Kassie continues Scandinavian Gal Month with Icelandic musician and actress, Björk. Learn about how Björk started in music at age 11 and rose to international success with the band The Sugarcubes before going solo. There was also that swan dress...

Bonnie continues Scandinavian Gal Month with the first woman in the world to be democratically elected as president. Learn about Vigdís Finnbogadóttir the president of Iceland from 1980-1996.

Riwo starts off Scandinavian Gal Month with Swedish royalty who saved her country with alcohol! Learn all about the gal with a brain for science, Eva Ekeblad! 

Riwo finishes up South American month talking about a historian who taught us how to learn about the Incas not from a western perspective, not from a Spanish conquistador perspective, but that of the ancestry of the people, the Andeans. Learn about the fantastic historian Maria Rostworowski.

Julie shares with us the colorful life of the gal known for her fruit hats, singing, and dancing - Carmen Miranda. There is much more to this "Brazillian Bombshell" learn about Carmen's life in two Americans and her many talents. 

It's Katie's Birthday week and we have a special coupon code for 15% off our event A Night With the Witch and Famous.  The episode originally aired October 17, 2022 - Katie gets gruesome with the tale of Catherine “La Vosin” Monvoisin. This French black magic sorcerer was the head of a powerful network that provided poisons, love potions, and abortions. She might have killed over 1,000 people but she also might have got King Louis XIV to fall for Madame de Montespan. Listen, if you dare!

It's the start of South American Gal Month! Bonnie leads off with a national hero of Brazil, Maria Quitéria! Learn about this lieutenant in the Brazilian War of Independence. 

Katie finishes up American Farmers Month with the Indigenous peoples' mythos of planting corn, beans, and squash.  

Before there was Rosie the Riveter there were the Farmerettes. Riwo shares the history of the gals who were called to help America by being farmers. 

Debbi shares her American farmer gal, Harriet Williams Russell strong. Harriet was pivotal to water conservation in California. She was also known as the "Walnut Queen" and held 5 patents. Learn all about this innovative woman.  

We're Back! It's been a bit of a break but we've found our way out of the cornfields and back to the Gal's Guide Library to talk about American farmer gals. First up is Bonnie's pick, Rith Imogen Stout the "no-work" garden method author. 

Riwo closes up Canada Month with her "TV mom" and a major happiness factor in her life, Catherine O'Hara. This talented comedian is the mom in Schitt's Creek, the mom in Beetlejuice, and the mom in Home Alone. But to Riwo she's so much more.

Barb tells the tale of the first female publisher in Canada, Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Mary was born and died in the United States but her time in Canada was marked by her creation of the newspaper Provincial Freeman, a weekly paper starting in 1853 that circulated around southern Ontario that advocated equality, integration, and self-education for Black people.

Canada Month continues! This time Katie tells us about the civil rights activist Viola Desmond. She made history when she refused to leave her seat in the Roseland Theater. This Black Nova Scotian challenged Canadian segregation. Today she's on the $10 bill. Learn about this amazing woman on today's episode. 

It's Canada Day! Bonnie is starting us off with the author of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Learn about how this Canadian author used working at the post office to her advantage. 

Riwo finishes up Caribbean Month talking about the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. This colorful Cuban singer part of Tito Puente's Orchestra and the only female in the Fanta All-Stars. Her story is full of Azucar (sugar) sweetness. She released 37 albums and has even more collabs including one with Wyclef Jean. 

Barb continues Caribbean month by talking about the cultural icon of Jamaica. Miss Lou was an author, poet, and folklore expert. Learn and embrace the beauty and importance of the language of your culture. 

Bonnie starts off Caribbean month with a Barbadian-Guyanese by way of Brooklyn, the fantastic Shirley Chisholm. The first African-American woman to run for President whose biography is named "Unbought and Unbossed" gives much of her influence to attending a strict school in Barbados. Bring a folding chair to this episode! 

Riwo closes our Japan Month with a slice of shogun history. Tomoe Gozen was an onna-musha, a female warrior. She was taught defense and offense. She was on the battlefield with Samuari where she beheaded a lot of men. She was also involved in what led to the first shogunate.

Kami continues Japan Month with J-Pop star Ado. Her debut song "Usseewa" reached more than 100 million plays in record time and hit #1 on Billboard Japan Hot 100. She also has a song for One Piece Film. But get this...she doesn't show her real face. Learn about this fascinating and multi-talented artist creating powerful music right now.

Bonnie starts us off by learning about the controversial actress Komako Kimura. This gal managed two theaters in Toyoko, performed in nearly 500 plays, and created a movement. Komako was all about women's suffrage and Japan tried to shut it down. So she came to America to walk in the 1917 Women's Suffrage Parade in New York...and perform at Carnegie Hall...and on Broadway

Riwo's has gone rogue. She has as her pick an ancient site in what is now Turkey. Çatalhöyük has many twist and turns. It is a journey through some problematic guys. But Çatalhöyük, was said to be ruled by women 9000 years ago. 

Middle East Month continues with the first female Egyptian nuclear physicist. Sameera Moussa is Katie's pick. Learn about Sameera worked toward and hoped for a world where atomic energy was used to help those in need at little or no cost and that this new energy was used in peace and productivity. She is known as the Mother of Atomic Energy and "Atoms for Peace." 

Amy returns to the show with an insightful look at the controversial actress and belly dancer, Sama El Masry. Sama's views and delivery may be polarizing but she is a woman who was arrested, sent to jail, and fined for posting a TikTok video. 

Bonnie starts us off with an exploration of women in the Middle East. Artemisia 1 of Caria was a Queen of what is now Turkey. She commanded ships, was a friend of Xerxes 1, King of Persia and she's written about in Herodotus. 

Did you think Ireland Month was over?! Well, we found a pot of gold on this April Fools Day! Gal’s Guide just happens to be so lucky because we know Jackie. Jackie is a native Hoosier who now calls Ireland home. She also runs the Castlelyons Library, which is supported and sponsored by Gal’s Guide. So for this bonus episode, Jackie Donegan tells us about the amazing Irish author Kate O'Brien! 

Riwo's pick is pre-Christian times in Ireland. Her pick is also part historical but also part myth and legend. She’s a complex woman. Queen Medb (also spelled Maeve, Mave, Meave) her name is connected to alcohol -  you know meade-woman -  she starts a war over who has a prettier bull, and it takes 30 men in a night to satisfy her sexually. She’s a lot and she's not apologizing for any of it. 

Lori continues Ireland Month by talking about singer, songwriter, and activist Sinéad O'Connor. The Pope and Prince tie into this episode as we learn about the many albums, struggles, and talents of this Dublin musician. 

Katie continues Ireland Month with a campaigner for social justice, elected to Parliament at age 21, served prison time, wounded in an assassination attempt, and sometimes called "Ireland's Joan of Arc", Bernadette Devlin.

It's the start of Ireland Month! Bonnie's pick is an all-around adventurer. Lilian Bland is an aviator, horseback rider, lumberjack, painter, and car salesman. And when we say aviator we mean, she's the first woman to build her own plane 'cause it's 1910.  And when we say car salesman, we mean the idea of cars is new. 

Katie finishes up African Gals Month by sharing about Senegalese author, Mariama Ba. So Long a Letter is a novel expressing the fate and the frustration of African women. Mariama received the Noma Award, a major book award in Africa.

Gal's Guide Film Club is discussing the Viola Davis movie The Women King. Leah wanted to dig deeper into the real-life all-female military regiment in the Kingdom of Dahomey known as the Agojie. If you are wondering if they are what the Dorje Milaje of Black Panther is based on - you are correct my friend.

Josh returns to the podcast to talk about the medicinal plant biologist, Nokwanda Pearl Makunga. Professor Nox is a researcher in Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University. Her work is fascinating if you have a green thumb and even if you don't! 

It's a new month and Bonnie starts African Gal month with a trailblazer of the Egyptian Feminist movement, Huda Sha'arawi. Learn about this amazing suffragette.   

Leah closes out Australian Gals Month with her pick. Sister Elizabeth Kenny (who was a military sister, not a religious sister) was an Australian Bush nurse who basically created physical therapy. At the time her methods of treating polio patients were unconventional but one day there was some help from the Mayo Clinic in the United States. Learn more about this amazing woman. 

Katie's Australian Gal is a legendary businesswoman who started as a convict.  Learn about Mary Reibey, an incredible woman who is on the money and became a role model for many. 

Australian Gals Month continues! Barb's pick is a social reformer who was the first woman to serve as a member of Parliament. 

It is a new season of the Gal’s Guide Podcast! Can you believe it, it’s season 7! We’ve got a slightly new spin on all of 2024’s episodes. We’ll be learning about women around the world with a new region each month. This month, it’s Australia! Bonnie starts us off with the first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard. 

For the last episode of Season 6, Barb ends Medicine Woman month with Omaha Medical doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte. Season 7 begins on January 8, 2024, with Australian Gals.

Medicine Woman Month continues! Leah tells us about the amazing Gladys Tantaquidgeon who was 3rd generation medicine woman who lived to age 106! 

Bonnie stars of Medicine Woman with the Great Healer of the Native Americans, Qi-yo Ke-pe. 

Bonnie finishes up Folklore Month with the Slavic hero/villain the Baba Yaga!

Leah shares a Buddhist folktale of Kisa Gotami and the Mustard Seed. 

Kassie talks about the amazing modern playwright who has a folklore twist. Learn and celebrate Aleshea Harris and her play "Is God Is." 

Barb tells us about Lozen, the Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache who was a skillful warrior and a shield to her people. There is a trigger warning for this episode as we do discuss the capture and the imprisonment of Lozen and her people. 

October is Folklore Gals Month. To set the tone, Katie Young shares a quick and bonus episode about the lore of Banshees. 

Leah finished up Working Women Month with a delicious treat! Learn about Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie. See if you think she got a tasty deal for her business creation. 

Working Women Month continues! Barb tells us about the founder of Girls Who Code and the best-selling author of multiple books, Reshma Saujani.