She Speaks Volumes

Feral Culture Lab

Short and sweet summaries of fundamental feminist texts from the past 500+ years. She Speaks Volumes provides a primer for critical moments in the history, theory, and philosophy of feminism. Each episode explores a writer, and their contribution to modern feminism. read less
ArtsArts

Season 2

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington: Surrealist Storytelling and female friendship
04-07-2022
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington: Surrealist Storytelling and female friendship
She Speaks Volumes: A primer for a millennia of often neglected writings by female philosophers, artists, and scientists. created by Daniella Sorrentino Donate Here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SheSpeaksVol S2:E2: The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington: Surrealist Storytelling and Female Friendship. Excerpts from The Hearing Trumpet are ready by Verna Sorrentino This episode is based on The NYRB edition of The Hearing Trumpet published in 2021.The Hearing Trumpet was written in the 1950s, and was originally published in 1974.Listen to the SSV episode on Carrington's Down BelowFROM WIKIPEDIA: Mary Leonora Carrington OBE (6 April 1917 – 25 May 2011[1]) was a British-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the surrealist movement of the 1930s.[2] Carrington was also a founding member of the women's liberation movement in Mexico during the 1970s.[3][4] read moreResearch Links:Leonora Carrington's - Art work: https://www.wikiart.org/en/leonora-carringtonMuseo Leonora Carrington: https://www.leonoracarringtonmuseo.orgArticle about Carrington and Varo: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/leonora-carrington-7615/love-friendship-rivalry-surreal-friendsBooks I used for research:The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington by Joanna Moorhead.Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art by Susan L. AlberthMagia,...
Perspectives on the Witch Trials
01-02-2024
Perspectives on the Witch Trials
She Speaks Volumes is created by Daniella SorrentinoCREDITS:Voice-Actors + NarratorsMargaret Alice Murray, excerpts from witchcraze read by Verna SorrentinoScottish Witches: Marnie Thompson, JP Wright, Susan Harden Joan of Arc: @katsukyInterviews with: Yvonne OwensDr Liz WilliamsLINKS TO PURCHASE or READ BOOKS REFERENCED: detailed bibliography below. Witch Cults in Western EuropeWitchcrazeAbject Eroticism in Northern Renaissance Art Miracles of Our Own MakingResearchBBC Bitesize. “Case Study: James vi and the North Berwick Witch Hunt.” Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zj77xbk/articles/zmr6hcw.Dictionaries of the Scots Language. “Dictionary of the Scots Language,” n.d. https://dsl.ac.uk/.King, James, G B Harrison, and James Carmichael. King James the First, Daemonologie (1597) : Newes from Scotland, Declaring the Damnable Life and Death of Doctor Fian, a Notable Sorcerer Who Was Burned at Edenbrough in Ianuary Last (1591). San Diego, Ca: Book Tree, 2002.Llewellyn Barstow, Anne . Witchcraze : A New History of the European Witch Hunts. New York, N.Y.: Harperone, 1994.Murray, Margaret Alice. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, 1921.Owens, Yvonne. Abject Eroticism in Northern Renaissance Art : The Witches and Femmes Fatales of Hans Baldung Grien. London ; New York ; Oxford ; New Delhi ; Sydney: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.saint-joan-of-arc.com. “Joan of Arc: Trial of Condemnation Searchable Transcipt,” n.d. https://saint-joan-of-arc.com/trial-condemnation.htm.Williams, Liz. MIRACLES of OUR OWN MAKING : A History of Paganism. S.L.: Reaktion Books, 2021.

Season 1

SSV Re-Vamp: A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf V2
06-08-2020
SSV Re-Vamp: A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf V2
She Speaks Volumes S1-E1: A Room of One’s Own This is a re-vamp of the original episodeA Room of One’s Own written by Virginia Woolf, 1929 Originally published by Hogarth press.  This edition published by Penguin Random HouseAlso available at Gutenberg:  http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/woolfv-aroomofonesown/woolfv-aroomofonesown-00-h.html Excerpts read by: Fiona ThrailleEpisode Glossary:The Verneys: A prominent British family that left a legacy of letters and papers detailing life until 1693. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verney_family_of_Middle_ClaydonThe Hutchinsons: I am not sure….Cleopatra: Queen of the Ptolemaic Region: 51–30 BC  - VW is referencing Shakespeare’s tragedy: Anthony and Cleopatra. Lady MacBeth: From Shakespeare’s Macbeth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Macbeth Rosalind: From Shakespeare’s As You Like It. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_(As_You_Like_It) Clytemnestra: raped and forced into marriage by the tyrant Agamemnon, she avenged herself and the death of her eldest daughter Iphigenia by murdering him with the help of her lover Aegisthus. Antigone: In Greek mythology Antigone is the daughter of Jocasta and her son Oedipus (Oedipus Rex), VW’s reference is most likely to the play and charchter in Sophocles play Antigone. Phaedra: Cretan princess, half-sister of the Minotaur. Phaedra falls passionately in love with her stepson Hippolytus, but it is unrequited. Phaedra tells her husband Theseus that Hippolytus tried to rape her and Theseus calls in a favour from Posiedon who summons a bull from the sea that scares his horse and kills Hippolytus. Cressida: refers most likely to Shakespeare’s Cressida, from the play Troilus and Cressida, which is based on the Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato, a telling of a Trojan legend originally by Benoît de Sainte-Maure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cressida Desdemona: From Shakespeare’s play Othello: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desdemona The Duchess of Malfi: A play by John Webster premiered 1614, about the Italian aristocrat Giovanna d'Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanna_d%27Aragona,_Duchess_of_Amalfi Millamant: from the play The Way of the World by William Congreve, a restoration comedy that premiered in 1700. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_World Clarissa: The main character in the novel ‘
REVAMP Dialogue on the Infinity of Love, Tullia d'Aragona
17-09-2020
REVAMP Dialogue on the Infinity of Love, Tullia d'Aragona
She Speaks Volumes is produced by feralculturelab.comCreated by Daniella Sorrentino dsorrentino.com Support the podcast at: Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FeralCultureSign-Up for FCL Newsletter: Episode #3: Dialogue on the Infinity of Love by Tulia d’Aragona Published by University of Chicago Press as part of The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe Series. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/series/OVIEME.htmlEdited and Translated by Rinaldina Russell, and Bruce Merry. Music from Free Music Archive:Lady in Waiting [Instrumental] by Kathleen MartinExcerpts from Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart performed by MIT Symphony Orchestra Soprano: Emily Marvosh from the Album An Opera Evening. Tullia d’Aragona read by Vita Wulff: Benedetto Varchi rad by Tomaso Thellung: http://www.tomasothellung.blog/Poet, philosopher, and Courtesan Tullia d’Aragona was born in Rome at the height of the Renaissance to Giulia Campana, herself a courtesan.  This was a golden era for the courtesan that waned over Tullia’s life as the church extended its reach and influence over Italian states one by one. Read more about Tullia d’Aragona here: http://www.projectcontinua.org/tullia-d-aragona/The Dialogue on the Infinity of Love is one of a few surviving examples of Tullia d’Aragona’s work. The Dialogue as a literary form has a long history; the first examples date back to the third millennia BCE from the Mahabrata, and to Plato in the west. The dialogue is a literary form rendered by way of a conversation between two or more people.  Plato’s The Symposium being the most well-known dialogue and perhaps the first to address the subject of love. A subject which was which was explored in numerous dialogues in the Renaissance period. Of all the dialogues we know of from the Mahabrata  onwards, only the Dialogue on the Infinity of Love was written by a woman and explores a feminine view on the subject of love and desire.Listen to the other podcasts in this series:
A Reluctant Nun; provocateur and feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
01-10-2020
A Reluctant Nun; provocateur and feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
She Speaks Volumes, the primer for over 500 years of feminist history, and philosophy is produced by Feral Culture Lab - feralculturelab.com Created by Daniella Sorrentino - dsorrentino.comExcerpts in this episode are from Poems, Protest and a Dream, published in 1997 by Penguin Random House. Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. Sor Juana is voiced by Paola PoucelMusic: Madre la de los primores - written and composed by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Performed by the L.A. Camerata, directed by Marylin Winkle You can watch a YouTube video of the performance here.‘ Like in much of Europe Sor Juana’s career options would have been limited to wife, whore, or nun.’ In this episode we are listening to excerpts from a letter “Response to the Most Illustrious Poet Sor Fillotea’ written by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican poet, philosopher, playwright, composer, nun and feminist. Sor Juana was born just outside of Mexico City in 1648. A brilliant and opinionated nun, one who has powerful political allies was seen as an existential threat by the patriarchal Church.  Sor Juana is particularly aware that being a woman is no small part of the repercussions from her Athenagoric letter. Throughout her letter she asserts that the inherent misogyny within the church is hypocritical, and misguided.“considering the total antipathy I had toward matrimony, the convent was the least disproportionate and ( most honourable decision I could make” Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz - from Response to the Most Illustrious Poet Sor FilloteaRead more about Sor JuanaTo support She Speaks Volumes please consider donating with the Buy Me A Coffee link. All proceeds help me pay for voice actors, music, and production costs. If you want to learn more about Feral Culture Lab productions, and sign up for the monthly newsletter please visit feralculturelab.com
Vindication of the Rights of Woman: the foundation of modern feminism
12-10-2021
Vindication of the Rights of Woman: the foundation of modern feminism
She Speaks Volumes, the primer for over 500 years of feminist philosophy, history, and writing is produced by the Feral Culture LabWritten and created by Daniella Sorrentino. Mary Wollstonecraft is voiced by Fiona ThrailleIn this episode we are listening to excerpts from the book that would lay the foundation of western feminism, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, written by Mary Wollstonecraft, and originally published in 1792.Episode extracts from Project Gutenberg edition Research from the  Penguin Classic edition.Mary Wollstonecraft was born April 27, 1759 in Spitalfields, now part of London’s East End. Instability in the family’s finances, and her father’s drunken rages prompted her to seek employment outside of London as soon as she was able. She worked first as a ladies companion in Bath, and as governess in Ireland, she also briefly started her own school. Finding none of these careers suitable she returned to London to embark on a career as a writer. ‘The first of a new genus’, she would write in a letter to her sister. A complete list of her works can be found in the bibliography on her wikipedia entry.Music:Mandoline Concerto in C, Vivaldo (1729) from the Internet ArchiveLa Marseillaise, (1792 ) Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, from Wikimedia CommonsSoundscape source credits: "Rain on Windows, Interior, B.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org"Wind, Realistic, A.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org“Dry Thunder”, by JusKiddink of Freesound.org
The Cage of Obscene Birds: Harriet Jacobs - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
26-01-2022
The Cage of Obscene Birds: Harriet Jacobs - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
She Speaks Volumes:  The Primer for 500 years of feminist philosophy, historySeason 1 Episode 6: In the Cage of Obscene Birds: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. Created by: Daniella Sorrentino for the Feral Culture Lab: feralculturelab.com , dsorrentino.com Harriet Jacobs is voiced by Portia Cue, VoiceOnCue.com  To support the podcast please donate at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FeralCulture For this episode I used two editions:Jacobs Harriet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself,  Penguin Books, London, Eng 2000 Jacobs Harriet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, (Enlarged Edition), The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, and London Eng. 2009I also used the following web-pages as references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Jacobshttps://www.humanitiestexas.org/news/articles/before-and-after-civil-warhttps://www.britannica.com/event/American-Civil-Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_narrative https://www.britannica.com/art/slave-narrativeHere is the link ton the slave narratives from the Federal Writers Project in the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/ BIO: Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery around 1813, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is her auto-biography, her own account of her life in slavery, and the harrowing years, decade she spent on the run, after her escape.“You may believe what I say; for I write only that whereof I know. I was twenty-one years in that cage of obscene birds. I can testify, from my own experience and observation, that slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks.” Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlMUSIC: Swing Low Sweet Chariot: written by Wallace Willis, c1865, performed by Antioch Mass Choir, licensed via soundstripe. https://app.soundstripe.com/artists/563 Oh, Freedom: writer unknown. c1865 performed by Antioch Mass Choir, licensed via soundstripe. https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/13065Sound Effects: Rain on a Summer Day"Vlatko Blažek Varaždin, Croatia e-mail: vlatkoblazek@gmail.com
The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Emma Goldman
03-02-2022
The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Emma Goldman
When the failure of modern dictatorship and authoritarian philosophies becomes more apparent and the realization of failure more general, Anarchism will be vindicated.  ~ Emma Goldman She Speaks Volumes: Season 1 Episode 7Emma Goldman, The Most Dangerous Woman in America. Episode created by: Daniela Sorrentino, for Feral Culture Lab Your donations help me the voice actors! DONATE HERE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FeralCulture Living My Life Volume 1 - written By Emma Goldman Published by Dover Publications, New York, 1970. Emma Goldman is voiced by: Halia Hirniak.Emma Goldman was born June 27th 1869 in Kovno in the Russian Empire. She died May 14th 1940 in Toronto Ontario, Canada. In her almost 70 years she witnessed, often firsthand, World War 1, the early part of World War 2, the Russian Revolution, The Spanish Civil War, the rise and fall of the American Trade Unions, the depression, and the rise and rise of capitalism. she fought for workers rights, wealth distribution long before it was a thing, campaigned for birth control and the rights of women. At heart she was an anarchist, and idealist and most surprisingly a romantic.  Yet she was called the most dangerous woman in America...but dangerous for who? For research and references I also used: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman https://jwa.org/womenofvalor/goldman The interview with Ruth Kinna is the bonus episode. Her books can be found here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/128925/ruth-kinna.htmlAnd an essay herehttps://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/professor-ruth-kinna-the-theory-and-practice-of-anarchism Check out the Anarchist Library for tons of essays and publications on anarchy, including the works of Emma Goldman. MUSIC:Dresden, The Flamingo; An Old Fashioned Magic Show:https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/12943SFXInchadney: Northsea. https://freesound.org/s/587759/Plantmonkey: Gulls on the isles of Sicily; https://freesound.org/s/377107/Canardo55: Herring Gull 1: https://freesound.org/s/538016/
Rags. Petrol. Matches. Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas.
11-02-2022
Rags. Petrol. Matches. Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas.
To support the podcast please donate at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FeralCultureShe Speaks Volumes:  The Primer for 500 years of feminist philosophy, historySeason 1 Episode 8: Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf. Created by: Daniella Sorrentino for the Feral Culture Lab: feralculturelab.com , dsorrentino.com Virginia Woolf is voiced by Fiona Thraille: https://thraille.weebly.comIn this episode we are listening to excerpts from the essay Three Guineas written by Virginia Woolf in 1938. Three Guineas is a satirical book length essay written as England is on the brink of World War 2. The essay is in response to a letter she has received asking her for a donation towards peace efforts, and posing the question, ‘how can women help prevent war?For this episode I used:Virginia Woolf: A Room of One’s Own and Three Guineas published by Penguin Classics - April 2019 Introduction by: by Michèle BarrettListen to the She Speaks Volumes episode: A Room of One’s OwnI also Used the following sites as references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939https://www.bl.uk/people/virginia-woolf http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk Credit to:SFX: freesound.org 00489 Aircraft Run 2 - Robinhood76   https://freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/62049/O1777 machine gun - Robinhood76https://freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/96376/#Military-alarm - kizilsungur https://freesound.org/people/KIZILSUNGUR/sounds/96973/#Music: https://www.soundstripe.comSweata Weatha - Dresden, The Flamingo

Other