Gals Guide

Bonnie starts us off with an exploration of women in the Middle East. Artemisia 1 of Caria was a Queen of what is now Turkey. She commanded ships, was a friend of Xerxes 1, King of Persia and she's written about in Herodotus. 

Did you think Ireland Month was over?! Well, we found a pot of gold on this April Fools Day! Gal’s Guide just happens to be so lucky because we know Jackie. Jackie is a native Hoosier who now calls Ireland home. She also runs the Castlelyons Library, which is supported and sponsored by Gal’s Guide. So for this bonus episode, Jackie Donegan tells us about the amazing Irish author Kate O'Brien! 

Riwo's pick is pre-Christian times in Ireland. Her pick is also part historical but also part myth and legend. She’s a complex woman. Queen Medb (also spelled Maeve, Mave, Meave) her name is connected to alcohol -  you know meade-woman -  she starts a war over who has a prettier bull, and it takes 30 men in a night to satisfy her sexually. She’s a lot and she's not apologizing for any of it. 

Lori continues Ireland Month by talking about singer, songwriter, and activist Sinéad O'Connor. The Pope and Prince tie into this episode as we learn about the many albums, struggles, and talents of this Dublin musician. 

Katie continues Ireland Month with a campaigner for social justice, elected to Parliament at age 21, served prison time, wounded in an assassination attempt, and sometimes called "Ireland's Joan of Arc", Bernadette Devlin.

It's the start of Ireland Month! Bonnie's pick is an all-around adventurer. Lilian Bland is an aviator, horseback rider, lumberjack, painter, and car salesman. And when we say aviator we mean, she's the first woman to build her own plane 'cause it's 1910.  And when we say car salesman, we mean the idea of cars is new. 

Katie finishes up African Gals Month by sharing about Senegalese author, Mariama Ba. So Long a Letter is a novel expressing the fate and the frustration of African women. Mariama received the Noma Award, a major book award in Africa.

Gal's Guide Film Club is discussing the Viola Davis movie The Women King. Leah wanted to dig deeper into the real-life all-female military regiment in the Kingdom of Dahomey known as the Agojie. If you are wondering if they are what the Dorje Milaje of Black Panther is based on - you are correct my friend.

Josh returns to the podcast to talk about the medicinal plant biologist, Nokwanda Pearl Makunga. Professor Nox is a researcher in Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University. Her work is fascinating if you have a green thumb and even if you don't! 

It's a new month and Bonnie starts African Gal month with a trailblazer of the Egyptian Feminist movement, Huda Sha'arawi. Learn about this amazing suffragette. 

 

Leah closes out Australian Gals Month with her pick. Sister Elizabeth Kenny (who was a military sister, not a religious sister) was an Australian Bush nurse who basically created physical therapy. At the time her methods of treating polio patients were unconventional but one day there was some help from the Mayo Clinic in the United States. Learn more about this amazing woman. 

Katie's Australian Gal is a legendary businesswoman who started as a convict.  Learn about Mary Reibey, an incredible woman who is on the money and became a role model for many. 

Australian Gals Month continues! Barb's pick is a social reformer who was the first woman to serve as a member of Parliament. 

It is a new season of the Gal’s Guide Podcast! Can you believe it, it’s season 7! We’ve got a slightly new spin on all of 2024’s episodes. We’ll be learning about women around the world with a new region each month. This month, it’s Australia! Bonnie starts us off with the first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard. 

For the last episode of Season 6, Barb ends Medicine Woman month with Omaha Medical doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte.

Season 7 begins on January 8, 2024, with Australian Gals.

Medicine Woman Month continues! Leah tells us about the amazing Gladys Tantaquidgeon who was 3rd generation medicine woman who lived to age 106! 

Bonnie stars of Medicine Woman with the Great Healer of the Native Americans, Qi-yo Ke-pe. 

Bonnie finishes up Folklore Month with the Slavic hero/villain the Baba Yaga!

Leah shares a Buddhist folktale of Kisa Gotami and the Mustard Seed.