Madame Fiocca - Part One

Madame Fiocca - Part One

Author: Simone Whitlow December 11, 2022 Duration: 20:49
Nancy Wake was known by many names. The Nazis called her the White Mouse, a resourceful agent of the resistance, who evaded their clutches. Britain’s Special Operations Executive called her Hélène. She was a key member of their Freelance cell, working to bring the Nazis down. To Marseille’s high society, she was Madame Fiocca, an intrepid foreign journalist who fell in love with one of their most eligible bachelors, and subsequently become one of their own. To the French resistance she was the tough as nails Madame Andrée - she could kill a man with her bare hands.  To Australia, the land she fled in her teens she was Nancy Wake - war hero. This is part one of a Two Part series. Part Two is Here.             Sources this week include: I’ll update fully later, in the meantime, my main text was Nancy Wake by Peter Fitzsimons. The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 US a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show 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, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, largely for Audiogram advertisements.      Music, writing, narration, mixing normally all yours truly. This week I recorded covers of Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster)Moonlight Serenade (Glenn Miller, Mitchell Parish)Kiss Me Goodnight Sergeant Major (Art Noel, Don Pelosi)and Bless ‘em All (Fred Godfrey, Robert Kewley)Everything else is mine.    For more information on Simone click here. 

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 Sin-Eater, Wizard of Mauritius & Mr Good Day - Three Work Tales [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:28
Note: I had a different subject in mind for this week’s Tale, and was around 3,000 words into what was shaping up to be a longer than average script - when things came up at my day job. Those things are great things - bu…
The Many Deaths of Glenn Miller [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:27
Glenn Miller was a trombonist, composer, superstar bandleader, and a war hero. On 15th December he hitched a ride on a plane across the English Channel - and was never seen again. This week we discuss some of the many, a…
The Ghost & The Darkness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:25
This week we’re in Tsavo, Kenya, 1898. John Henry Patterson has recently arrived in the region, to oversee the construction of a railway line through the country. Much could be said of him, but we’re far more interested…
The Infernal Machine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:16
Trigger Warning: The following episode discusses a mass shooting. I’ve left all the foley sounds out and do my best to treat the subject matter with reverence - but if in doubt it’s fine to miss this one - I’ll be back i…
Minisode: Spencer Percival [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:55
Trigger Warning: The following episode discusses political assassination. Also a quick note: this wasn’t the episode I had in mind for the second of my ‘From the Vaults’ episodes this break. I recorded both Carrington Ev…
Minisode: The Carrington Event [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:03
Strange, magical things were afoot in Boston, Massachusetts on September 2nd 1859, as telegraph machines took on a life of their own. That night the skies the world over put on a magnificent light show on e reporter desc…
The Old Man of The Mountain [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:50
In Part Three of our Assassins series we discuss the Syrian Assassins, Crusaders, Saladin, yet more assassinations and Baybars the Mamluk as we continue in our examination of the Ismaili. The blog post of the episode is…
The Mongols are Coming! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:17
In Part Two of our Assassins series we discuss Mongols, Kwarazmians, Heretics, more assassinations and those camels as we continue in our examination of the Ismaili. The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show…
The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:27
Admin Note: The following is part one of three part Tale. I’ll be releasing these fortnightly. There’s a tale from the Medieval Near East that persists in the modern day - some of the details are somewhat accurate - some…
The Bottle Conjuror [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:50
Quick admin note: I was planning on dropping a couple of 10 minute episodes in May, giving me a little time to plan out the next run. A couple of day to day things (I’m feeling it prudent I update my CV, and begin lookin…