Womanica

4 years into making Womanica with no end in sight, we thought we'd reintroduce ourselves. On Womanica, hosted by Jenny Kaplan we’re writing women back into history and building an audio archive! Every weekday, we’ll bring you the story of one woman, whose name you might not know, but definitely should. 
 
Each episode is just five minutes long. You can climb Mt. Everest with the first woman to reach the peak – while making breakfast...

Ann Lowe (c. 1898-1981) designed some of the most iconic couture dresses of the mid-20th century, including Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding dress. As the first Black designer to make a splash on New York City’s Madison Avenue, it would be decades before she got the recognition she deserved.

Mary Quant (1930-2023) was one of the most iconic fashion designers of the 1960s. Her designs forever changed the way women dressed, bringing the whimsy of childhood patterns to stiff adult fashion, and–just maybe– introducing the world to the miniskirt.

Oei Hui-lan (1899-1992) was a dazzling socialite who used her style and fashion to walk between cultures and worlds of fashion and politics. Known for her adaptations of traditional Chinese dress, Hui-lan was a fashion icon who turned heads all over the world.

Caresse Crosby (1892-1970) was the inventor of the bra and a godmother to some of the biggest artists and literary names from the Lost Generation. She founded a publishing house, serving names like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and William Faulkner. Her motto was, “Always yes, Caresse” — leading her into adventurous and controversial experiences during her life.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer (1928 - present) has helped her listeners, viewers, and readers have more fulfilling sex for over four decades. Her disarming and relatable demeanor has endeared her to generations of Americans and has made comprehensive sex education more widely available.

Colleen Moore (1899 - 1988) was Hollywood’s original flapper. Throughout the Roaring Twenties, she popularized the bob-style haircut through dozens of silent films. She also helped design The Colleen Moore Dollhouse, which has been housed at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry since the early 1950s.

Hanae Mori (c. 1926-2022), known in the fashion world as “Madame Butterfly,” broke barriers between East and West. She was the first Japanese designer to show a collection in New York City — and the first to officially become a part of the “haute couture” world. She helped paved the way for the many Japanese fashion houses and designers that have since achieved global acclaim.

Donna Summer (1948 - 2012) was a musician who provided the soundtrack for America’s disco era. Her breathy voice and sensual music gave her the title of the queen of disco, but Donna wasn’t a one-genre diva – she cranked out hits in rock, R&B, hip hop, and gospel over the span of a four decade career.

Helen Gurley Brown (c.1922-2012) helped shape a new vision of working girls. As editor and chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and author of the international bestseller “Sex and the Single Girl,” she advocated (sometimes controversially) for women’s sexual freedom and autonomy.