Madam C.J. Walker

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Noliwe Rooks and comedian Athena Kugblenu to learn all about the life and business savvy of nineteenth-century Black American haircare entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker. After working as a sales agent for another haircare brand, Walker founded her own company, selling products to help Black women look after their hair and becoming incredibly wealthy in the process. But how did she make so much money, and what did she spend it on? From impoverished beginnings to a lavish villa in New York, via her charitable and political work, this episode charts Walker's journey to becoming the first self-made woman millionaire in American history. Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Andrew Himmelberg Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast I want to tell you why I love podcasting.
0:04.6	Hi my name's Tommy Dixon and I make podcast for the BBC. I'm a big fan of stories
0:09.8	always loved a good book but when I started commuting for my first job, I discovered
0:14.0	podcasts. I was blown away about how a creative idea and the right mixture of sounds
0:18.6	could take you into a whole new world full of incredible stories. You know, the type that
0:22.4	make you go, wow. And that kind of inspired me to give it a go myself,
0:26.3	which to cut a long story short led to a BBC training scheme and a whole new career given other people that exact same feeling.
0:33.0	So if you want to hear amazing stories that make you go wow like I did, they're just a tap or a click
0:37.3	away on BBC Sounds.
0:41.1	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:44.3	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio Four Comedy Podcast that takes history
0:50.1	seriously.
0:51.1	My name is Greg Jenner.
0:52.1	I'm a public historian author and broadcaster.
0:54.0	Today we're jumping into our Ford Model team and motoring back to 19th century America
0:58.0	to learn all about the brilliantly successful black hair care entrepreneuram C. J. Walker.
1:03.7	And to help us, we have two very special guests.
1:06.5	In History Corner, she's the El Herbert Baloo,
1:09.0	University Professor of Africana Studies
1:10.9	at Brown University in America.
1:13.0	She researches the cultural and racial implications of beauty, fashion, and
1:15.9	adornment, as well as race, capitalism and education.
	...

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