Was Mata Hari, Exotic Dancer Turned WW1 Spy, Wrongfully Accused?
efore she became the most infamous “female spy” of World War I, Mata Hari was a Dutch dancer who turned her heartbreak and reinvention into performance art. Celebrated across Belle Époque Europe for her seductive “Eastern” dances, she embodied every fantasy — and every fear — men had about powerful women.
When war broke out, that fantasy turned fatal. Accused of being a double agent, Mata Hari was tried, convicted, and executed for espionage — though the evidence was almost entirely fabricated.
In this episode, we unravel how a woman who blurred the line between performance and identity became the perfect scapegoat for France’s paranoia. Was she a master spy, a myth, or just a woman ahead of her time?
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