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Born on April 15, 1894, Bessie Smith fell in love with music at a young age. Inspired by her brother Clarence, she started off performing on 9th Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. By 14, she was performing at Atlanta's 81 Theatre, where she met the legendary Ma Rainey.

In 1923, Bessie recorded "Down Hearted Blues." In less than 6 months, it sold 780,000 copies. This catapulted her into the national spotlight where she toured the North and South, collaborated with greats like Louis Armstrong, and became the highest paid Black entertainer of her time.

Come along with us as we explore Bessie's career, influence on blues and jazz, and her enduring legacy through history and astrology for Black History Month!

Sources

Articles:

• “Bessie Smith” by Chris Albertson, for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (https://tinyurl.com/5ad57fps)
• "Bessie Smith: Blues Icon, Trailblazer with Village Connections" by Leeanne G-Bowley (https://tinyurl.com/472fpr6e)
• "Bessie Smith's First Recordings" by Roger Kimmel Smith (https://tinyurl.com/5n6r5e7p)
• "Bulldykers and lady lovers: the rumors about lesbian blues singers were all true" by Meagan Day (https://tinyurl.com/4byxcx83)
• “Edward Albee: Controversial Father of Vaudeville” by Anna Jennings (https://tinyurl.com/dw6byj4v)
• “Forebearers: Bessie Smith, The Empress of The Blues” by Gwen Thompkins (https://tinyurl.com/d58j32k3)
• "1923: Bessie Smith, 100 Women of the Year", TIME Magazine (https://tinyurl.com/43ywwxrk)

Books:

• Bessie by Chris Alberston, Revised and Extended Edition.

Digital Media:

• Bessie, HBO Films, 2015
• St. Louis Blues (https://tinyurl.com/545z73tr)

Websites:

• Bessie Smith (https://tinyurl.com/th3d8phr)
• Bessie Smith (https://tinyurl.com/msw69jkn)
• Bessie Smith (https://tinyurl.com/5dn9xyfs)
• GRAMMY Hall of Fame Past Recipients (https://tinyurl.com/mnrn3b45)
• The National Recording Registry 2002 (https://tinyurl.com/2my6fs2t)
• 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll (https://tinyurl.com/4vbbdazz)

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Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
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For over 1,100 years, the Pythia at the Oracle of Delphi influenced politics, wars, and laws in the Ancient Greek world. Open to questions only nine days a year, the Pythia gave guidance to people from all across Greece, Asia Minor, and beyond.

Between 535 to 615 of the oracles have survived, and over half are said to be historically correct. Pericles, Xenophon (a friend of Socrates), and Emperor Hadrian consulted the Pythia, showing how these women were the greatest authority in Ancient Greece.

Come along with us as we explore the founding of the Oracle of Delphi, famous prophecies, and the Pythia's power through history and astrology in Olivia's birthday episode!

This episode contains mentions of rape & cannibalism.

Sources

Articles:

• “Apollo and the Pythia: the Oracle of Delphi” (https://tinyurl.com/wretu7df)
• “Delphic priestesses were the world’s first political risk consultants” (https://tinyurl.com/38d6wen8)
• "The excavations at Delphi" (https://tinyurl.com/bpbxp9b3)
• “The Oracle of Delphi: The Ancient Greek Fortuneteller” (https://tinyurl.com/mfpdtbr8)
• "What Lies Beneath: The Great Excavation Sacred Delphi" (https://tinyurl.com/5ufkx99z)

Books:

• The Astrology of Fate by Liz Green
• Delphi: a history of the center of the ancient world by Michael Scott
• Delphi and the Greek Warrior by Lauren O. Thyme
• Delphi: The History of the Ancient Greek Sanctuary and Home to the World's Most Famous Oracle by Charles River Editors and Andrew Scott
• “The Delphic Oracle” in Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology (https://tinyurl.com/45bjxh2c)
• The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the Science Behind Its Lost Secrets by William J. Broad
• “The Twelve Labors of Heracles” in Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology (https://tinyurl.com/m97z52yp)

Primary Sources:

• The Histories by Herodotus, Translated by Andrea L. Purvis, Edited by Robert B. Strassler
• The Obsolescence of Oracles by Plutarch, Translated by F.C. Babbitt

Website:

• Archaeological Site of Delphi (https://tinyurl.com/v22kpxfr)
• Delphi Archaeological Museum (https://tinyurl.com/2dm34js7)
• Heracles and Apollo (https://tinyurl.com/3u2v472j)
• History of Delphi (https://tinyurl.com/5ufkx99z)
• The Oracle at Delphi (https://tinyurl.com/3r5dcebd)

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Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast

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Long before the annulment of their marriage, Katherine of Aragon's status as queen was actively buried by Henry VIII. Her strategy of patience against his attempts to belittle her won out; she did not bend. Katherine remained close to her friends, focused on needlework, and poured herself into her daughter Mary's education in the remaining years of her life.

After she died on January 7, 1536, she was given a princess' funeral procession — not a queen's — and buried in a modest tomb at Peterborough Cathedral. While Henry VIII tried to erase her, today we remember her as the true Queen.

Come along with us as we explore Katherine's strategic queenship, motherhood, and legacy through history and astrology in Amanda's birthday episode!

Sources

Articles:

• "Catherine of Aragon: Spain's Virgin queen?" by Giles Tremlett (https://tinyurl.com/42e9m6pe)
• "The Death of Arthur Tudor" by Claire Ridgeway (https://tinyurl.com/26my79zr)
• “Did Blood Cause Henry VIII’s Madness and Reproductive Woes?” by Jennie Cohen (https://tinyurl.com/3k5p54fb)
• "Did Catherine of Aragon and Arthur Tudor consummate their marriage?" by Claire Ridgeway (https://tinyurl.com/8eve7hm2)
• “The head that wears the crown: Henry VIII and traumatic brain injury” by Muhammad Qaiser Ikram, Fazle Hakim Sajjad, and Arash Salardini. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, February 5, 2016. (https://tinyurl.com/3ztpnua7)
• “Katherine of Aragon: England’s First Feminist Queen?” by Daniella Novakovic (https://tinyurl.com/3z7eebyh)
• “The Pregnancies of Katherine of Aragon” by Sarah Bryson (https://tinyurl.com/fpn6mbxx)
• Tudor Life: Katherine of Aragon, September 2017 edition (https://tinyurl.com/3rmawtvt)
• “Tudor Royal Pregnancy - Catherine of Aragon” by Charlotte Daynton, July 7, 2019. (https://tinyurl.com/5n998b9v)
• “Tudor Royal Pregnancy - Elizabeth of York ” by Charlotte Daynton, June 30, 2019. (https://tinyurl.com/mr3xtekh)

Books:

• Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's Spanish Queen by Giles Tremlett
• Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England by Theresa Earenfight
• How to Be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman
• Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen by Alison Weir

Digital Media:

• The Six Tudor Queens — Katherine of Aragon with Elizabeth Norton, Historical Royal Palaces Podcast (https://tinyurl.com/45u349cp)

Primary Sources:

• Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Henry VIII, July 5, 1527 (https://tinyurl.com/ycx8yd86)
• Letter from Eustace Chapuys to Charles V, January 9, 1536 (https://tinyurl.com/2nu3d686)
• Letter from Eustace Chapuys to Charles V, January 21, 1536 (https://tinyurl.com/2nu3d686)
• Letter from Katherine of Aragon to Henry VIII, January 7, 1536 (https://tinyurl.com/mvsd2wnv)

Websites:

• History of Kimbolton Castle (https://tinyurl.com/2ewk8y3u)
• Katherine of Aragon (https://tinyurl.com/yc287suz)

Support Us!
Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast