Show Notes
This week on 1-800-1800, Julia Carpenter, who writes the brilliant Substack “A Woman to Know,” joins us to discuss the Bavarian princess who was convinced that she had swallowed a glass piano. Our conversation covers everything from the fluctuating definitions of delusion to medieval nuns and the curative powers of spanking. Happy listening! Notes: Read Julia’s original newsletter about Princess Alexandra here (all of the images we discussed are also here!!) and check out Julia’s website and follow her on instagram to read more of her amazing work! The books we mentioned are: Victoria Shepherd’s A History of Delusions: The Glass King, A Substitute Husband and a Walking Corpse Mike Jay’s A Visionary Madness: The Case of James Tilly Matthews and the Influencing Machine Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven and Jacqueline Jung’s chapter in History in the Comic Mode: Medieval Communities and the Matter of Person Other images and links: The Windsor Beauties The Hall of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace The Visitation (Mary and Elizabeth with rock crystal wombs) at The Met
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Welcome back to 1-800-1800. This week, we are talking 1894, the year that Victoria Woodhull (Spiritualist medium, Wall Street broker, Presidential candidate, newspaper publisher, etc.) sued the British Museum for harboring libelous material about her. For this special episode we were joined by Alex Sujong Laughlin, podcaster, writer, and co-owner of Defector Media. Alex is the author of the forthcoming book The Talent Cult: Ambition, Visibility, and Power in the Attention Economy, coming 2027 from One World/Penguin Random House!!! Find more information about her book here and listen to her podcast Try Hard!!! Victoria Woodhull was a truly singular 19th-century figure. Born into poverty in Homer, Ohio, Victoria California Claflin transformed herself several times over. First, following in their Mesmerist mother’s footsteps, she and her sister performed as Spiritualist mediums as a traveling roadshow. After a few unsuccessful marriages, Victoria remade herself as a clairvoyant to Cornelius Vanderbilt, ultimately running a Wall Street brokerage and opening a newspaper with her sister Tennessee. The sisters became the subject of huge scandal when they broke the Beecher-Tilton Affair, one of the biggest controversies of their time. In her spare time, Victoria advocated for free love and women gaining the vote. She even ran for president in 1872. In her final act, Victoria remade herself as a fine English lady, not unlike her namesake, Queen Victoria. You can take the girl out of Homer, Ohio, but you can’t take the Homer, Ohio out of the girl, and Victoria ended up suing the British Museum for (maybe) harboring (allegedly) libelous material about her. Listen and enjoy!!! This episode was edited by Jack Gorman. :)
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Welcome back to 1-800-1800! This week we are joined by the one and only Abigail Sandler, architect and author of Price Upon Request, a newsletter exploring the role of ornament in our modern lives. Abby delights us with discussion of her favorite building, the Menier Chocolate Factory in Noisiel, France. Designed by Jules Saulnier (1817-1881), the building is distinguished by its iron frame and ornamental brick infill. Listen, like, and subscribe! Xo Herman Melville statue in New Bedford. Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872. Charles Frederick Worth, Ball gown, 1872 Edgar Degas, Dance Class at the Opera, 1872 Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets, 1872 1-800-1871 with Sara Hinckley, for background on the Paris Commune. France’s colonial expansion. Did you know chocolate is a tree? Loveman, Kate. “The Introduction of Chocolate into England: Retailers, Researchers, and Consumers, 1640-1730.” Journal of Social History 47, no. 1 (2013): 27–46. http://www.jstor.org.yale.idm.oclc.org/stable/43306044. Featuring the Earl of Sandwich’s recipe for a frozen choclate treat: “Prepare the chocolatti [to make a drink] . . . and Then Putt the vessell that hath the Chocolatti in it,into a Jaraffa[i.e. a carafe] of snow stirred together with some salt, & shaike the snow together sometyme & it will putt the Chocolatti into tender Curdled Ice & soe eate a with spoons.” Chocolatier, the Game. Eplett, Layla. “For Oompa-Loompas, Orange Was the New Black.” Gastronomica 16, no. 2 (2016): 12–17. https://www-jstor-org.yale.idm.oclc.org/stable/26362342. Charles Osborne for Tiffany & Co., Chocolate Pot, 1879. 1893 poster by Firmin Bouisset. Now, what you’ve all been waiting for: the chocolate factory! As documented by Abby.
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