‘Womanica’ is a bite-sized, daily dose of some of the greatest women of all time
Why not start every single day with a short history lesson on the women who have shattered every single expectation? “Womanica” is letting you do just that, releasing short, five-to-ten-minute episodes every single weekday about one woman who changed the trajectory of humankind. From musicians to doctors, scientists to activists, educators to visionaries, to any mixture of all those descriptors, “Womanica” is making sure women are no longer left out from the history books.
Since mid-2019, “Womanica” has delivered an episode every weekday on the incredible women through history. This Wonder Media Network podcast is hosted by Jenny Kaplan, with some rotating guest hosts here and there. Every single month is a new category, whether it be those who made important discoveries in science, to the troublemakers who pushed society forward, to the women who were simply the best at what they did.
For that last one, think Agatha Christie, the best-selling fiction writer of all time, and Octavia Butler, one of the most influential voices in science-fiction. Or maybe think about Billie Holiday, the most iconic jazz singer of all time, and Mae West, the Hollywood starlet who not only was a pioneer of comedy, but also one of the groundbreaking women who dodged censorship laws to embrace her timeless reputation as a rebellious, hilarious sex symbol.
There are plenty of categories to choose from: Olympians, spies, journalists, local legends. While it makes sense, we were fascinated to see that “Womanica” included Harriet Tubman in their spies category – until we listened to the episode, of course. While her smuggling and freeing of over 70 Black men and women enslaved in the American South is well-known, she was also a Union Army spy and recruiter. And, ultimately, she was one of the heroes of the American Civil War.
While nursing Union soldiers back to health in South Carolina during the war, she was recruited for a covert operation by a Union general. She gathered information from enslaved people on the whereabouts of the Confederate Army’s supplies, memorizing the maps of the Confederate’s plans. Then, on June 1st, 1863, she became the first woman to ever lead an army in America when she led the Combahee River Raid. She led them around where Confederate troops had planted gunpowder mines in the water before burning down plantations, destroying supply lines, and seizing food and supplies.
“Womanica” has spoken about modern trailblazers who were gone too soon, like Aaliyah and Whitney Houston, as well as women from the 18th and 19th centuries. They dedicated an entire month to revolutionary Indigenous women who are too often left out of history books and women in the LGBTQ+ community. “Womanica” is offering bite-sized pieces of history every single day that are so important to learn. Hear about the greatest women of our time – both the ones you know and the ones you don’t.
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