This is later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast more what you hear weekday
afternoons on the Drive. So is that what you talk about in this podcast
mainly women and women in the history of the United States. We actually talk
about women from around the world and throughout history, and the idea is,
in five ish minutes every day, we tell the story of a woman who
you may not know about but should. So these are bite sized episodes that
are fun and engaging, that tell stories of people who you will likely be
interested in. Give me an example. I mean, it's not just Madame
Curie or eleanor Roosevelt. It's not so we for example, this past month
of March, we highlighted movers and shakers, so we talked about women who
were strong women, wrestlers, adventurers, explorers, people who were experts in
flying hot air balloons at a time where there was sort of balloon mania in
France. We talked about this coming month it's going to be mischief makers,
and we're talking about spies and tricksters, people who did all sorts of different
things. It's hard for me to pull out one example because we've covered so
many women. But the idea is that we want to share individual stories that
show the breadth of experience and what's possible for women, both what happened in
the past and also to give ideas of different paths people can take in the
future. Jenny Kaplan, co founder and chief executive officer of Wonder Media Network.
While Manica is the daily podcast she produces featuring bite sized stories of incredible
women throughout history. And did many of these women thrive in the background of
what was then kind of a man's world? Definitely, and it's amazing to
see how much was accomplished by these women under those circumstances and how much we
don't really understand from our regular history classes. Perhaps was what women were responsible
for, but it may have been a man's world. But based on these
stories that we've been telling, it seems like women certainly had a greater impact
on history than we generally give credit for. So many times as well,
sex enters into the conversation. It does. Yeah, I agree with you,
and I guess my question is does it were many of these women aware
of that tool in their chest or was it more of an annoyance? You
know, it's a good question. We've covered so many women that I think
it really depends on the person we're talking about. I do think that there
are lots of examples where based on the time and the the roles that were
the jobs that were available to women at any given period, there were a
lot of people who we've highlighted who used their station or their ability to marry
well, or use their ability to attract different people to their advantage in terms
of getting whatever they wanted to get accomplished accomplished. So there definitely it is
important to note that at different points of time, women were not allowed in
lots of different different positions, and so they used what they could to get
done what they wanted to get done. Was there a turning point? And
we're talking by the way to Jenny Kaplan, a co founder and chief executive
officer of Wonder Media Network, produces Willmanica, a daily podcast featuring stories of
incredible women throughout history. She's also an award winning journalist at Bloomberg. But
was there a turning point in American history in particular where things started to become
easier or or was it better for women in society altogether? It's hard to
pick one specific turning point. I think it has certainly gotten better over time,
although I think women are still today fighting for their communities and fighting for
different different needs that are often not covered in media, are unmet. But
I think there's been progress over time and different I think that's really not just
been It's been hard bought that progress, and so I think, you know,
it's probably easiest. The contrast is easiest seen if you look back to
the early days of the United States and compare that to where we are now.
But it's sort of impossible to pick one particular turning point for so many
different women. I was thinking along the lines of the right to vote.
I mean, it seems like that's when when women were finally being listened to.
It certainly is, and that wasn't just a discreet moment in itself.
You know that the right to vote was one particularly for white women, and
then that fight, that battle continued on for women of color for much longer.
So it's been you know, every time there's a fight. I think
that every time there's a victory, I think that that leads to another another
movement towards for the rights, for their progress. And we talk a lot
about that on the show and we also want to highlight women who weren't just
fighting for that, women who are complicated and interesting and you know, may
have been good, may have been sort of evil or certainly complicated in the
mixture of the two. So we want to highlight lots of different stories that
aren't just inspirational, aren't just about the march of progress, although we certainly
do feature those kinds of stories, but also that show lots of different kinds
of people, like you know, in April, we're talking all about mischief
makers. So there's there's a lot to be covered, and it's certainly it
makes for an interesting show to produce every day. And that interesting show is
Wamanica, the podcast featuring bite sized stories of incredible women throughout history, produced
with Jenny Kaplan, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Wonder Media
Network. And we thank you for bringing these stories to us and for joining
us today. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to Later with Lee
Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live
weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation