This is a bonus content episode available exclusively on Patreon. To accompany episode 44 about The Radium Girls, I am going to tell you about another landmark story of women banning together to fight for workplace rights.

This is the story of the matchstick girls.

Tonight’s story comes to us from the US in the 1920s and 30s. It’s one of the stories that actually inspired me to start the podcast in the first place, and one I think a lot of you will be familiar with. So I hope I do it justice, and more importantly treat the victims with the respect and grace they deserve.

This is the story of the Radium Girls.

Tonight’s story is nothing short of a real life Victorian horror story. It’s what happens when the societal pressure of Victorian era ideals go way, way, WAY too far. One mother’s sense of right and wrong became so monstrously twisted, that she locked away her own child for over two decades.

This is the story of Blanche Monnier

Tonight’s story is about a Victorian con artist. A female con artist, at that! She was known as the “Confidence Queen” and was considered by the New York City police department to be - quote "the boldest and most expert of the many female adventuresses who infest the country.” Let’s get to know her, shall we?

This is the story of Bertha Heyman.

Tonight’s case is about a strong, independent woman - who some might also describe as an enterprising young woman - who also became one of early America’s most prolific female serial killers. This is the story of Belle Gunness.

This episode was initially created only for Housekeeper and Butler tier Patreon subscribers as the bonus content for the Cassie Chadwick episode. I am adding it to the regular feed as a preview of the type of content posted for Patreon subscribers.

Tonight’s story is a love triangle that ends in murder! This is the story of Mary Pearcey.

When they make up a rhyme that goes, “Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.” Well, someone ought to be caught red handed for that crime, right? But no one ever was. This is the case of Lizzie Borden.

One of my favorite things about the Victorian era is that you could just up and decide to change your name, make up a new story for yourself, and you could be who ever you wanted. This is the story of Cassie Chadwick.