Pick the Next Extra History Series! "Women in History"

It's time for our Extra History poll! Where you get to vote on what our next Extra History Series is about!

These four topics were selected from our "Women in History" Patreon Suggestions and are listed in no particular order below.

Empress Wu Zetian: Hated By Gods and Men

"With a heart like a serpent and a nature like that of a wolf," commented one writer, "She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother. She is hated by gods and men alike." Or... was she? Wu Zetian, steered the Tang Dynasty for half a century, first through her incompetent husband and young son, then by personally taking the throne for 15 years—ending only with her death in 705 CE. In doing so, she became the only woman in 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule the empire under her own name. Entering court as a young concubine of the Emperor Gaozong, she threw herself headfirst into a love triangle between the Empress and Gaozong's chief concubine—eventually intriguing to have both rivals expelled and killed. As empress consort, she held a seal giving her say over any official document and held sway over both war and peace, becoming a key figure in state reforms, military campaigns in Korea, the adoption of Buddhism, and the rise of China into one of the world's great empires. But behind all the grisly stories and tales of court betrayal, historians have glimpsed another Empress Wu... one that suggests a powerful and effective woman who later writers would try to denigrate with tales of extreme cruelty and ruthlessness. After all, could a universally hated woman truly govern for half a century without being overthrown?

Hunting Typhoid Mary:

This is the story of two women. Mary Mallon was born poor in Ireland, and immigrated to the United States to work in domestic jobs as a maid and cook. Sara Josephine Baker was the daughter of a wealthy New York Quaker family, and embarked on a career in medicine just as the field was opening to upper-class women. Born only a few years apart, the two would live parallel lives in New York City. While Baker worked in public health, revolutionizing the treatment of child blindness and the lack of effective baby formula, Mallon took a series of positions as a cook for rich New York families. The two women's lives would collide in a sensational fashion as investigators discovered that blooming clusters of typhoid among rich New York families had one thing in common—an Irish cook matching the same description, who always left just as her employers began to show symptoms. Smeared in the press as "Typhoid Mary"—Mallon was an asymptomatic carrier, and believed she was not responsible—Baker would twice be part of the team that tracked and apprehended Mallon. While the now-infamous Mary spent the rest of her life in involuntary quarantine, Baker would go on to incredible heights in the medical field, while also developing a committed lesbian relationship with a Hollywood screenwriter, while Mary died as a prisoner of the medical establishment. It's a story of detective work, medical ethics, the early days of public health and institutional horror—a case that confronts us with tough questions about public health policy, and when societal good trumps individual rights.

Caterina Sforza: The Tiger of Forli

Military commander, politician, alchemist and fan of extreme retributive violence—Caterina Sforza was many things. Born into a family line of mercenaries, she was educated as a Renaissance woman at a time when Italian noblewomen could wield more power than they had previously. Made Countess of Forli and Lady of Imola from her marriage to her first husband (until he was assassinated, that is) Caterina quickly established herself as a person it was unwise to mess with. When her ally Pope Sixtus died, Caterina—seven months pregnant at the time—occupied a fortress at the center of Rome and threatened to bombard the conclave of cardinals as a way of influencing the vote. It was a hint of things to come, as Caterina would go on to be a major player in the dangerous world of Renaissance Italian politics, from squaring off against rival Italian families, defending her city and even resisting French armies led by the infamous Cesare Borgia. Dubbed the "Tiger of Forli" for her dogged defense against Venice, she earned the admiration of Machiavelli and several powerful enemies. Her tumultuous love life, however, would in some ways prove her undoing. Married three times, and widowed twice by assassination, her bloody-minded thirst for vengeance for her fallen husbands would alienate her from her people. But what fascinates historians about Caterina is how she played gender to her advantage—at times using her femininity to play the expected roles of widow and mother, while taking on more masculine traits when people expected a strong leader. From avenging dead husbands to being the best-worst mother of the Renaissance (she supposedly responded to news of her sons being held captive by saying that she could make more) Caterina is one of the most ruthless and impressive women of her time.

Hildegard von Bingen: God's Genius

Hildegard von Bingen was, as the internet likes to say, a bit of a Mary Sue. The most prolific musical composer of the Middle Ages, while running an abbey she also produced 400 surviving letters, invented her own language and authored treatises on medicine, theology, mysticism and science. And did we mention the visions from God? Yeah, she also had visions from God. Born in 1098 in the Palatinate of the Rhine (modern Bavaria), it was clear from a young age that Hildegard would be a little... different... than other women from the minor nobility. At three she experienced her first vision of a "living Light" which lifted her up into the sky and spread her consciousness over a wide area to observe the inner lives of people nearby. Though weakened all her life by sickness and pain, these visions would seemingly give her a mystic insight into a variety of scientific and spiritual pursuits. Modern scholars have argued whether her ecstatic experiences were brought on by temporal lobe epilepsy (which can also trigger hallucinations, increased religious devotion, and intense periods of writing) or her visions of auras a symptom of migraines, but neither would explain her sheer genius and command of multiple disciplines. One of the most famous mystics and philosophers of her era, Hildegard would later become a saint and Doctor of the Church, as well as attracting modern interest from historians who view her through a feminist lens. From experiments with language, to beer, to treatises on herbal medicine and homeopathy, Hildegard is one of the most fascinating and puzzling religious figures of the Middle Ages.

Current Schedule:

A History of Buddhism - Starting 7/29 --> Henry Ford: Antisemitism and Assembly Lines --> The Little Ice Age --> Your Vote!

***Friendly reminder: The poll will end at 5:00 PM PT on Monday the 24th. You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. ***