In this episode, we take a jaunt to New York to find out about the talented and difficult Patricia Highsmith. You might know one of her most notorious characters, Tom Ripley, from your Netflix queue (the new series Ripley) or via one of the many films based on what might be Highsmith’s best-known novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Highsmith wrote several books that redefined the concept of the thriller, as well as one of the few stories to give a lesbian couple a happy ending.

That novel, The Price of Salt, was adapted into the 2015 film Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was inspired by one of Highsmith's many obsessive relationships (or in this case, just an obsession) with women. Long a closeted lesbian, Highsmith was engaged to a man (as required by 1950s societal mores) yet aggressively seduced lady after lady.

She also wrote obsessively, was highly ambitious, and kept thousands of pages of diaries written in various languages to avoid spilling her secrets (they have been translated since her death in 1995). She was misanthropic and bigoted, and even her friends considered her unpleasant to be around, but her psychological thrillers have remained classics, partly for how they provide insight into the mind of the criminal.

The talk by writer and educator Hannah Meyer comes courtesy of our friends at Dead Ladies NYC. DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens was there for the event in NYC, and he joins producer/host Susan Stone to help introduce the episode.

See photos and get links on our episode page: https://deadladiesshow.com/2024/05/16/podcast-71-patricia-highsmith/

Find Dead Ladies NYC on Instagram: @deadladiesnyc and follow Hannah Meyer @hannahrenee_m

Read Hannah’s essay about Patricia Highsmith and obsession on LitHub here: https://lithub.com/on-patricia-highsmith-and-the-horror-and-revelation-of-obsession/

Subscribe to the NYC newsletter here: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=publication_embed&utm_medium=web

In New York? Get tickets to the NYC May 22nd show here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dead-ladies-show-nyc-no-28-tickets-888406576987?aff=oddtdtcreator

In Berlin? Get tickets for our May 16th show: https://literatur-berlin.tickettoaster.de/produkte/3303-tickets-the-dead-ladies-show-36-lettretage-in-der-veteranenstr-berlin-am-16-05-2024

If you’re a Patreon member, you already got an early preview of this episode! Not a member? Join up at https://www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

Thanks to Molly O'Laughlin Kemper, Sheila Enright, Christopher Neil, and Lori Schwartz, general manager of the KGB Bar Red Room.

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.

Drop us a line info@deadladiesshow.com or find us on social media @deadladiesshow

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

****

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

https://tinyurl.com/DLSMarch27

We're working on our next season, which starts in March! So, in this bonus show, we're sharing a guest episode from the podcast Her Half of History. 

Her Half of History covers women’s history in short episodes that fit into a series, like Women Who Seized Power, Women Who Escaped Slavery, and Women in Espionage. Host Lori Davis also likes to delve into the lives of ordinary women by covering topics including the history of housework, the history of getting married, and the history of girlhood.

In this episode, Lori tells the story of Ellen Craft, an enslaved woman who made a daring escape in a surprising…fashion. 

You can find more about Lori's show at herhalfofhistory.com 

The Dead Ladies Show Podcast will be back very very soon, as we kick off Season Seven of our show. If you can’t wait, find us at instagram on @deadladiesshow or come see what we’re up to in our Patreon exclusive Dead Lady Book Club, which you can find over at Patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

Thanks for listening! 

In this episode, the last of Season Six, we bring you a show live from PodFest Berlin! DLS-ers Susan Stone and Katy Derbyshire joined the city’s fine and friendly podcasters at the yearly event in front of a small but perfectly formed audience. 

From that event, producer Susan brings us the fascinating story of June Tarpé Mills, a comics pioneer and the first woman to create a female superhero, Miss Fury. The alter ego of socialite Marla Drake, Miss Fury wore a cursed black leopard skin and travelled the world fighting evil (mostly Nazis). She was sexy and smart, and a global hit from 1941-1951, during which she appeared in 100 newspapers, millions of comic books, and on the side of several US bombers.  Then she, like her creator, largely disappeared. Decades after her death in obscurity, Mills is finally getting the recognition she deserves, from a headstone for her unmarked grave to induction into the Comic Industry Hall of Fame. 

You’ll definitely want to check out Miss Fury and June Tarpé Mills’ other works, and you can find some great examples, plus images of the lovely June herself over on our website at https://deadladiesshow.com/2023/10/22/podcast-68-june-tarpe-mills/

We mentioned our wonderful friend Andy Horn, who introduced us to Tarpé Mills. Read more about Andy here: https://tinyurl.com/AndrewHorn

One last note — If you’d like to support us and get a bit of Dead Lady content before we come back with season seven, please check out our page patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast where we have loads of exclusive content including interviews and book reviews, and even entire Dead Ladies Show presentations that you’ll get to hear before (almost) anyone else. Thanks to everyone who already supports us there, including our new friend Rita Durant! 

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

You can browse our TeePublic shop at this link: https://www.teepublic.com/user/dead-ladies-show

We are on Instagram and Twitter @deadladiesshow and on BlueSky @deadladiesshow.bsky.social

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back soon with a new season full of fabulous Dead Ladies!

****

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire. The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

In this episode, we hear once again from our friends at Dead Ladies NYC.  Nafisa Ferdous presents Amrita Sher-Gil, a queer, feminist, Hungarian-Indian artist, writer, and art critic who left a profound impact on art despite her untimely death. Sher-Gil was an incredibly charismatic non-conformist whose work reframed discussions on art and feminism, orientalism, and colonialism, while merging European technique and classical Indian aesthetics into something new.  DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce the story. 

If you’d like to see some of Amrita’s works while you listen to the episode, hop over to our website: deadladiesshow.com/2023/09/14/podcast-67-amrita-sher-gil

Our presenter Nafisa Ferdous is a talented illustrator who often draws Dead Ladies! Find her art here: https://www.nafisaferdous.com/  and here: https://www.instagram.com/__petni/

You can follow Dead Ladies NYC on Instagram @deadladiesnyc and get tickets to their upcoming show on September 27 here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dead-ladies-show-nyc-no-25-tickets-711181933307?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Dead Ladies Show Podcast will be recording live at PodFest Berlin October 14th! Get your tickets and find out more about the festival here: https://www.podfestberlin.com/event-details/dead-ladies-show-Oct2023-special

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Check out our Patreon here: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

And browse our TeePublic shop at this link: https://www.teepublic.com/user/dead-ladies-show

We are on Instagram and Twitter @deadladiesshow and on BlueSky @deadladiesshow.bsky.social

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

****

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

In this episode, we encounter the show’s very first featured geographer.  UK-born Doreen Massey was a pioneer in her field. She challenged existing ideas about space, place and power, was compassionate, politically active, and hopeful.  

She worked in academia and as a public intellectual, including at British early-morning TV fans’ beloved Open University – teaching students who didn’t have access to a traditional university education – and also in Nicaragua, Venezuela and South Africa. That work focused on economic geography and the geography of gender, and she spoke eloquently about place or space as “a pincushion of a million stories”. Her list of publications vies in length with her honors and awards – including a pretty impressive total of six honorary degrees. 

Our talk is presented by Agata Lisiak, a professor of Migration Studies at Bard College Berlin, and a DLS regular, who has previously talked about Marie Curie and Rosa Luxemburg. 

DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce the episode, and talk a bit about the Open University, an important place for Doreen Massey and many others. 

You can find Agata’s podcast series on Doreen Massey, Spatial Delight, where ever you like to listen, and also here, where there are additional features: https://thesociologicalreview.org/podcasts/spatial-delight/

Photos and clips of Massey can also be found on our podcast episode page here: 

https://deadladiesshow.com/2023/08/17/podcast-66-doreen-massey

To get tickets for our upcoming PodFest Berlin event in October just click here: https://www.podfestberlin.com/event-details/dead-ladies-show-Oct2023-special

Sign up for the Dead Ladies Show newsletter here: https://tinyletter.com/deadladiesshow  and find us on social media @deadladiesshow and @deadladiesshow.bsky.social

For DLS NYC info and tickets, sign up to their newsletter here: https://tinyletter.com/DeadLadiesShowNYC or follow them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Find our Patreon page here:  www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

The TeePublic shop for DLS logo treats is here: https://www.teepublic.com/user/dead-ladies-show

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

****

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

In this episode, we bring you the story of an actress whose off-screen life was as dramatic and tragic as many of the characters she portrayed. Born in Vienna in 1938, Romy Schneider was said to have the star power of Greta Garbo or Marilyn Monroe. 

She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Sissi, aka Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who she embodied in four films (some of which are still shown at holiday time every year in countries from the Netherlands to China). But though she strove to move past this very nationalistic role to play more realistic and naturalistic characters, to her chagrin she was remembered by some her whole life as “Sissi.”

A great beauty and talent, Romy was much beloved by the public for her performances, yet hounded by the press over her personal life.  Our story comes from DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens, a writer, translator and educator, and devotee of tragic glamour. 

Our other DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce things, and comment on the crossover with our last episode, which featured another German-speaking screen icon, the problematic Hildegard Knef.  

For more on Romy Schneider, please visit our episode notes at: 

https://deadladiesshow.com/2023/07/13/podcast-65-romy-schneider/

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Check out our Patreon here: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

And browse our TeePublic shop at this link: https://www.teepublic.com/user/dead-ladies-show

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with another new episode next month.

****

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.