Pink Collar Workers: Virginia Apgar

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) was a pioneering obstetric anesthesiologist who designed a test that still saves newborns every day. She was also the first woman to become a full professor at Columbia University.

This month, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed! We'll be talking about Pink Collar Workers: women who revolutionized jobs that have traditionally been called "women's work." Through their lives, they created a more just and humane world for us today.

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.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:06.6	There's a vile sickness in Abbas town.
0:10.4	You must excise it.
0:12.8	Dig into the deep earth and cut it out.
0:16.7	From IHeart podcasts and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky,
0:20.0	this is Havoc Town. A new fiction podcast set in the Bridgewater Audio Universe, starring Jules State and Ray Wise.
0:29.1	Listen to Havoc Town on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:35.2	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:40.0	This August, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed.
0:44.4	All month, we'll be talking about pink-collar workers.
0:47.4	These women revolutionized jobs that have traditionally been called women's work.
0:51.5	Through their lives, they created a more just and humane world for us today.
0:55.6	With that, here's one of our favorite episodes.
1:03.0	Hello, and happy New Year. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
1:10.4	This month, we're highlighting women who worked in health and wellness.
1:14.6	Today we're talking about the first woman to become a full professor at Columbia University.
1:19.6	Pioneering obstetric anesthesiologist.
1:22.6	She designed a test that still saves newborns every day.
1:26.6	Please welcome Virginia Apgar.
1:34.7	Virginia Apgar was born on June 7, 1909 in Westfield, New Jersey.
1:41.1	It's hard to know where Virginia's curiosity for medicine first began, but it may have come
1:46.2	from the tragedies that plagued her own family.
	...

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