Unruly Figures

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Saint Valentine, the ancient Roman rebel and martyr who has given his name to our modern romantic holiday.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Kheir-ed-Din, better known in Anglophone countries as Barbarossa. He was a Corsair, or pirate, in the Mediterranean in the 15th and 16th century--his tale is full of excitement on the high seas.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Saint Valentine, the ancient Roman rebel and martyr who has given his name to our modern romantic holiday.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Owain Glyndŵr, the last Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Noor Inayat Khan, a princess, a children's story author, and an uncover agent for the British during WWII.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Alfred Carlton Gilbert, the man who saved Christmas.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Lepa Svetozara Radić, an icon of Nazi resistance and teenaged hero in the Balkans.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering Petra Herrera, the oft-forgotten cross-dress, bridge-destroying hero of the Mexican Revolution. She was wildly successful but never received any credit.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut, the woman who peacefully took power for herself in ancient Egypt. She broke every rule of how royal women were supposed to behave and we still remember her for her incredible success almost 4,000 years later.

This week, historian and host Valorie Castellanos Clark is covering the mad monk Rasputin, who is credited with singlehandedly destroying the Russian monarchy by sleeping with the Russian queen.

But did he though? We explore the legend and truth of Rasputin in this juicy episode.

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the legendary pirate Princess Alfhild, who ran away from her betrothed to become a pirate with a gang of girls who also wanted to escape marriage.

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the incredible life of Yasuke, the first known Black samurai in Japan.

This podcast is sponsored by Ritual. Try Ritual or expand your subscription, go to ritual.com/unruly to learn more.

Welcome to season 3 of Unruly Figures! We have a couple of exciting changes to the show:

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the rebellious life of Mekatilili wa Menza, a key figure in the grassroots fight against British colonization in Kenya.

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing life of Sarah Bernhardt, the incredible French actress of the nineteenth century. She was not only an impressive stage actress, she was also a great sculptor and a pioneer of modern celebrity.

Want to hear Bernhardt's ethereal and incredible voice?

• Bernhardt reciting Racine in 1902: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKa7JleYqm8&ab_channel=theatrotv
• Bernhardt reciting La Samaritaine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE4Y8fWYIJo&ab_channel=robertfells

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing life of Sylvia Rivera, an icon of queer history. She was at Stonewall (maybe), started the first activist group working for trans rights, and more.

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing life of Alan Turing, who you might remember as the computer genius that Benedict Cumberbatch played in The Imitation Game. In this episode, Valorie dives deep into the inspiration behind Turing's biggest breakthroughs in computing technology, the questions that occupied him after WWII, and the conspiracy theories which surround his death.

This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Get a free trial of Audible, including one free audiobook! Go to audibletrial.com/unruly to learn more.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing life of Hans Christian Andersen, who you might remember as the author behind "The Little Mermaid." Though Ariel and The Ugly Duckling are probably two of Andersen's most famous characters, he was an incredibly prolific writer who wrote hundreds of stories during his life. In this episode, Valorie tackles the myths he built around his childhood, his dark experience in school, and the intense debates around his sexuality.

Link to Anderson's early poem "The Dying Child" - https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-dying-child-2/

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing tale of the Polly Adler, remembered as New York's greatest madam. She immigrated to the US from Russia, destined for a life of poverty and struggle, but rose above it to dizzying heights of money and glamour--and crime.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the amazing tale of the 1930s race car driver and Grand Prix team owner, Lucy Schell. She was the first ever female Grand Prix team manager, and in the 1938 season, she fielded a revolutionary car driven by a talented Jewish driver to beat the Nazis. Listen to learn more about their under-dog win.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the third and final part of the story of Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering the second part of the story of Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering Catherine de Medici, the famous Florentine Queen of France who would go on to be remembered as the Serpent Queen. Is her historical reputation fair or not?  Listen to find out. 

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark is covering Zheng Yi Sao, the Chinese Pirate Queen and the greatest pirate to have ever lived. 

In this episode, historian and host Valorie Clark covers the mysterious and harrowing tale of Herman the Recluse, the monk who might have done a deal with the devil to save his own life. 

In this episode, historian and host Valorie Clark covers Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri. Better known as simply Qamar, this singer became known as the Queen of Persian Music, and is still beloved by people today. But to become the queen, she had to break the rules--like singing in public and performing without a hijab in front of men.

In the season 2 premiere, historian and host Valorie Clark covers the earliest known female ruler in history: Queen Kubaba. She rose from brewing beer to ruling a city-state in ancient Sumer, an ascent historians are still trying to figure out. 

This podcast is sponsored by Ritual. Visit ritual.com/unruly for 30% off your new Ritual subscription.

In the season 1 finale, historian and host Valorie Clark covers two famous rebel siblings: Sophie and Hans Scholl. These two college students in Munich rebelled against the Nazi regime by publishing pamphlets and leading the resistance group The White Rose. They, along with several others, ended up giving up their lives for their beliefs and are remembered as brave martyrs for the resistance.

This week, historian and host Valorie Clark covers the Marquis de Lafayette, the famous French aristocrat known as the father of two worlds for his defining roles in both the American and French revolutions. 

This week, your host Valorie Clark is covering Nobuko Yoshiya, one of modern Japan's most famous and beloved female novelists. In addition to living a publicly queer life in early 20th century Japan, she was a pioneer of Class S fiction and a foundational writer for today's popular shōjo manga. 

This week your host Valorie Clark is covering Stormé DeLarverie, the queer, biracial drag king who threw the first punch at the Stonewall Uprising. 

This week on Unruly Figures I'm covering Jane, better known as the Jane Collective. 

In this week's episode of Unruly Figures, we're diving deep into ancient history to cover the Neo-Assyrian queen Shammurammat, better known as the legendary divine queen and conqueror Semiramis. 

This week, we're covering Countee Cullen, the famous Harlem Renaissance poet who broke away from social trends to call himself a poet instead of a Black poet. 

We're revisiting this episode--more info coming soon. (Updated June 2023)

This week's episode covers August Landmesser, a man who disobeyed Nazi laws in order to be with the woman he loved. 

For those of you who send a holiday card every year, you're going to want to remember the name of today's subject: Sir Henry Cole. In 1843, he invented the Christmas card, then went on to shape public access to art in the UK. 

On this episode of Unruly Figures, I'm covering Manuela Sáenz, a feminist revolutionary icon and lover of Simón Bolívar. She lived her life on her own terms and it's really inspiring. 

A quick trigger warning: Suicidal ideation is discussed a couple of times during the episode, but no one dies this way.

This week, we've got our very first episode covering an anonymous figure in history. Wondering how? Well, Tank Man is insanely famous, but we don't know his real name. Nevertheless, he has inspired freedom seekers and advocates the world over. 

Here we are, the second half of the story of Rosa Parks! The work that she continued to do after she refused to get up on a bus in December 1955 is really amazing, and I'm so excited to tell you about it. 

This week, we've got our very first two-part episode going on! Rosa Parks led an amazing life, so I'll be coming back next week to tell you about the rest of it. Until then, enjoy this first part.

I do want to include one trigger warning for the episode: R*pe is mentioned twice, but only very briefly each time.

To celebrate Halloween, we're covering someone famous that people love to dress in costume as: the female pirate Anne Bonny! Learn all about this swashbuckling woman's life sailing the Caribbean with her lover, plundering treasure and stealing ships. 

I do want to include one trigger warning for the episode: The word r*pe does get used, but it does not occur.

On this episode of Unruly Figures, I'm covering Jean-Michel Basquiat. He's remembered as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, but also for dying suddenly at just 27-years-old. He was the first artist to make the jump from street art to fine art, and he paved the way for a whole new way of looking at and appreciating fine art. 

The Art New York interview I mention in the episode can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ytkFDzdbk&ab_channel=PaulTschinkel 

On this episode of Unruly Figures, I'm covering Joe Carstairs. She’s remembered as a World War I ambulance driver, a speedboat racer, a lover of actress Marlene Dietrich, and the owner of an island in the Bahamas.