Interview: Dead Ladies Show
The Dead Ladies Show Podcast is an irreverent and inspirational women's history storytelling podcast based on a live stage show that started in Berlin and is now international. We highlight both the overlooked and the infamous, because women's history is everyone's history. This interview is with Susan Stone, producer and host.
What inspired you to start the Dead Ladies Show? (or, what's your origin story?)
The podcast is based on the Dead Ladies Show event — storytelling about women from history presented live on stage in Berlin — and in the live show we do it bilingually, in English and in German, but the podcast is only in English. The origin story is as follows: my friends Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duisjens came up with the idea a few years ago after spending the evening drinking Rotkäpchen (inexpensive German sparkling wine named for Little Red Riding Hood) together, and telling each other about great Dead Ladies. Katy introduced him to Irmgard Keun, a German novelist from the Weimar Period, and Florian told her about famous American writer and wit Dorothy Parker. They decided to share the concept, and started the live show in 2015. Katy and I shared an office, so I had a front row seat to the planning process. Of course I was at the first live Dead Ladies Show, and almost all since — we’ve just had #23. I thought almost immediately, “Hey, this would make a great podcast,” so I just decided to start recording the show, with no set plan for what would happen. My background is in radio, so I had the know-how, equipment, and passion. We received cultural funding from the Berliner Senate that helped me start the podcast in 2017. It’s wild that we now have podcast listeners around the world, and have a regular spinoff live show in New York, there was one last year in New Zealand, and soon a Belgian live show of 3 editions is coming! Dead Ladies go global!
Which story is your favorite?
Hmm, I hate to play favorites with the Dead Ladies. I cherish them all. But I’m going to share some love for our least-listened-to Dead Lady - she’s also one of the lesser known. That’s Kaethe Paulus, a German balloonist and parachute pioneer, and a true celebrity of her time. Kaethe made more than 510 hot air balloon flights around Europe (sometimes performing as Miss Polly) and over 165 parachute jumps during her lifetime, the last at age 63. Her life was touched by tragedy, but she still, er, floated above it all. Oh, also she invented the folding parachute, which saved thousands of lives and earned her a medal.
What does the prep work ahead of each episode look like?
Prep work? Hmm.
For the monthly podcast, I pull from the various talks given in Berlin and in our sister shows in New York (we also had one in New Zealand and will have three in Belgium later this year) and decide which works best for which dates. I also arrange for ‘command performances’ of presentations from our very early shows that didn’t get recorded. So listening, evaluating and planning is going on all the time. I also record at every show in Berlin - they happen about every two months, as well as at these special smaller events, which we call Dead Ladies Salons. Sometimes I decide to supplement the talks, which are the main part of the show. So I will write and record a special essay about a Dead Lady in the news (see Ep 7, Marjory Stoneman Douglas) or go to an exhibition and do interviews for a produced segment (Ep 14 on Vivian Maier) or do an interview with someone who gives more context to the Dead Lady (as in Ep 2 - May Ayim) or interview one of the presenters who did their talk in German (Ep 13 on Anna Fischer-Dueckelmann, Ep 10 on Halide Edip Adivar) and so on. I also edit copiously and make sure the audio sounds as good as it can. Sometimes with live shows there can be sound challenges! On top of that of course there’s social media, producing the exclusive recordings for the monthly Dead Lady Book Club for our Patreon supporters, and more, more, more!
Any tips for podcasters just getting into doing live shows?
We are perhaps in the unusual position of having started as a live show and then developed into a podcast. I can only say - just try it! It’s very different. I spent years in front of a studio or reporter’s microphone, but get a bit of stage fright in the face of of a live audience, while my colleagues Katy and Florian who host the Dead Ladies Show live-on-stage are absolutely fantastic at that, but less comfortable when I stick a microphone in their faces for the podcast! Find the right venue that can work with you as a partner, and encourage the audience to laugh, cheer, and so on. Don’t use visual punchlines, and err on the side of explaining any images or video clips out loud for those who may listen to the taped version later. Consider doing the show on a less popular 'going out' night, like Tuesday or Wednesday, which will give you more access to great venues.
What made you decide to set up a Patreon? How have you found it so far?
We’re very lucky in that our show has some funding from the Berlin Senate’s culture fund. But it’s very bare bones. So we set up our Patreon to get a little extra money to fund our transcripts project. Our podcast is sometimes amongst the only sources of information about certain Dead Ladies, and we wanted to bring their stories to a broader audience, including those who can’t or prefer not to listen to podcasts. There are also a number of exciting ways we could broaden our content with extra funding, but it’s slow going. We’re very grateful to everyone who donates, and we love making exclusive audio for our patrons for our Dead Lady Book Club.
Are there any Dead Ladies you wish you could do a show on, but there's just not enough information out there about them?
There’s less info known about some Dead Ladies than others, but our presenters are very resourceful. There are so many great Dead Ladies out there that we could never cover them all. I wish we could do a Dead Ladies Show every day! I think that even when we know quite a lot about a historical woman, we don’t always have access to her inner thoughts unless there are diaries and letters. Even then, those feelings and impressions may be self-censored. A diarist can be an unreliable narrator.
Any interesting episodes/special content/live shows coming up? Where can people find you on the internet?
We just released our spookiest episode ever! Show #26 features Doreen Valiente, the mother of modern witchcraft, and Martha Maxwell, a pioneering American naturalist and taxidermist! These stories were recorded at our sister show in New York City (hosted and curated by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper), and what’s more, Doreen’s story is told by a practicing herbalist and Wicca enthusiast, and Martha’s is told by an award-winning taxidermist!
Our next live show in Berlin is November 19 at ACUD, and there’s a NYC DLS live show November 6 at the KGB Bar Red Room.
Find us online at deadladiesshow.com and @deadladiesshow on Instagram and Twitter and https://www.facebook.com/thedeadladiesshow/
Thank you! We hope you’ll enjoy the show!
