The women who invented modern war reporting (with Julia Cooke)

Julia Cooke, author of Starry and Restless, joins me to bring back three women who were household names in their day — Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn, and Mickey Hahn — pioneering journalists who covered wars, crossed borders, and revolutionised literary nonfiction decades before the men usually credited with inventing it. We talk about why these women's fame didn't survive them, the challenges of resurrecting female legacy, and what it meant — then and now — to want both a roaming career and a life with people you love.

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On this episode

• Isabelle Roughol - Host
• Julia Cooke - Guest

What do you think?

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Jump to:

• (00:00) - AUDIO 04 Julia Cooke (corrected)
• (00:08) - "Women have no history"
• (03:56) - On the value of understanding the whole arc of a woman's career
• (07:09) - They were exceptional but not an exception
• (09:43) - Meet Rebecca West
• (12:27) - Meet Martha Gellhorn
• (15:43) - Meet Emily Hahn
• (18:09) - Writing about war the way no man ever had
• (20:13) - Superstars in their lifetime, disappeared in journalism history
• (23:25) - Fame Without Legacy
• (24:06) - "Women have no history"
• (24:53) - Motherhood, domesticity and ambition
• (29:39) - Making a home abroad
• (31:26) - Virginia Cowles, Julia Morgan and women who leave no archives
• (39:45) - Why men should read women's historyw
• (42:36) - Closing Thoughts
• (43:13) - Outro

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Click here to view the episode transcript.