Queens of the High Seas

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Yo-ho, a pirate’s life for she! Legends of Blackbeard and movie buccaneers like Captain Jack Sparrow give us the impression that piracy was a man’s world. But historians and the Nat Geo book Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas are righting the ship. Join the fleet of Zheng Yi Sao, a woman from southern China who at her peak commanded some 70,000 pirates during the early 19th century. For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard. Want more? Check out Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas, the new book from National Geographic Kids. Subscribers can follow the trail of pirate queen Grace O’Malley—also known as “Bald Grace”—who became a living legend in 16th-century Ireland. An animated video breaks down the life of Zheng Yi Sao, perhaps the most successful pirate of all time. Also explore: There are plenty of pirate myths, but National Geographic has the true stories of discovering Blackbeard’s ship, the reason pirates practiced democracy, and what science has to say about the food pirates ate (hint: it was usually terrible). Go deeper with the books Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810 by Dian Murray and The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire by Ronald Po. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/explore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is brought to you in part by Geico, proud sponsor of National Geographic.
0:05.1	Geico, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.
0:12.1	Did you ever play a video game that sucked you in and took over your life?
0:16.2	I mean, if you have, you can relate.
0:18.0	But if you haven't, it's similar to that feeling of reading an amazing book and staying up late to read just one more chapter.
0:25.2	And then before you know it, it's three in the morning.
0:27.5	Playing Sid Meyers Pirates was like that for me.
0:30.6	I got it.
0:33.4	So the game takes place in the Caribbean during the 1500s and 1600s.
0:37.5	You start out as an entry level pirate and you work your way up the food chain by plundering Spanish treasure ships
0:43.5	and fighting some of history's most famous pirates like Calico Jack Raccoon, Henry Morgan and Blackbeard.
0:50.1	So you take their ships, you steal their treasure and you build a fearsome reputation.
0:55.7	I was obsessed.
0:58.5	It was adventure on the high seas in the form of many, many hours spent in front of the computer.
1:04.7	There's just something about them.
1:06.7	It's like the opposite of what real life is, especially for kids.
1:10.7	This is Lee Lewis.
1:11.7	She wrote a kid's book for Nat Geo about pirates.
1:14.7	More on that in a minute.
1:15.7	You know, there's no parents.
1:16.7	There's no rules.
1:17.7	It's a life at sea instead of a life on land.
	...

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