Witches, Bitches, and Sluts
The episode log
Explore the women’s history, cultural stereotypes, and research behind each episode.
Behind the episode
The Conjuring made Bathsheba Sherman a witch. The records tell the story of a Rhode Island mother and grandmother—and the legend that outlived her.
Read the post →Behind the episode
How did the witch label become a death sentence? Explore the history behind the European witch hunts, coerced confessions, and the myths that remain.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Bridget Bishop was the first person hanged in Salem in 1692. Her court records reveal a different woman from the tavern keeper of popular legend.
Read the post →Behind the episode
In 1692, a jury found Rebecca Nurse not guilty of witchcraft. Three weeks later she was hanged. Here’s what the Salem records say happened.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Tituba is blamed for starting the Salem witch trials. The 1692 records tell a different story, and it isn’t the one in The Crucible.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Why did people think Stevie Nicks was a real witch? The double standard, the cost, and how she took the label back on her own terms.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Where the Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire stereotypes came from, what research says about their harm, and how Black women have fought back.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for playing Mammy, then spent years being mistaken for her. The singer, comedian and fighter behind the label.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Where the “Dragon Lady” and “Lotus Blossom” labels for Asian women came from, what research says they do, and what makes them fade.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Why did Anna May Wong die in almost every film? How Hollywood built the Dragon Lady label around its first Chinese American star.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Where the “dumb blonde” and “femme fatale” labels came from, what 50 years of research says about them, and why they’re the same idea.
Read the post →Behind the episode
Was Marilyn Monroe really a dumb blonde? How the studio built the label, how she played it on purpose, and why it outlived her.
Read the post →