Rebel Women
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago -Welcome to Rebel Women, a podcast about the history of troublemakers in East London. This corner of Britain's capital has seen multiple waves of migration, poverty and persecution. Sometimes feared, always looked down upon, the residents have struggled.
But out of these struggles rose up some of history's greatest radicals leaders - leaders of movements that have changed both the local landscape, and wider society too. Many of them were women. And most you will have never heard about, despite their huge achievements.
Esther Freeman has spent five years poking around in archives and conducting oral history interviews, pulling together a collection of East London's hidden histories. These women shaped our society, they fought on when nobody thought they could win. There is so much we can achieve by honouring their memories and learning their lessons.
Our first series features nine stories. We will introduce you to lesbian suffragettes; the socialist socialite Daisy Greville; and the Dagenham Ford Machinists, a group of working class women who ushered in the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
Subscribe to our weekly podcast and discover more at eastlondonwomen.org.uk.
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Episodes
Deep dive: the 1918 pandemic
September 22, 2023 05:48 - 20 minutes - 15.2 MBWhat got you through lockdown? Was it the Zoom calls with your relatives, the What’s App groups for your street? For me it was being able to order copious amounts of craft materials through Amazon, to fill those endless hours at home with my daughter. So imagine what it was like in 1918 when they had none of these things? How did they ever get through it? Well the truth is a lot of them didn’t, because a lot of them simply died. This is the last episode of our current series on women and p...
Lockdown Legends: the women of the vaccine clinics
August 04, 2023 06:49 - 26 minutes - 18.7 MBDuring lockdown Averil Pooten Watan organised pop up clinics for undocumented migrants, many of whom were working with older and other vulnerable people. She illustrates the huge impact community volunteers can have. By reaching out to the most marginalised, she not only saved lives, but stopped the spread of Covid-19. In this fifth series of Rebel Women, we’re resetting a little. Because the women we’re featuring this time were definitely not our usual “troublemakers”. Some of them may hav...
Lockdown Legends: The women of the food bank pt 2
July 20, 2023 06:00 - 14 minutes - 10.5 MBChrys Christy works with community groups and the police in one of East London’s most deprived areas. When lockdown struck she had one major concern – how would people get food. She knew the community would need help. In this fifth series of Rebel Women, we’re resetting a little. Because the women we’re featuring this time were definitely not our usual “troublemakers”. Some of them may have been in their previous lives, but in the spring of 2020 they were the ones holding everything togethe...
Lockdown Legends: the women of the foodbank
July 06, 2023 06:24 - 19 minutes - 12.2 MBIn March 2020, Tracey Rogers was working at Leyton Sixth Form College. As they shut the college gates for the last time, Tracey decided she was going to spend her time in lockdown redecorating the house. Three years later the paints and wallpaper are still sitting in a cupboard unused. Although she never got the decorating done, she would go on to do something far more extraordinary, which changed people’s lives. In this fifth series of Rebel Women, we’re resetting a little. Because the wom...
Lockdown Legends: women of the mutual aid network
June 30, 2023 05:50 - 15 minutes - 11.7 MBGuen Murroni was a member of Sister’s Uncut, an organisation fighting cuts to domestic violence services. She was involved in media campaigns and direct actions to bring attention to the numbers of women who die every day at the hands of their partners. Then in March 2020, a conversation with one of the Sisters took her on a different journey. In this fifth series of Rebel Women, we’re resetting a little. Because the women we’re featuring this time were definitely not our usual “troublemake...
Lockdown Legends: women of the scrub hubs
June 16, 2023 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.7 MBDuring the 2020 Covid Crisis, Jennie Caminada was part of a group of ordinary people who saved lives. Yet none set foot in a hospital, and all but one were women. In this fifth series of Rebel Women, we’re resetting a little. Because the women we’re featuring this time were definitely not our usual “troublemakers”. Some of them may have been in their previous lives, but in the spring of 2020 they were the ones holding everything together. For further stories about Lockdown Legends, and oth...
Where next for the women's movement
December 16, 2022 06:45 - 36 minutes - 21.1 MBThis is the final episode in this current series, and we’re trying something a little different. You may have heard some of your favourite podcasts doing live shows. This episode is our attempt at that although we did it a bit back to front. We ran the event – Where next for the women’s movement? - then decided to turn it into a podcast, so more people can hear it. We invited along two speakers – Julie Begum from Women Unite Against Racism; and Jane Conor from Lesbian and Gays Support the ...
“My British sense of pride comes from collective resistance”
December 09, 2022 07:11 - 24 minutes - 13.4 MBSonali Bhattacharyya is an award winning play write and screen writer. She is also one of the most prolific activists I have ever met, working with everyone from grassroots groups like Don’t Pay, organisers of the energy bill strike; to co-Chair of Momentum, a movement building popular support for socialist ideas and policies. Her writing and her activism are linked through themes of anti-racism and anti-imperialsm. In this fourth series of Rebel Women, we have partnered with the Museum of ...
“It’s the first time I felt truly ungovernable”
November 25, 2022 07:00 - 18 minutes - 12.2 MBResistance was in Ziggy Melamed’s DNA, as both her parents were highly political. So it was no surprise she joined the Socialist Workers’ Party as a teenager. But she was restless, frustrated with the organisation's hierarchical structures. Then a protest in 1996 changed everything. In this fourth series of Rebel Women, we have partnered with the Museum of Youth Culture to bring you stories of rebellious of youth through the ages. Each episode will tell previously unheard stories of women w...
“We were the feminist alternative to Jackie magazine.”
November 11, 2022 07:02 - 19 minutes - 11.1 MBIn the depths the Winter of Discontent, as the Women’s Liberation movement was crumbling, Jane Conor and a group of idealistic young women brought Shocking Pink into the world; a feminist fanzine, with a neon glow, that would grab the attention of everyone, from the BBC to The Sun. In this fourth series of Rebel Women, we have partnered with the Museum of Youth Culture to bring you stories of rebellious of youth through the ages. Each episode will tell previously unheard stories of women wh...
“We didn’t stop racism but we made it fashionable to be an anti-racist”
October 28, 2022 06:00 - 22 minutes - 18.3 MBRuth Gregory’s grandmother was a suffragette, and her parents early members of CND. In 1976 she would make her own mark on the world, as she joined the Rock Against Racism collective. Using music, the group would change the cultural landscape of Britain. In this fourth series of Rebel Women, we have partnered with the Museum of Youth Culture to bring you stories of rebellious of youth through the ages. Each episode will tell previously unheard stories of women who changed society. For furt...
"I went through my early years feeling very powerful"
October 14, 2022 06:00 - 22 minutes - 14.9 MBIt was 1968 and Gill Scott was 13 years old. At home with her mum and dad in Stockport, she heard Enoch Powell’s infamous Rivers of Blood speech. Her parents were appalled, and to Gill he seemed like the devil himself. It will be a moment that shapes her consciousness, taking her on a journey through the 70s and 80s fighting racism and inequality through solidarity movements. In this fourth series of Rebel Women, we have partnered with the Museum of Youth Culture to bring you stories of reb...
You Haven't Heard the Half of It
March 18, 2022 11:55 - 55 minutes - 48.7 MBBringing you a special episode this week from my new podcast - You Haven't Heard The Half Of It. Looking at the hidden half of history with my co-host, Simon Cole from Hackney Tours. If you enjoy the episode, why not subscribe to that too where ever you get your podcasts. This episode looks at how history often casts Jews as a passive victim, whether it is the pogroms or the Holocaust. A brilliant new book called the Light of Days by Judy Batalion reframes this narrative. But It’s a complex...
What they didn’t teach you in school about the suffragettes
January 13, 2022 09:05 - 30 minutes - 22.2 MBI’m sure most of you know about the suffragettes: Emmeline Pankhurst, and her daughter Cristabel; their organisation, the Women’s Social and Political Union; chaining themselves to railings; smashing windows; the forced feeding. You probably were taught it in school. The problem is, it’s wrong. Ok, so those things all did happen, but it is a very narrow view of what the movement was, who the women were, and why they were even doing it. Today, we are setting the record straight. In this epi...
Beauty queens, women's libbers and the communists
December 15, 2021 10:57 - 37 minutes - 36.2 MBIn 1970, Women’s Liberation activists targeted the Miss World contest, propelling the movement on to the global stage. Among them was Jo Robinson, originally from Blackpool, now living in East London. This is her story of that infamous night. Yet that night was also famous for crowning the first ever black beauty queen. Since the 1950s, political radical, Claudia Jones had been using beauty pageants in the fight against racism. So what are beauty pageants – a cattle market or a way to emp...
Zita Holbourne - From austerity to fascism
December 01, 2021 09:53 - 27 minutes - 24.6 MBZita grew up in South London, the child of an inter-racial relationship – dad was white and mum was black. Lessons in racial justice grew from watching and listening to her mother, whose passions and righteousness leaves you feeling a bit in awe. Welcome to Rebel Women, a podcast about history’s troublemakers. In this week’s episode we explore race and racism in the UK; the part women have played in fighting it, and the risks they have taken in doing so. For further stories about East Lond...
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp Part 3
November 19, 2021 10:14 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBThis is the third and final part of our series on the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. For this episode we’re focus ing on someone who wasn’t even there, yet was irrecoverably touch by it. A woman who 100% captures the spirit of the movement, taking the fight to a new generation. Sophie was born in 1968 in Orphington, on the south-east edge of Greater London. She grew up with a mother, who she describes as flamboyant. However the area itself was pretty conservative; both with a small and...
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp Part 2
November 03, 2021 10:02 - 25 minutes - 22.7 MBIt was 1983, and Shelia Freeman was about to be one of thousands of women to bring down the fences at the RAF Greenham Common. Rebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This is episode two in a three part series about the Greenham Common peace camp. If you’ve not heard our first episode, check that out now to understand the political context in which it emerged. Otherwise, stay with us as we go from Greenham to Sheila's lifelong commitment to protecting the planet. For furth...
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp Part 1
October 13, 2021 09:14 - 23 minutes - 21 MBIt was March 1982, and Ellen was about to go down to the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp for the first time, to protest at the RAF base storing US cruise missiles. Ellen describes it as a vigil of thousands, although news reports called it a blockade staged by 250 women, which resulted in 34 arrests. Whether or not the media and police deliberately downplayed what happened, it was a life changing moment for Ellen. Rebel Women is a podcast about history’s troublemakers. This episode begin...
Rebel Women for Kids: Groundbreaking Women
July 02, 2021 12:13 - 5 minutes - 5.03 MBThis is Rebel Women for kids, a new podcast for … well kids. It's full of amazing stories of daring and adventure, and the best thing is that all these stories are completely true. And even though this is a podcast for you kids, we think your grown ups might quite enjoy it too. Not that long ago, women were expected the be maids or mothers and not much else. They didn’t always go to school, they weren’t allowed careers, and they were expected to do everything their husband said. A lot of wo...
Rebel Women For Kids: The Women Who Shaped the NHS
June 13, 2021 16:27 - 5 minutes - 4.97 MBThis is Rebel Women for kids, a new podcast for … well kids. It's full of amazing stories of daring and adventure, and the best thing is that all these stories are completely true. And even though this is a podcast for you kids, we think your grown ups might quite enjoy it too. It’s easy to take the NHS for granted, but not that long ago it didn’t exist. If you got sick you had to pay to see a doctor. Many people could not afford that. Discover some of the pioneering women who helped shape ...
Rebel Women for Kids: Victorian Schools
May 06, 2021 10:54 - 5 minutes - 4.81 MBThis is Rebel Women for kids, a new podcast for … well kids. It's full of amazing stories of daring and adventure, and the best thing is that all these stories are completely true. And even though this is a podcast for you kids, we think your grown ups might quite enjoy it too. This podcast is designed to be used alongside our activity pack for 5-11 year olds, allowing them to explore history through play, imagination and creation. Sign up to receive a pack in the post at www.eastlondonwome...
Rebel Women for Kids: The Suffragettes
March 29, 2021 11:46 - 7 minutes - 6.87 MBThis is Rebel Women for kids, a new podcast for … well kids. It's full of amazing stories of daring and adventure, and the best thing is that all these stories are completely true. And even though this is a podcast for you kids, we think your grown ups might quite enjoy it too. This podcast is designed to be used alongside our activity pack for 5-11 year olds, allowing them to explore history through play, imagination and creation. Sign up to receive a pack in the post at www.eastlondonwom...
Rebel Women for Kids
March 29, 2021 11:46 - 7 minutes - 6.87 MBThis is Rebel Women for kids, a new podcast for … well kids. It's full of amazing stories of daring and adventure, and the best thing is that all these stories are completely true. And even though this is a podcast for you kids, we think your grown ups might quite enjoy it too. This podcast is designed to be used alongside our activity pack for 5-11 year olds, allowing them to explore history through play, imagination and creation. Sign up to receive a pack in the post at www.eastlondonwom...
The Battle for Equal Pay part 5: Dagenham Ford Machinists (1968 and beyond)
September 18, 2020 10:00 - 16 minutes - 23.3 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode is the final instalment of our five-part series about the battle for equal pay; a journey that spans nearly 100 years, from the late 1880s to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. The 1960s was a decade unlike any other. Young people across the world were rising up - with opposition to the Vietnam War, the 1968–69 civil unrest in France, the US civil rights movement and Women's Liberation. But while Soho and Mayfair may have been swin...
The Battle for Equal Pay part 4: Women war workers are back (1939-1945)
September 11, 2020 10:00 - 17 minutes - 24 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode is the fourth in our five-part series about the battle for equal pay; a journey that spans nearly 100 years, from the late 1880s to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. As the Second World War began, women rose up once again to do their bit. They went to factories producing munitions. They built ships and aeroplanes. In the auxiliary services they became air-raid wardens, fire officers and drove ambulances, trains and trams. They work...
The Battle for Equal Pay part 3: Teachers Keep Fighting (1920s and 30s)
September 04, 2020 10:00 - 13 minutes - 19.2 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode is the third in our five-part series about the battle for equal pay; a journey that spans nearly 100 years, from the late 1880s to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. The outbreak of war in 1914 cause huge disruption to the education system. As men enlisted, women stepped up to fill the sudden gaping hole in Britain's classrooms. But while women now made up the majority in teaching, their pay remained unequal. Many women teachers we...
The Battle for Equal Pay part 2: Women War Time Workers (1900 - 1918)
August 28, 2020 10:00 - 14 minutes - 20 MBEpisode 6 The battle for Equal Pay part 2: Women War Time Workers (1900-1918) Rebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode is the second in a five-part series about the battle for equal pay; a journey that spans nearly 100 years, from the late 1880s to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. On the eve of the First World War, women's lives revolved around the home; a sheltered life of servitude to the family. And while some did work, employment options were normally limited and u...
The Battle for Equal Pay part 1: The Family Wage (1850 - 1900)
August 21, 2020 10:00 - 19 minutes - 26.4 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode is the first in a five-part series about the battle for equal pay; a journey that spans nearly 100 years, from the late 1880s to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. Much of this battle has taken place in the boroughs of East London, and there is a clear reason for this. People join unions when they feel under threat – you see higher membership in dangerous trades like coal mining than you do in safe jobs like journalism. In East Lond...
Walthamstow's Radical Women
August 14, 2020 10:00 - 32 minutes - 45 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. This episode brings you an audio guided tour of Walthamstow's radical past. The tour was originally intended to be delivered in association with JoyRiders, an organisation which empowers women by introducing them to the joys of cycling. Walthamstow is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a manor owned by an Anglo-Saxon nobleman called Earl Waltheof. It later became a rural development with a small village centre, now known as Walt...
Hackney Rebels Audio Walking Tour
August 07, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 98 MBHackney Rebels Audio Walking Tour Rebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. In a change from our usual format, this week Esther Freeman is joined by Simon Cole from Hackney Tours for an audio tour of Hackney in London's East End. Once a rural idyll, the industrial revolution brought urbanisation and poverty to Hackney, leading in turn to a burgeoning radical socio-political force. We hear about the borough's radical history from a feminist perspective, along wi...
Women of the Gay Liberation Front and Lesbian Suffragettes
July 31, 2020 10:00 - 26 minutes - 36.3 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. Today's episode features the formation of the Gay Liberation Front, which was inspired by the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York. Although the GLF was dominated by men, there were women involved, including several who helped write the manifesto. While Stonewall and the Gay Liberation Front launched the sexual revolution, they were by no means the first queer activists. For show notes, reading lists and further stories abo...
Minnie, Adelaide and Melvina
July 24, 2020 10:00 - 23 minutes - 31.8 MBRebel Women is a podcast about history's troublemakers. These women chained themselves to railings, poured ink in postboxes and sometimes worse. One woman even followed Churchill on his public speaking tour, ringing a bell every time he tried to speak. They defy everything we know about Victorian ladies. They were loud and angry; and they weren't afraid to show it. We feel that same anger today. These women inspire us to keep fighting. Today's show comes to you in three parts. Three ...
Rebel Women trailer
July 06, 2020 10:40 - 2 minutes - 3.78 MBRebel Women is a podcast about the history of troublemakers in East London. This corner of Britain's capital has seen multiple waves of migration, poverty and persecution. Sometimes feared, always looked down upon, the residents have struggled. But out of these struggles rose up some of history's greatest radicals leaders - leaders of movements that have changed both the local landscape, and wider society too. Many of them were women. And most you will have never heard about, despite their ...