Women Who Went Before

About 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.

Publisher

Rebekah Haigh & Emily Chesley

Category

education · history · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Aug 2022

Latest episode

14 Aug 2025

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Aug 2025

   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 that marked a monk. Dr. Rebecca Krawiec explains all of this and more. Why did women join monasteries? What do we do with those extreme stories of saints punishing their bodies? How can letters give us a more full understanding of women monastics? Who w...

2. 

   31 Jul 2025

   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 questions and many more in the penultimate episode of Season 2, as we learn how the Romans put bodies on display. Access full transcript and episode show notes Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley. Music i...

3. 

   17 Jul 2025

   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 intersected with race. We’ll learn about a Greek novel The Aethiopica, what a metic was, and what this all has to do with some recent Hollywood controversies. Transcript and episode show notes Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Rebekah Haigh and Emily...

Who has been a guest on Women Who Went Before

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Rhiannon Graybill
• Dr Shai Secunda
• Dr Ada Nifosì
• Dr Julia Watts Belser
• Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

28 ratings

Contact Women Who Went Before

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.