Our Favorites: Florence Foster Jenkins
Womanica
Acast Creative Studios
4.3 • 920 Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944) was an opera singer that drew massive crowds for her terrible voice.
For the past six years, we’ve been telling the stories of women you may or may now know– but definitely should. This month, we’re bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from across our back catalog. These are women throughout time and around the world who made their mark.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. |
| 0:07.3 | For the past six years, we've been telling the stories of women you may or may not know about, |
| 0:12.0 | but definitely should. This month, we're bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from |
| 0:16.9 | across the back catalog. These are women across centuries |
| 0:21.1 | and around the world |
| 0:22.0 | who made their mark. |
| 0:24.0 | With that, here's one of our favorite episodes. |
| 0:56.4 | Music Hello. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Wamanica. |
| 1:02.0 | This month we're talking about mischief makers, oddballs, chameleons, and nonconformists, |
| 1:03.2 | queens of quick wit. |
| 1:11.2 | Today our story takes us to New York City, October of 1944. |
| 1:17.9 | It was the morning after a beloved New York opera singer's first ever sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall. |
| 1:22.3 | The reviews were starting to roll in. |
| 1:24.9 | The New York Sun read, |
| 1:27.5 | It was largely a recital without voice, |
| 1:32.1 | for the tones Madame Jenkins produced were tiny to the point of disappearing. |
| 1:36.1 | Earl Wilson of the New York Post wrote, |
| 1:39.0 | She can sing anything, but notes. |
| 1:41.9 | Critics were in consensus. |
| 1:47.7 | She was the worst singer they'd ever heard. Let's meet Florence Foster Jenkins. |
| 2:03.6 | Florence was born on July 19, 1868, to a wealthy family in Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania. As a child, her musical talents were treated as anything but a joke. She was considered a prodigy on the piano, and even performed at the White House as a young girl. |
| 2:09.6 | Her admirers affectionately called her Little Miss Foster, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Acast Creative Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Acast Creative Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.