American Women — Autobiographies and Biographies – Page 3

Harriet Tubman / produced by Darcell King. (Episode 6 of 7)

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and escaped to the North. Not satisfied with her own liberty, she risked her own life and freedom by returning to the South nineteen times to lead over three hundred men, women, and children to liberty by means of the underground railway. This program tells about her life and…

August 24, 2025

Woman’s magazine editor interviewed by William Mandel

1. Mandel bawls out audience for its behavior the previous week* (Duration 17 minutes) 2. Translated interview with editor of Ukrainian women’s magazine Radianska Zhinka (which means Soviet Woman in Ukrainian) in USSR, who holds a PhD. This portion has the Russian playing in the right channel, while Mandel translates into English in the left…

August 24, 2025

The Photographer as discoverer : Dorothea Lange / Milton Meltzer interviewed by Susan Anderson.

Susan Anderson interviews Milton Meltzer, writer and historian, about his book, “A photographer’s life,” a biography of the great American photographer Dorothea Lange (1895 – 1965). Meltzer describes the genesis behind much of her work as a photographer of migrant labor communities, her travels around the United States, and her writing, which often accompanied her…

August 24, 2025

Frieda Aaron, survivor / interviewed by Barbara Londin.

Frieda Aaron, a survivor of three concentration camps and the Warsaw ghetto, tells the story of her experience. As a girl of eleven and a half in 1939, she risked her life by attending a clandestine school, and only narrowly escaped death when her family underground bunker was discovered, a few months before the destruction…

August 24, 2025

Portrait of an unknown lady: the life and work of Elinor Wylie / with readings by Marian Seldes.

Tony Award-winning actress Marian Seldes reads the words of the poetess Elinor Wylie. In this program she is remembered, in the words of friends and associates, tracing her life story, and reflected in her own writings. Members of the cast are Risha Meledandri, Ira Weitzman, Richard Rosenblum, Manya La Bruja, and Judy Sherman. The words…

August 24, 2025

Women and breast cancer / Rose Kushner ; interviewed by Kathy McAnally.

Kathy McAnally talks with Rose Kushner, author of Breast Cancer, A Personal History and an Investigative Report (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, 1975). Kushner discusses breast cancer as it affects women’s relationships with men, her own personal experience with breast cancer, and the general lack of literature on the subject.

August 24, 2025

The Affair of Gabrielle Russier / read by Miriam Bjerre and Barbara Morris Freed.

The story and letters of the French school teacher, Gabrielle Russier, who committed suicide after being sentenced for having an affair with one of her younger students during the turmoil of May 1968. Based on the publication by Alfred Knopf, edited from the introduction by Mavis Gallant, and read by Miriam Bjerre and Barbara Morris…

August 24, 2025

Daughters and rebels / Jessica Mitford ; interviewed by Sidney Roger.

KPFA’s Sidney Roger interviews political activist Jessica Mitford (1917 – 1996) about her autobiography “Daughters and rebels” (Houghton & Mifflin Co., 1960, first published under the title “Hons and rebels” in the UK). She is introduced as Decca Treuhaft (Decca being her nickname, Treuhaft her husband’s surname). She discusses her unusual family upbringing, including her…

August 24, 2025

Malvina Reynolds: I’d rather say it myself singing / narrated by Nancy Schimmel; produced by Susan Kernes

A tribute to singer-songwriter Malvina Reynolds (1900-1978). The program is comprised of a running narration by Reynolds’ daughter, Nancy Schimmel, pieces of interviews with Ms. Reynolds, and reminiscences by Pete Seeger. Explores how she wrote songs, her struggle to get her material distributed, a discussion of her politics, what it is like to grow up…

August 24, 2025

The tracks of my tears: women on heroin / produced by Ginny Z. Berson

According to some sources, heroin use by women has tripled in the last decade. Why? Is “the life” different for women? What about recovery programs? Is the problem the illegality of heroin or the drug itself? This program was inspired by the book “Women on Heroin,” by Marsha Rosenbaum. Ginny Z. Berson talks with Sheila…

August 24, 2025