Paris Lesbos Podcast: Recent Episodes
Paris Lesbos Podcast
Paris Lesbos is a monthly podcast of less known figures in history, mostly spanning from La Belle Epoque Paris to the Cold War Era.
So, you’re wondering how HD got that moniker? And no, we’re not talking about high definition television. HD, also known as Hilda Doolittle, was an Imagist poet and novelist. She’s known more in connection to other writers like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and for an unfortunate kink incident involving early psychologist Havelock Ellis.Continue reading "The Goddess of Imagism – Ep.49"
Bryher, whose real name was Annie Winifred Ellerman, was known in her lifetime for her historical novels after World War II. Today, many know her in relation to the poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) for saving her from Spanish Flu through to their collaboration in POOL and marrying H.D.’s male lovers for the polycule. Sources (Used/Consulted/ReadContinue reading "The One-Woman Funding Committee- Ep. 48"
Jane Heap is most remembered for being the one-time partner of Margaret Anderson, founder of the magazine the Little Review. However, she didn’t spring forth in Chicago fully formed like Athena from Zeus’ head. She did, in fact, have a life before and after Margaret, who she sort of shared custody of Margaret’s nephews with.Continue reading "Power Behind the Magazine – Ep.47"
Georgette Leblanc is mainly known as the estranged “wife” of the Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck, but our audience will remember her as Margaret Anderson’s lover and the woman whose singing made Janet Flanner want to throw herself into the Seine. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Souvenirs: My Life with Maeterlinck by Georgette Leblanc Four LivesContinue reading "The Sidelined Singer – Ep.46"
While a writer herself, Margaret Anderson stubbornly refused the label, even from her friends, just as she stubbornly refused to ever admit she might be wrong. However, she did write numerous editorials for the Little Review, so that should ring a bell more than her ability to convince people to give her what she wantedContinue reading "The Broke Patron – Ep.45"
A side character in the podcast’s universe, Noel Murphy is better known for being one of Janet Flanner’s girlfriends rather than her work during WWII. Its probably due to a life of just chilling while dealing with her girlfriend’s other girlfriend dragging her into conversations with mystics who try to guess her bowel movements justContinue reading "A Merry Widow – Ep.44"
She escaped her restrictive childhood home and gate kept inheritance by eloping to the Philippines and escaped the Philippines’ marriage by fleeing out a window in the dead of night. Rather than through her own writing, you probably have heard of today’s lady in passing, mostly in relation to Janet or perhaps in relation toContinue reading "Rebel Turned Perpetual Secretary – Ep.43"
Genêt – the pen name of the famous New Yorker’s Letter from Paris. It’s Janet Flanner’s best work, but a fifty year work history is not what she wanted to be remembered for. She probably didn’t want to be remembered for her complicated love life either. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Genêt: A Biography ofContinue reading "Letters from Paris – Ep.42"
Olga de Meyer: a woman of maddening ambiguity. We hear of her as artist’s muse, fencer, writer, possible illegitimate child of King Edward VII, and drug addict chasing her youth to the grave. We hear stories of her from others’ lips, but do we have anything of her from her own? Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along theContinue reading "Italianate Ambiguity – Ep.41"
You may have heard of her in connection to Sylvia Beach last episode. Yes, this time it’s Adrienne Monnier, the French bookstore owner across the street from Shakespeare and Company. We dive into the French side of the scene and the other side of the Beach-Monnier-Freund love triangle. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) The VeryContinue reading "Shakespeare Accomplice – Ep.40"
You’ve probably heard the name Sylvia Beach in sentences about Hemingway, Joyce, and other famous men. You’ve probably even heard of her in publishing Ulysses. You may not have heard of her blow up with Joyce over her publishing rights during a piracy scandal or of her relationship to fellow lending bookshop owner Adrienne Monnier.Continue reading "Godmother of Literary Paris – Ep.39"
Tallulah Bankhead, with her sultry voice, magnetic charisma, and a penchant for living life on her own terms, defied conventions and left an indelible mark on entertainment history. From her electrifying performances on the Broadway stage to her unforgettable roles on the silver screen, Bankhead captivated audiences with her talent and numerous convention-defying antics. SourcesContinue reading "Wild Child of Old Hollywood – Ep.38"
Louise Brooks, wild child of Old Hollywood, is most remembered for her escapades and her performance in the film Pandora’s Box. However, she was always more of a dancer than an actress and never set out to join the nascent film industry despite numerous offers. Like many of her decisions, the left road into HollywoodContinue reading "The Lulu to Dietrich’s Lola – Ep.37"
Known for her Garden of Alla and her production of an all-gay Salome, Alla Nazimova was once the greatest of the early Hollywood actresses. She was heralded as the first modern actress in America and as the new Eleonora Duse – that Italian actress who was the rival of Sarah Bernhardt. And yet, I’d wagerContinue reading "Sapphic Center of Hollywood – Ep.36"
Renowned around the world primarily for her legs and good looks, Marlene Dietrich was the other main diva of Old Hollywood and “rival” of last episode’s Greta Garbo. She performed shocking characters on screen, got kicked out an orchestra for her legs, dressed in tuxedos, signed letters as “Daddy Marlene”, and once had her trousersContinue reading "Blue Angel – Ep.35"
A darling of the screen, a famous recluse, the Swedish Sphinx: Greta Garbo. The enigmatic Swedish actress bewitched audiences with her mesmerizing beauty and unparalleled talent during Hollywood’s Golden Age. With a career spanning from the silent era to the advent of sound in film, Garbo left an indelible mark on the silver screen. RenownedContinue reading "Swedish Sphinx – Ep.34"
Mercedes de Acosta has been called many things: the inspiration behind Truman Capote’s game International Daisy Chain, “that furious lesbian”, and our gateway to Hollywood for the podcast. She was notorious for walking the streets of New York in pants, pointed shoes with buckles, a tricorn hat, and a cape. Her slicked back hair, redContinue reading "Gateway to Hollywood – Ep.33"
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is famous for her self-portraits and the fact the world has decided to plaster her face everywhere. But where did her story begin? And why was this woman once accused of murdering her ex lover, Leo Trotsky? Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden HerreraContinue reading "Defying Odds – Ep. 32"
Icon of the Jazz Age, WWII resistance member, famous for a banana skirt among other things, today’s episode is Josephine Baker, the American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, and at one point, she was the richest black woman in the world. DespiteContinue reading "Black Venus – Ep.31"
Known as a great French writer, Colette shattered societal norms and made her mark on literature and history. From being the first woman to receive a state funeral in the French Republic to causing a scandal with a lesbian kiss in a pantomime performance, Colette’s bold and unapologetic spirit left a lasting impact just asContinue reading "From Riots to State Funerals – Ep.30"
Known more for her relationship with Vita Sackville-West, Hilda Matheson's life was more intriguing than that. We're starting off the year with the original BBC Director of Talks, an MI5 intelligence agent, and one time political secretary to the first woman in British Parliament.
Part 2 of Virginia Woolf sees the rise of the writer and the famous affair with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee Virginia Woolf: A Biography by Quentin Bell Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West: Love Letters w/intro by Alison Bechdel
Virginia Woolf, most famous woman of this podcast’s world. She’s considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century writers. In fact, even if you don’t know anyone else from this podcast, you’re guaranteed to know of this woman. Her writing is studied at university level, and her life has been portrayed in film. Many haveContinue reading "Woolf of Writing Part 1 – Ep.27"
Vita Sackville-West is best known today for her love affair with fellow writer Virginia Woolf. However, in their day, it was Vita who was the more popular and well known writer, and not because of her scandalous affair with Violet Trefusis. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Behind the Mask: The Life of Vita Sackville-West byContinue reading "The Real Life Orlando – Ep.26"
Violet Trefusis was a famously passionate writerly footnote in the love affair of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West courtesy of the character of Sasha in Woolf’s Orlando, but who exactly was the woman behind the portrait, the woman who famously said, “Across my life only one word will be written: “waste” – waste of life,Continue reading "A Not Shrinking Violet – Ep.25"
Winnaretta Singer funded a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés included Debussy and Ravel, and numerous public health projects in Paris, but she also had outraged husbands yell dueling challenges under her windows when she stole their wives.
Famous and then forgotten in her own time, Edna St. Vincent Millay is well known today, and you’ve probably heard her poetry before, such as: “My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes and oh my friends—It gives a lovely light!” While primarily a poet, she also wrote plays,Continue reading "“American Sappho” – Ep.23"
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven wore dresses of New York City refuse, got arrested for only wearing a Mexican blanket in public, and once waved a giant dildo around in the streets. She brought dada to the US before the better known movement rose in Zurich in 1916. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Baroness Elsa: Gender, Dada,Continue reading "Queen of Dada – Ep.22"
After finally ditching Hemingway and making it through World War II, Martha Gellhorn continued with her career through the Vietnam War and well in the 1990s. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life by Caroline Moorehead Yours, for probably always: Martha Gellhorn’s letters of Love & War (1930-1949) by Janet Somerville Travels withContinue reading "Greatest Female War Correspondent Part Two – Ep.21"
Known as the greatest female war correspondent of the 20th century, Martha Gellhorn’s reporting took her from the Great Depression, through the Spanish Civil War and World War II to the Vietnam War. Along the way, she covered other conflicts, wrote novels, and ended up married to Hemingway, which led to deliberately crashing a carContinue reading "Greatest Female War Correspondent – Ep.20"
When it comes to women named Barney in the world of Paris Lesbos, the focus is usually Natalie Barney. However, her mother and sister had their own adventures and scandals from British explorers to nude statues in DC. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Wild Heart: A Life by Suzanne Rodriguez Alice Pike Barney: Her LifeContinue reading "Behind the Amazon – Ep.19"
Caroline Otero was renowned for dancing and seducing kings as one of the three top courtesans of La Belle Époque France. Her dancing career took her all over Europe and briefly into the opera Carmen. However, she also bet her own ass at the gambling tables of Monte Carlo and lost $25 million. Sources (Used/Consulted/ReadContinue reading "A Real Life Carmen – Ep.18"
Émilienne d’Alençon is what one co-host likes to call the forgotten member of Les Grandes Trois of Belle Époque France. She is also the reason for the rabbits down this rabbit hole. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Émilienne d’Alençon: Vivre d’amour en 1900 by Carole Wrona Trois Grâces de la Belle Époque by Claude DufresneContinue reading "The Rabbit Tamer – Ep.17"
As Pixie calls her, Liane de Pougy’s fairy godmother of courtesanship started in the gutters of Paris and rose to the level of calling on the Emperor of France. Valtesse is even said to be the real life inspiration for Zola’s Nana. Not that she would ever be amused by that. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along theContinue reading "Real Life Nana – Ep. 16"
From the moment she left her first husband, Liane de Pougy's life was anything but normal. Becoming one of the top courtesans of the era was also probably not what her parents' had in mind when they had a convent educate her.
Bringing plays off Broadway, Eva Le Gallienne performed many of the same roles as Maude Adams and Sarah Bernhardt, but her life wasn’t as smooth. From lesbian divorce scandal to chronic unemployment, Le Gallienne played from stage to Hollywood. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva Le Gallienne by Robert A.Continue reading "Off and On Broadway – Ep.14"
Maude Adams was the beloved American stage actress who brought J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan to life on stage for the first time. She was also a Mormom, probably a lesbian, and the pre-Greta Garbo wanting to be alone.
Sarah Bernhardt was the premier actress of the French Theater during her lifetime, a lifetime that saw such antics as sleeping in coffins and liaisons with princes. There is a reason newspapers felt comfortable saying she had four children by four men, including a condemned murderer and the Pope. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Sarah:Continue reading "Grande Dame of the French Theater – Ep.12"
Ida Rubinstein didn’t die at the height of her fame but instead faded away into obscurity. Despite that ending, she was instrumental to the creation of the Ballets Russes and inspired both painters and writers. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Dancing in the Vortex: The Story of Ida Rubinstein by Vicki Woolf Romaine Brooks: AContinue reading "Origins of the Ballets Russes – Ep.11"
Once again, we take a look at Natalie Barney, but this time, we’re digging into some major works of her life. We’re looking at how she got her nickname, her Académie des Femmes, and some of her major works to support other writers. Sources (Used/Consulted/Read Along the Way) Wild Heart: A Life by Suzanne RodriguezContinue reading "The Amazon – Ep. 10"
Thelma Wood is known for her affair with the writer Djuna Barnes, which spawned the modernist masterpiece Nightwood. Nadine Huong is another side character and lover of Natalie Barney, despite her own adventures like service in the Chinese Army. Sources (Used/Read/Consulted Along the Way) Djuna: The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes by Phillip HerringContinue reading "Silverpoint Art and Military Service – Ep.9"