WOMEN WHO
WENT BEFORE

Join podcast hosts Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh on a gynocentric quest into the ancient world

LATEST EPISODES

Episodes
S2E4: Blemished Brides: Women’s Bodies and Disability in Ancient Judaism
S2E4: Blemished Brides: Women’s Bodies and Disability in Ancient Judaism

With Dr. Julia Watts Belser

S2E3: Veiled But Not Hidden in Ancient Greece
S2E3: Veiled But Not Hidden in Ancient Greece

With Dr. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

S2E2: Virginity and the Hype About Hymens in Early Christianity
S2E2: Virginity and the Hype About Hymens in Early Christianity

With Dr. Julia Kelto Lillis

S2E1: Wandering Wombs: Greco-Roman Gynecology and Women’s Health
S2E1: Wandering Wombs: Greco-Roman Gynecology and Women’s Health

With Dr. Rebecca Flemming

S2E0: Bodily Matters: The Lifecycle of an Ancient Woman
S2E0: Bodily Matters: The Lifecycle of an Ancient Woman

Season 2 Premiere

S1E10: Out of Pandora’s Box, Recovering Hope
S1E10: Out of Pandora’s Box, Recovering Hope

With Dr. Deborah Lyons

S1E9: In Her Own Words: Ancient Women Authors
S1E9: In Her Own Words: Ancient Women Authors

With Dr. Kate Cooper

S1E8: Suffering Witches to Live: Jewish Women and the Legacies of Religious Law
S1E8: Suffering Witches to Live: Jewish Women and the Legacies of Religious Law

With Dr. Elizabeth Shanks Alexander

S1E7: Women Get a Head: Gender and Other Weapons
S1E7: Women Get a Head: Gender and Other Weapons

With Dr. Caryn Tamber-Rosenau

S1E6: Scepter and Sword: African Warrior Queens
S1E6: Scepter and Sword: African Warrior Queens

With Dr. Solange Ashby

  • “The hosts interview fascinating, brilliant scholars on each topic, and the hosts are fascinating, brilliant scholars in their own right.”

    - Apple Podcasts Review

  • Emily and Rebekah make thoughtful, historical scholarship fun and easy to understand!

    - Apple Podcasts Review

  • Listening to “Women Who Went Before” is like taking a behind the scenes tour into the classrooms and lives of leading classics scholars from around the world.

    - Apple Podcasts Review

  • I have recommended it to multiple family members and friends from different walks of life. I look forward to listening every week and I cannot wait for the next season to release.

    - Apple Podcasts Review

Hosted by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh

Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh interview the world’s top scholars and unearth the lives of women from the past. It’s a history podcast and detective journey in one, sifting through texts and tropes to find the women who lived beneath.

Header Image Credit

“Female Figure.” Clay figurine from Predynastic period Egypt. Ca. 3500–3400 BCE. The Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, accession number 07.447.505. Used under a Creative Commons-BY license. Adapted and animated by Paul Vermeesch, 2024.