, is a freelance writer and columnist for

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

. The History Chicks podcast launched on January 20, 2011, and their first episode, on Queen Marie Antoinette dropped on January 31 of the same year. The show hit iTunes New and Notable section. While an independent production, the podcast joined the

Panoply Media Megaphone (formerly Panoply Media) is a podcast technology company owned by Spotify, focusing on ad-insertion and hosting. It was formerly an audio content producer started by The Slate Group as Panoply Media, and later shifted to focusing solel ...

in 2016, and moved to

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

in 2019. Episodes are released on a twice a month basis. Episodes cover both historical figures as well as fictional ones. Each episode is about an hour long. The show is a feminist podcast. In 2016, the hosts discussed three women who ran for president:

Victoria Woodhull Victoria Claflin Woodhull, later Victoria Woodhull Martin (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement who ran for President of the United States in the 1872 election. While many historians ...

Belva Lockwood Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United Sta ...

, and

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...

Format

Each episode begins with a ''30-second Summary'' where the hosts encapsulate the history of the subject in a very quick paragraph. It is followed by ''Dropped in History'' where a list of other events happening during the life of the subject from inventions, to wars, and other things people may have heard of. What follows is a set format with information about the subjects family, location, details of how her parents met, her siblings lives, and finally, the rest of the episode focuses on the subjects life, education, challenges, family, failures, and accomplishments. Graham and Vollenweider don't discuss their research with each other until recording, they want the conversation to flow organically and spotlight different aspects of the subjects like that may only be of interest to one of them. "It's exciting for us to see the same woman through the eyes of each other—things that one of us finds interesting, the other might gloss over." The ''Media'' section is where the two discuss the sources that they used in research, any that they would recommend, finally movies, other media, and museums related to the subject. Beckett G THC Headshot

Reception

In 2021, Graham and Vollenweider appeared on C-SPAN's ''Q&A'' series and the '' Washington Journal''.

Awards

References

External links

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{{Authority control Audio podcasts 2011 podcast debuts History podcasts Feminist podcasts American podcasts