The Exploress

In this series, we're time traveling back to past empires to meet some of the woman who ran them. This time, we're revisiting a ruling lady we've met before: the mighty Cleopatra of ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic Empire. This isn't just a re-release, though: I've re-recorded the three-part original series, giving it a 2026 glow-up, and smushed it into one big glitter bomb of goodness. Join me as we explore Cleopatra's life and reign, which was SO MUCH MORE impressive than her famous affairs with Roman generals. Let's go traveling.
 
Ways to support The Exploress:
Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the video version of this conversation and special episodes you won't find anywhere else
Grab a book at the Exploress Bookshop
Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop
Check out Kate's novels, NIGHTBIRDS and FYREBIRDS
The music in this episode comes courtesy of Derek and Brandon Fiechter, Keith Zizza, and Michael Levy.

In this series, we're time traveling back to past empires to meet some of the woman who helped run them. Let's link up with Empress Theodora, who's going to walk us through her Byzantine (aka Eastern Roman) Empire. We'll see her rise from a fairly humble, and sometimes scandalous, background as an actress and courtesan to become the most powerful woman in Constantinople. After she marries Justinian and becomes his leading lady, she guides him to make sweeping changes that touch every part of life, and most especially the lives of vulnerable women.
 
Join me and expert historian Dr. Hannah Ewing as we walk the streets of Constantinople, cheer on charioteers in the Hippodrome, and walk the halls of the imperial palace as Theodora navigates the treacherous waters of Roman politics. Riots, plagues, intrigues, murder mysteries: this one's got it all. Let's go traveling. 
 
Ways to support The Exploress:
Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the video version of this conversation and special episodes you won't find anywhere else
Grab a book by Elizabeth, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop
Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop
Check out Kate's novels, NIGHTBIRDS and FYREBIRDS
Music from this episode includes:
"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
"Gloria in Excelsis Deo", "Sequence - Victimae Paschali Laudes," "Jubilate Deo," "Credo in Unum Deo", and "Sanctus" by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

In this series, we're time traveling back to past empires to meet some of the woman who helped run them. Allow me to introduce you to Empress Taytu Betul, who wasn't afraid to storm battlefields, boss around her emperor husband, and tell certain colonial powers to go on home. Let's walk with Taytu on her extraordinary journey and find out what life was like for women during her reign.
 
Ways to support The Exploress:
Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the video version of this conversation and special episodes you won't find anywhere else
Grab a book by Elizabeth, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop
Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop
Check out Kate's novels, NIGHTBIRDS and FYREBIRDS

Dr. Elizabeth Norton has returned! This time, she's taking us out of the Tudor period to take a more global look at queenship. Her new book 'When Women Ruled the World: 500 Years of Female Monarchy' explores the history of female monarchs across time and cultures. We dive into the challenges faced by women in power, the male relative problem, and some of the obstacles to their reigns. We'll meet Biblical queens like the infamous Jezebel, warrior queens from the Kingdom of Kush, the empresses of Japan you've probably never heard of. Grab your crown and scepter and let's go!  


Ways to support The Exploress:
Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including the video version of this conversation and special episodes you won't find anywhere else
Grab a book by Elizabeth, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop
Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop
Check out Kate's novels, NIGHTBIRDS and FYREBIRDS

There is a woman in the Old Quarter who can give you the world for a price. They say her followers gather deep in the bayou after dark. Some say she's got the governor in her pocket. Others say she eats babies, and that she learned her magic in the depths of the African jungle. They say her potions can heal you, and that her charms can kill you. How much of it is true? In this year's Halloween special, we are heading back to the 19th century to meet the infamous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. You'll find a transcript for this episode over on Patreon.
Ways to support The Exploress:
Become a patron and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes, including several Halloween specials you won't find anywhere else
Grab a book by one of our guests, or read the current Exploress Book Club pick, at the Exploress Bookshop
Buy some merch and art available at the Exploress shop
Check out Kate's novels, NIGHTBIRDS and its sequel  FYREBIRDS