BONUS: The Marvels of Madam C.J. Walker Part 2

History's Heroes

BBC

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.8 • 704 Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did Madam C.J. Walker transform the beauty industry with her haircare empire? And how have the politics of beauty changed since her time? Alex talks to Alka Menon, assistant professor of sociology at Yale University.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Elaina Boateng Presenter: Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:05.6	Your time starts now.
0:07.2	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.
0:09.4	Absolutely right.
0:11.5	So, you might like to know that the BBC makes loads of other podcasts.
0:15.6	Really?
0:16.4	Wow.
0:17.2	Many of them are very funny.
0:19.1	Which I think means...
0:20.3	A hatful of ha-hars. And energy. Even if we do very funny. Which I think means... A hatful of ha haas.
0:21.7	And energy.
0:38.5	Even if you do say so ourselves. I agree 100% to that. Find them all on BBC Sounds. Just tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Just search comedy on BBC Sounds. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. I'm Alex von Tundselman and for BBC Radio 4, this is History's Heroes.
0:44.1	People with purpose, brave ideas and the courage to stand alone.
0:48.1	Music In the early 20th century, Madam C.J. Walker was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. Even more surprising than that, she was black. We covered her story on history's heroes a few episodes ago. If you haven't heard that, I recommend
1:28.0	you go back and listen to it before this one. Madam Walker was the first person in her family
1:33.9	to be born free from slavery, but she was born on the plantation where her parents had been enslaved
1:39.1	and grew up orphaned and destitute. She made her fortune by developing hair care products specifically for
1:46.0	black people, and especially by marketing her products in a very modern way, with herself as a
1:52.4	celebrity spokesmodel, a century before the Kardashians. Amazing as all this sounds, her beauty
1:59.5	empire was not without its controversies.
2:01.6	Though she said she was in the business of growing hair not straightening it,
2:05.6	some felt that her aesthetics still pushed black women towards white European standards of beauty.
	...

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