Unruly Figures
Unruly Figures
Episode 1: Joe Carstairs
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Episode 1: Joe Carstairs

Speedboat racing champion, ruler of an island, and lover of Marlene Dietrich

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Joe riding a motorbike on her private island, Whale Cay. From Life Magazine, around 1941.

I hope you enjoy this episode about Joe Carstairs! I really loved researching her and learning all about her life. She was so fascinating.

Soon, I’ll have up the transcript as well as some photos of Joe from her life. Until then, stay unruly.


Episode Bibliography

Books

  • Summerscale, Kate. The Queen of Whale Cay. Bloomsbury, 1997.

Articles & Websites

  • Bernard, Marie Lyn. “The Lesbian or Bisexual Heiress: 22 Women Who Had It Made, in Theory.” Autostraddle, 23 Sept. 2016, www.autostraddle.com/a-brief-history-of-the-lesbian-heiress-351808/.

  • Browe, Amanda. “From the Archives: Women of the Motor Service.” American Red Cross, 20 Mar. 2014, redcrosschat.org/2014/03/13/from-the-archives-women-of-the-motor-service/.

  • Clark, D. “Population of the United Kingdom from 1871 to 2020.” Statista, 6 July 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/281296/uk-population/.

  • “Inflation Calculator.” Bank of England, www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator.

  • “Inflation Calculator.” Value of 1933 Dollars Today | Inflation Calculator, www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1933.

  • “Joe Carstairs.” Alchetron.com, Alchetron, 25 July 2020, alchetron.com/Joe-Carstairs.

  • “Joe Carstairs.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Carstairs.

  • Johnson, Amir. “Progressive Butch: Joe Carstairs.” DriveTribe, DriveTribe, 27 Aug. 2017, drivetribe.com/p/progressive-butch-joe-carstairs-abvSXWvfSrWJ3gaTxhlUIQ?iid=SkKw-gbjRDOpVYcGCgo1-w.

  • “Women of the Red Cross Motor Corps in WWI.” National Women's History Museum, 19 Oct. 2018, www.womenshistory.org/articles/women-red-cross-motor-corps-wwi.

  • Yaeger, Lynn. “The Wild, Irreverent Life of Joe Carstairs.” Vogue, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2016, www.vogue.com/article/joe-carstairs-auction-doyle.

Discussion about this podcast

Unruly Figures
Unruly Figures
A show about history's favorite rebels. Releasing every other Tuesday.