11/29/2021
Our this week is none other than The Muse Project and their theatrical and high concept podcast series "A Simple Herstory" about the women who have run for President of the United States. It stars theatrical luminaries like Daphne Rubin-Vega, Kate Burton, and Tonya Pinkins—check it out at www.asimpleherstory.com!
More than one hundred women have run for President of the United States, but their stories are rarely heard. So, what if they decided to correct the record and take matters into their own hands? A Simple Herstory might start as a polite podcast about women's history, a cursory dip into some forgotten "badass women." It soon (d)evolves, however, into a hostile takeover of the mic, as this season's leading subject, Victoria Woodhull, the first female presidential candidate, demands to have the entirety of her story told. This means the abuse, the narcissism, the s*x, and the criminality - and not just the you go, girl bits fit for broadcast. A Simple Herstory is as much about these women, who have been locked inside "his story," as it is about liberating complicated biographies from their deceptively tidy packages. It's the story of real human beings, free from the tropes and agendas that reduce complex figures to cartoons. (Or is it?) In order to win, does a woman have to be a perfect candidate? To earn our reverence, must her story be sweet and neat? This is an eight-part scripted podcast season that you'll want to devour in one gulp. Once it builds momentum, it's hard to stop.
Image 1: A Simple Herstory Season 1 poster featuring a monochromatic purple photograph of Victoria Woodhull
Image 2: Florencia Lozano, Jocelyn Kuritsky, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Erin Cherry at a kickoff event in late September at The Tank
