While Ma Rainey is the Mother of the Blues, yet when she died, her occupation was recorded as "housekeeper" and her death was never reported. Most of the press coverage she receives today is in response to the new movie on Netflix (which, while amazing, is based on all fictional characters except Ma herself). Emily tells Karamia about Ma: who always travelled with Peacock feathers; whose music defied heteronormative expectations of the 1920's; and who was once arrested for having an orgy with her female band members. Pour yourself some gin and dive in as we learn that boll weevils are not rabbits; Elvis stole a lot of songs from Black female songwriters; and Ma may have inadvertently inspired Karamia's shoulder tattoo.
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51:10
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51:10
Get Off Your High Tomato: Josephine Baker Part III
Well, we did it. We finally finished the saga of Josephine Baker. In this emotional roller coaster of an episode, we learn about Josephine's 12 adopted children; her friendship with Grace Kelly; and her career as a civil rights activist (among many others). Get out your tissues and your wine coolers; this episode is a doozy, but a perfect way for us to wrap up the thousand lives of Josephine Baker.
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52:25
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52:25
Ostrich Carriages Are The Only Way To Travel: Josephine Baker Part 2
Welcome to part 2 of Josephine Baker! Because her life is SO INTERESTING, we decided to extend it into three parts. In this episode, we will talk about her movie career; her opera performances; her time with the Ziegfeld Follies; her career as a French Resistance fighter; and how she travelled around town in a carriage drawn by an ostrich. Fake Counts with fake monocles; undercover spies in Portugal; Cheetahs named Chiquita: this episode has it all. Grab your Bouillon cubes and a stiff Martini, and settle in for what may be our most interesting Harlot yet!
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1:15:14
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1:15:14
Valentine's Day Special: Harlots' Love Stories
Happy Valentine's/Galentine's/Ballantine's day. We are so excited to spend it with all of our harlots! For a special treat, we asked you to send us in your terrible love stories, and boy did you deliver. Grab a box of red wine and 7 cappuccinos as we dive into some truly terrible horrid stories, and regale you with some of our very own worst (and best) dates. Story titles include... Catfish is Only Good Served Deep Fried; Bloody Valentine; and Misogyny? I Don't Know Her. Enjoy!
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52:36
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52:36
Naked in Her Dressing Room Eating Lobster: Josephine Baker (Part 1)
When the lights went up for the show and Josephine Baker was nowhere to be found... it was because she was naked in her dressing room eating lobster. We don't know about you, but we REALLY want to be friends with her. We weren't really sure how to fit someone who lived 1000 lives into one episode, so we decided to split up Josephine's story into two. In Part 1, Karamia tells Emily about Josephine's childhood: from supporting her entire family at age 9; to marrying TWO different men named Willy before age 15; to wowing audiences from St. Louis to Paris with her infectious grin and goofy faces. Grab yourself a plate of lobster; rename all your pets "Tomato"; put on a fake monocle, and get ready to fall in L.O.V.E. with Josephine.
PS... at the end of the episode we get cut off before we can tell you goodbye (but we were probably done saying anything interesting anyway).
Every week we tackle the shadier, sexy, and more salacious people in history. We will attempt not to digress too much as alternate between wine, iced coffee, and sparking water. Grab a fizzy drink and some salty snacks, and join us as we take back the word harlot one episode at a time.
South Africa