Against Erasure : Santa Barbara Literary Festival

Journalist and author Josie Cox and women’s historian Lorissa Rinehart come together for a timely, illuminating conversation about why women’s stories are so often marginalized, distorted, or erased and what it takes to restore them to the historical record. Drawing on their extensive reporting, archival research, and storytelling work, Cox and Rinehart explore how power, politics, and cultural bias shape whose lives are remembered and whose are forgotten. They will discuss the craft of uncovering lost narratives, the responsibility of writers and journalists to challenge received history, and the vital role community plays in preserving women’s voices across generations. This event invites readers, writers, and history lovers to consider how reclaiming women’s stories not only reshapes the past, but strengthens our understanding of the present—and our possibilities for the future.

is a journalist, author, and broadcaster who covers economic gender inequality and women’s history. She has worked on staff at Reuters, The Independent, and The Wall Street Journal.

As a freelancer, she has written for Bloomberg, The Times, Business Insider, Salon, The Washington Post, The Spectator, The Guardian, Forbes, and many other publications. She regularly contributes to the BBC, both as a writer and broadcaster, and is a founding editor of The Persistent, a journalism platform dedicated to amplifying women’s voices, where she writes a weekly column.

Josie was a 2020/2021 Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia Journalism School, holds a BA from the University of Bath in the U.K., and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She is an Associate Instructor in Columbia’s Strategic Communications program, serves on the board of the Grace Institute—a workforce training non-profit—and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Investing in Gender Parity. Her first book, WOMEN MONEY POWER: The Rise and Fall of Economic Inequality, was published in 2024.

is a women’s historian, author, and public speaker whose work explores the intersections of women’s history, politics, war, and peace. Her latest book, Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become America’s First Congresswoman, has been praised as “an illuminating biography” by Publishers Weekly and “gripping from start to finish” by historian Clara Bingham. Her debut, First to the Front, earned acclaim from The Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly. Rinehart also writes and hosts The Female Body Politic and is co-founder of the Santa Barbara Literary Festival.

The Santa Barbara Literary Festival brings together readers and writers of every genre for a two day celebration of storytelling and inspiration. Engaging panels, enlightening workshops, pop-up events, and welcoming social gatherings, bring together established authors, emerging writers, and passionate readers in a uniquely intimate setting that fosters community centered around a shared love of the literary arts.

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