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The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

By: Heather Rose Jones
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A show about queer women in history and historic literature, plus coverage of the field of sapphic historical fiction. Content note: May include discussions of sex within an academic context.Copyright 2020 All rights reserved. Art Literary History & Criticism World
Episodes
  • Mary/Charles Hamilton: The Original Female Husband - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 340
    Apr 18 2026
    Mary/Charles Hamilton: The Original Female Husband The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 340 with Heather Rose Jones

    In this episode we talk about:

    • The factual story of Mary/Charles Hamilton
    • Henry Fielding’s fictional version in The Female Husband
    • The larger historic and literary context
    • Sources mentioned
      • Baker, S. 1959. “Henry Fielding’s The Female Husband: Fact and Fiction” in PMLA, 74 pp.213-24.
      • Castle, T. 1983-4. “Eros and Liberty at the English Masquerade, 1710-90” in Eighteenth-Century Studies, XVII, 2: 156-76.
      • Derry, Caroline. 2020. Lesbianism and the Criminal Law: Three Centuries of Legal Regulation in England and Wales. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-35299-8
      • Donoghue, Emma. 1995. Passions Between Women: British Lesbian Culture 1668-1801. Harper Perennial, New York. ISBN 0-06-017261-4
      • Friedli, Lynne. 1987. “Passing Women: A Study of Gender Boundaries in the Eighteenth Century” in Rousseau, G. S. and Roy Porter (eds). Sexual Underworlds of the Enlightenment. Manchester University Press, Manchester. ISBN 0-8078-1782-1
      • Fielding, Henry. 1746. The Female Husband: or, the Surprising History of Mrs Mary, Alias Mr George Hamilton. Liverpool, M. Cooper. (https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-female-husband-or-_fielding-henry_1746)
      • Lanser, Susan. 2001. “Sapphic Picaresque: Sexual Difference and the Challenges of Homoadventuring” in Textual Practice 15:2 (November 2001): 1-18.
      • Lyons, Clare A. 2007. “Mapping an Atlantic Sexual Culture: Homoeroticism in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia” in: Foster, Thomas A. (ed). Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America. New York University Press, New York. ISBN 13-978-0-8147-2749-2
      • Manion, Jen. “The Queer History of Passing as a Man in Early Pennsylvania.” Pennsylvania Legacies, vol. 16, no. 1, 2016, pp. 6–11.
      • Manion, Jen. 2020. Female Husbands: A Trans History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 978-1-108-48380-3
    • The full text of The Female Husband by Henry Fielding can be found at archive.org
    • This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here: Charles/Mary Hamilton, The Female Husband (Henry Fielding)

    A transcript of this podcast is available here.

    Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

    • Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
    • Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
    • RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
    • Twitter: @LesbianMotif
    • Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
    • The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

    Links to Heather Online

    • Website: http://alpennia.com
    • Email: Heather Rose Jones
    • Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
    • Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
    • Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
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    22 mins
  • On the Shelf for April 2026 - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 339
    Apr 4 2026
    On the Shelf for April 2026 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 339 with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction. In this episode we talk about: Exciting news about the next season of Bridgerton.The upcoming 10th anniversaryRecent and upcoming publications covered on the blogFielding, Henry. 1746. The Female Husband: or, the Surprising History of Mrs Mary, Alias Mr George Hamilton. Liverpool, M. Cooper.Baker, S. 1959. “Henry Fielding’s The Female Husband: Fact and Fiction” in PMLA, 74 pp.213-24. Book ShoppingKehoe, M. (ed). 1986. Historical, Literary and Erotic Aspects of Lesbianism. New York. ISBN 0-918393-21-3Gilbert, Oscar Paul (trans. by J. Lewis May). 1932. Women in Men's Guise. The Bodley Head, London. Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical FictionStand and Deliver by Ivy WarrenRomeo & Her Sister by Jillian BlevinsTo Love a Boleyn by Joey EvangelistaArguments Against the Cultivation of Female Curiosity (Curiosity #2) by Suzanne MossThe Countess and the Cartographer by Lyra Ashwood The Egyptologist's Curse by Georgina KenyonLove's Joy and Sorrow Between Women by Emilie KnopfCounterpoint by Barbara BergmannForever Yours, Nell by Andrea EadThe Witch and the Huntress by Luna McNamaraA Whisper of Bells and Prayers by C.C. GonzálezScallywag! by K.L. MitchellThe Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy by Erin EdwardsShe Tamed the Lady by Judith LynneFlirting with Disaster by Kerrigan ByrneAs a Lover by Hilary McCollumAt Last It's You by Marianne Marston Other Titles of InterestThe Keyholder by S. KallistosA Lady for All Seasons by T J Alexander What I’ve been consumingQueen Demon by Martha WellsPride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh/em> by Rachael LippincottPeasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry LienLady Eve's Last Con/em> by Rebecca FraimowThe Rushworth Family Plot/em> by Claudia GrayWho Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner by Katrine Marcal A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmpBlog: http://alpennia.com/blogRSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/Twitter: @LesbianMotifDiscord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord serverThe Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.comEmail: Heather Rose JonesMastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.ShopBluesky: @heatherrosejonesFacebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
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    30 mins
  • Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and the Invention of Lesbian Pirates - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 338
    Mar 21 2026
    Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and the Invention of Lesbian Pirates The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 338 with Heather Rose Jones

    In this episode we talk about:

    • Female pirates
    • Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the General History of the Pyrates
    • The motif of “lesbian Bonny & Read”
    • Bonny and Read in lesbian historical fiction
    • Sources mentioned
      • Wikipedia entry: Women in Piracy
      • Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger by Ulrike Klausmann, Marion Meinzerin, and Gabriel Kuhn
    • This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
      • Anne Bonny
      • Mary Read
      • LHMP Entry #547 A General History of the Pyrates
    • Works mentioned by Helen Rodriguez:
      • The History and Lives of Notorious Pirates (1735)
      • The Extraordinary Adventures and Daring Exploits of Captain Henry Morgan (1813)
      • The Naval History of the United States by Willis J. Abbott (1896)
      • The Buccaneers and their Reign of Terror by C.M. Stevens (1899)
      • The Homosexuality of Men and Women by Magnus Hirschfield (1920)
      • ”Anne Bonny & Mary Read: They Killed Pricks” by Susan Baker in The Furies: Lesbian/Feminist Monthly Vol. 1, issue 6 (August 1972)
      • Mistress of the Seas (novel) by John Carlova (1964)
      • Forgotten Women ed. By Nancy M[???] (couldn’t identify this book)
      • The Women Pirates (play) by Steve Gooch (
      • Mary Read, Buccaneer (novel) by Philip Rush (1945)
      • Beneath the Black Flag by David Cordingly
      • Kingston by Starlight (novel) by Christopher John Farley
      • Black Sails (tv series)
      • Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (video game)
      • The Pirates of Neverland (video game)
      • Our Flag Means Death (tv series)
      • Hellcats (podcast fiction)

    A transcript of this podcast is available here.

    Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

    • Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
    • Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
    • RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
    • Twitter: @LesbianMotif
    • Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
    • The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

    Links to Heather Online

    • Website: http://alpennia.com
    • Email: Heather Rose Jones
    • Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
    • Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
    • Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

    Links to Helen Rodriguez Online

    • Email: Helenrodriguez1720@gmail.com
    • Bluesky: @ladytyler.bsky.social
    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
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