Dead Ladies Show NYC #37

The martinis are chilled, the microphones are hot, and the women we’re talking about have absolutely no time for your nonsense. We’re back with three stories of women who refused to color inside the lines: a Jazz Age firebrand, a Sanskrit scholar turned reformer, and a wartime journalist with front-row seats to history (and questionable dance partners).

We’ll meet Zelda Fitzgerald, the original flapper who set the Jazz Age on fire and made even F. Scott look like a side character; Pandita Ramabai, a Sanskrit scholar and social reformer who took on empire, caste, and patriarchy; and Patricia Hartwell, a war reporter who covered both Dachau and Iwo Jima.

Date: Thursday, November 13
Time: 7–9 pm (doors open at 6:50)
Location: The Private Curtain (85 E 4th Street at Second Avenue)

If you’re new here: the Dead Ladies Show began in Berlin and has since gone international, celebrating remarkable women of the past through live storytelling. Each show features three presenters who dig into the lives of bold, brilliant, and sometimes scandalous women who deserve to be remembered, and toasted. Think history class with better lighting and a functioning bar.

Questions? (Ex: Can I bring snacks? How do I get in on this sweet, sweet presenter action?) See FAQs below!

Yours truly,
Molly and Sheila

P.S. We’re charging a modest cover to keep the lights on and the mic working — if that’s a barrier, email us and we’ll make it work. Tickets purchased online are $10 plus fees; at the door, $15.

ZELDA FITZGERALD (1900–1948) — Artist, writer, and socialite who embodied the Roaring Twenties — the original flapper, if you will. Most famously known for her tumultuous relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda was a creative force in her own right, though today she would likely be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. No stranger to the gossip of Montgomery, Alabama — or to early mental-health hospitalizations — Zelda’s work was re-evaluated and celebrated after her death.

Pandita Ramabai (1858–1922) — Indian social reformer and champion of women’s education and rights. Born into an impoverished but learned Brahmin family, she became one of the few women of her time proficient in Sanskrit, earning her the title of “pandita,” or scholar. She founded the Mukti Mission, a haven for destitute women and children, and her conversion to Christianity remains a compelling case study of Indian-Christian identity amid caste, colonialism, and nationalism.

Patricia Hartwell — The only female reporter to cover both the Pacific and European theaters of WWII, first at Dachau and Iwo Jima, and the first at CBS News Radio. She claimed she once danced with Hermann Goering (yikes!) She is also Terese’s mother-in-law.

Terese Svoboda has written 24 books — yes, you read that right. Her newest, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law (OR Books), is her second memoir. Winner of the Bobst Prize in Fiction, the Iowa Poetry Prize, the O. Henry Award, and about ten other things too long to list here, she’s the kind of writer you tell your mother about. (Or, perhaps , your mother-in-law.)

Bethany Mathews is a writer and teacher based in Yonkers, NY. When she’s not hanging out with children or the elderly, she spends her time having existential crises at coffee shops and overspending at secondhand bookstores.

Rachel Scola is a talent management coordinator in New York City. When she is not at a comedy show or explaining the latest viral trend to someone, she is watching cooking competition shows.

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Host or Publisher Dead Ladies Show NYC