Women Who Went Before
Women Who Went Before is on a gynocentric quest into the ancient world. Join hosts Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley as they interview the world’s top scholars and unearth the lives of women from the past. It’s a history podcast and detective journey in one, sifting through texts and tropes to find the women who lived beneath.
Podcasting since 2022 • 22 episodes
Women Who Went Before
Latest Episodes
Wearing (Down) the Body: Asceticism in Late Antique Monasticism
In our Season 2 finale, we learn about Christian women from late antiquity who sought to transform their bodies inside and out: ascetics and monastics. From fasting to renouncing sexual “appetites” to special clothing—there were lots of things ...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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1:01:33
Idols for Idling Eyes: The Female Form in Roman Art
Can we trust Roman statues to tell us about real people? What were the differences between gods and humans in art? How much of a say did the emperor have over how Roman women dressed and lived their lives? Dr. Caroline Vout answers these questi...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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55:12
From Athens to Ethiopia: Race and Gender in Ancient Greek Literature
People groups, power, hierarchy, and othering—big themes in Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. In this episode we learn from Dr. Jackie Murray about what race was and wasn’t in Ancient Greek literature. We see how gender and class int...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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58:44
To Have and To Hold: Sexual Violence and the Bible
CW: This episode discusses themes of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.Dr. Rhiannon Graybill shares her research on sexual violence in the Hebrew Bible and ways of reading such messy stories for then and now. We also talk abou...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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57:37
Bad Blood: The Period Talk in Rabbinic Judaism and Zoroastrianism
We talk with Dr. Shai Secunda about the Babylonian rabbis’ science of blood, breaking taboos through sex education, and menstruation as a cure for rabies.Today, taboos about menstruation keep thousands of girls from attending school. For...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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57:00
