How Margaret Sanger & Katharine Dexter McCormick Saved the World

How Margaret Sanger & Katharine Dexter McCormick Saved the World

Author: Simone Whitlow November 24, 2024 Duration: 16:04
This week, how do I sum this up? I was freewheeling a little today, but have I got a tale of resistance, and a weird little man for you all. Anthony Comstock was a weird, joyless guy - and his ‘Comstockery’ ruined many ordinary lives - but hell hath no fury like Margaret Sanger and Katharine Dexter McCormick - our heroines this week.  Sources Include: I was free associating things I knew this week, rather than going off a script - but Andrew Marr’s A History of the World was where I first came across this tale. Tyler Mahan Coe’s episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones on Loretta Lynn’s The Pill is definitely in the mix on this one too… Support the show on Patreon for $2 US a month and get access to exclusive content, or Try our 7 Day Free Trial.  Please leave Tales a like and a review wherever you listen. The best way you can support us is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays.   Tales of History and Imagination is on | Facebook |TikTok | Threads | YouTube |  Come over and follow me there - it’s better than hanging out on X with Elon… I’ll be deleting my profile over there in the coming days.        Music, writing, narration, mixing yours truly. 

Simone Whitlow hosts Tales of History and Imagination, a podcast dedicated to unearthing those peculiar, overlooked stories that conventional history books often skip. Each episode feels like a conversation about a fascinating secret, whether it's delving into the life of an obscure figure who tried to alter our very concept of time or examining the panic caused by a legendary beast in eighteenth-century France. You'll encounter the clever pranksters and the enigmatic side characters-the individuals who played brief but unforgettable cameo roles on the world's stage. Rather than re-treading well-worn narratives, this show seeks out perspectives rarely considered, finding the extraordinary within the ordinary march of events. Listening to this podcast is an exercise in curiosity, where major historical moments are often reframed through a surprising, human lens. It’s for anyone who suspects the past is far weirder and more wonderful than they were taught, blending rigorous research with a storyteller's sense of wonder. The result is a consistently engaging mix that sits at the crossroads of history, culture, and sheer human imagination.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Tales of History and Imagination
Podcast Episodes
The Hammersmith Ghost [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:44
Last week when I covered the Tale of Spring Heeled Jack, I mentioned a couple of people in passing without explanation… Apologies all, I’ll be coming back to a few of those people sometime in the near future… But with re…
Spring Heeled Jack [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:35
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to an episode from the first season to give it a new coat of (red) paint… speaking of, we’re going back to London in 1837 to discuss newspapers, the death of ‘Silly…
Murder in Belgravia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:28
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we discuss a murdered nanny, the murderer… his awful ancestors, and said murderer’s mysterious disappearance. Trigger warnings: murder. Sources Include: A Different Class of…
The Batavia: Part Four - Batavia’s Graveyard [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:34
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return one last time to the wreck of the Batavia. This is where things, finally, go all ‘Lord of the Flies’ on Batavia’s Graveyard. This is part four of a four parter - th…
The Batavia: Part Three - The Longboat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:48
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to the wreck of the Batavia. In part two we follow the adventures of the 48 in the longboat as they make their way along Australia’s Western coast; learn a little m…
The Batavia: Part Two - The Heretic [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:00
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to the wreck of the Batavia. In part two we discuss heresy, and the harrowing life of under-merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz. This is part two of a four parter. Trigger…
The Batavia: Part One - The Shipwreck [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:39
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to Australia for a real life soap opera that was considerably more bloody than Neighbours or Home and Away. First we need to take a cruise on a Dutch VOC flagship c…
The Ballad of Tom Wills [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:06
This week we travel to Australia for a game of Marn Grook, to discuss origin stories; perhaps the archetypal troubled sportsman - and horrific massacres. Trigger warnings: Murder, suicide, colonialism, and to the Aborigi…
The Cancellation of Ilda Orme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:40
The American actress Ilda Orme knew a thing or two about being cancelled, a long, long time before social media put the cancel button in the hands of the public at large. Her cancellers, she suspected were two hateful fo…
Archias The Exile Hunter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:04
On, or around 11th June 323 BC Alexander the Great died in Babylon. While there are mysteries surrounding his passing - did an Indian holy man prophesy his passing a year prior while self immolating in Alexander’s presen…