The Profess-Hers Podcast

10 | Modern Holiday

All we want for Christmas is non-oppressive media representation.

In our second holiday special, we get into seasonal sexism, Hallmark and Lifetime holiday movies, Elf on the Shelf, Dolly Parton, diamond rings, and non-problematic Christmas and holiday jams.

Remembering that the personal is political, we discuss some of our holiday memories and how women balance extra expectations around the holiday season. Remembering that we support each other’s choices, we discuss representation and gender roles in Christmas TV movies, but also why those movies are valuable.

We discuss lots of things that sneak up on us during the season: extra work, sexist advertising, Pinterest and other sources of pressure, and what should really matter.

Find Profess-Hers on Twitter and Instagram @professhers. Email us at professhers@gmail.com. Listen to us everywhere you find podcasts.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna

9 | Classic Christmas (Or, How English Teachers Ruin Everything)

Baby, it's cold out there for a feminist.

In our first of two Christmas specials, we get into Little Women, and three classic “Christmas” carols. We're sure you're already familiar with how English teachers ruin stuff, but do y'all know how surprisingly rad Louisa May Alcott was?

This episode has everything: Literature and literary analysis, book-to-film adaptations, songs, jokes, history, women's movements, and what we want for Christmas!

Find out what Misty's historical final take on “Baby, It's Cold Outside” is (it may surprise you?), and learn about why “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was banned for a year.

Find Profess-Hers on Twitter and Instagram @professhers. Email us at professhers@gmail.com. Listen to us everywhere you find podcasts.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna

8 | Women In Sports: Play Like a Person and Look However You Want

Play like a man but look like a girl? We are going to hard pass on both.

Make-up, hair-dos, playing in dresses (or worse), having chaperones and going to charm schools: Playing professional sports seems to come with some serious restrictions for women.  

We talk about women playing professional sports in the US: the woman who was too good for Babe Ruth’s liking, the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, women who play football the only way they can, what hasn’t changed since the 1940s, and how much we love that Geena Davis movie.

We have a lot of fun on this episode, and get to discuss history, culture, sports, and film. We promise even the non-sports fans among us will be glad they’re here.

Find Profess-Hers on Twitter and Instagram @professhers. Email us at professhers@gmail.com. Listen to us everywhere you find podcasts.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna.

7 | Pop Charts, Not Pop-Tarts 2 (Women of Music Part 2)

Rebel girls, girl power, lady rock stars, Lilith Fair, and shaking off scrubs.

In our second music episode, we rock out with some of the greatest women of music from the 1980s and the 1990s. Listen as Madonna, Cyndi Lauper embrace their personal power, and Joan Jett and the Go-Go’s make space for female-led bands. In the 90s, we get alternative, and discuss songs that speak to what it was like to be a girl - or man, to feel like a woman.

Which songs speak to us about the complexity of womanhood? How does the history of female musicians relate to to women’s movements?

You’ll hear some of your favorite songs, and you’ll pick a side on our debate about Britney and Christina.

Find Profess-Hers on Twitter and Instagram @professhers. Email us at professhers@gmail.com. Listen to us everywhere you find podcasts.

Audio engineering by Austin Haynes. Written and presented by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna.

6 | Pop Charts, Not Pop Tarts 1 (Women of Music Part 1)

What counts as a lady anthem? In this episode, we discuss (and listen to!) girl groups, Janis Joplin, queens of disco, and some of the original divas.

In our first music episode, we jam out with some of the greatest women of music from the 1960s and the 1970s. Listen as women go from crying over a man to singing “hear me roar,” and from waiting on “Mr. Postman” to singing odes to “The Pill.”

Which girls groups staged a protest to get their royalties? How does the history of female musicians relate to to the women’s movements?

You’ll hear some of your favorite songs, and you won’t believe what songs made chart-topping history (clue: they’re not the ones we are still singing).

Find Profess-Hers on Twitter and Instagram @professhers. Email us at professhers@gmail.com. Listen to us everywhere you find podcasts.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna

5 | Lifestyle Leading Ladies

Was Julia Child a very tall spy?*

In this episode, we share stories about our favorite lifestyle TV leading ladies. Misty schools us on just how hardcore Julia Child was, Allegra may change your mind about how important and inspiring Martha Stewart is, and we take turns celebrating Oprah.

How did these three follow their interests and passions into high-profile careers? How have they used their power and influence to be of use to other women (and to give them free cars)? Are Martha and Oprah always on the covers of their own magazines?

Cooking, decorating, and interviewing become platforms for advocacy, doing it yourself, and health. (With a shout out to runner-up Rachael Ray, and apologies for how Oprah unleashed Drs. Oz and Phil upon the world).

*Kind of, but not really

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna

4 | Women of TV Through Time

How did we get from June Cleaver to SVU? What does Friends get right in its representation of women, gender roles and sexuality, and which scenes make us cringe? Why hasn't Mariska Hargitay won every Emmy ever?

We’re going to dig into some of the golden girls of TV in every decade - from the 1950s through the present. We highlight landmark shows from every era and discuss their representations of women and how they reflect social progress. Misty takes us through the history of consensus culture, reasons to love Lucy, and what Mary Tyler Moore did for all the women who just wanna wear pants. We also talk about Roseanne, Friends, the Golden Girls, and Law & Order: SVU.

We promise there are more TV episodes to come: Handmaid’s Tale, Grey’s Anatomy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Kristen Bell everything, Orange Is The New Black, plus lots more.

Profess-Hers is a podcast written and presented by Misty, a History professor, and Allegra, an English professor, both of whom are here for having a serious, fun conversation about looking at literature, history, current events, pop culture, and media through a feminist lens.

3 | The Haunting Prose of Female Authors

Monsters, Hitchcock, psychological horror, hauntings, cults, vampires or the hunt for a killer: female authors are killing it in horror and suspense writing.

Expect many ghastly puns and lots of literary criticism in this episode, our second Halloween special, about women writers who can really scare us: featuring Mary Shelley, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, Gillian Flynn, Tana French and many others. 

What kinds of achievements are female authors making in the genre? How well are their characters developed? How did these authors use literary works to create, emphasize or reflect social messaging on women’s issues and women’s movements? Are the best female horror and suspense writers already gone, girl? Or are there some great new voices writing Power-ful books? Do any of these books not have the words “girl” or “woman” in the title?

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Davis Hanna - Guest host Cristina Martinez Sullivan

2 | Scream and Other Queens

What's your favorite scary movie?

In this episode, Misty and Allegra talk about the representation of women in horror movies. Are there movies that have accurate, fair or progressive representations of women? How do horror movies mirror the progress of women’s movements? We’ll also talk about common problems of female representations, films that get it right (or at least get it a little right-er) and the difference between final girls, scream queens, and damsels in distress. We also discuss the Scream movie franchise and how it gets some things right in its satirical series. Like most things from the 1990s, though, Scream represents progress and not perfection in its representation.

Profess-Hers is a podcast written and presented by Misty, a History professor, and Allegra, an English professor, both of whom are here for having a serious, fun conversation about looking at literature, history, current events, pop culture, and media through a feminist lens.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Hanna; produced by Austin Haynes and Scott January.

1 | As Tough As The Times

Spice Girls feminism or Twitter feminsim? To Kill A Mockingbird or Carrie?

In this first episode, Misty and Allegra introduce themselves, their podcast, and the history of that dirty "F" word... Go through a quick (and funny) history of feminism, which includes notable acheivements by the women's movements, and literature that reflects the social progress.

Profess-Hers is a podcast written and presented by Misty, a History professor, and Allegra an English professor, both of whom are here for having a serious, fun conversation about looking at literature, history, current events, pop culture, and media through a feminist lens.

Written by Misty Wilson-Mehrtens and Allegra Hanna; produced by Austin Haynes and Scott January.