She Killed, Conquered, and Claimed the Throne #HtH WU ZETIAN

Confidently Insecure

Kelsey Darragh

Society & Culture, Education, Comedy

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Hoes Throughout History, we dive deep into the unhinged, unstoppable, and undeniably iconic life of Empress Wu Zetian — the first and only female emperor of China. From concubine to supreme ruler of the Tang dynasty, Wu played the political game like a damn chess master while rewriting what it meant to be a woman in power...and the brutal rumors spread by salty men who couldn’t handle her crown. Was she ruthless? Sure. Revolutionary? Absolutely.

🎧 Chapters:

00:00 — Introduction to Empress Wu Zetian

03:08 — The Rise of Wu Zhao: From Concubine to Empress

11:55 — Wu Zetian’s Reign: Power, Politics, and Reform

15:59 — The Fall of Wu Zetian: Abdication and Legacy

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome, welcome to Confidently Insecure the podcast where we don't know everything.
0:09.8	I am your host, Kelsey Motherfucking Vera, and we have our confidant's favorite, most requested, fun, badass segment here for you today.
0:22.2	That's right.
0:23.0	We got our one and only H-T-H-R-Ho throughout history.
0:29.5	And y'all know what this segment is all about.
0:31.8	Okay, we are here to reclaim the narrative of unsung heroes that were women, gays and they's, rebels, straight up rule breakers,
0:41.0	who made history blush and we don't hear enough about them. Don't forget, I went to public school,
0:46.3	so this is kind of like me reclaiming my education. If I could rewrite the history books,
0:51.3	whof, what I would include. And this one is a fun long one, so I'm going to get right into her, okay?
0:58.4	This week, we are stepping off this continent and going over to some Western, Eastern history,
1:08.7	into the glorious chaos of 7th century China.
1:14.9	To meet the one, the only, the baddest bitch to ever sit on the dragon throne, Empress Wu Zitan.
1:25.1	She was China's first and only female emperor. Not Empress Consort, not Empress
1:34.7	DeWager, whatever that means, not some side chick to the dynasty, okay? She took the throne
1:42.0	and let me tell y'all, coffee dots.
1:45.9	She rolled pretty ruthlessly.
1:47.7	Like, I don't know if she's the villain, if she's the hero, but she did some baller, crazy, chaotic shit.
1:56.5	And can we have a balanced person in such power back then?
2:03.4	I don't know.
2:04.0	It's up for us to decide.
2:06.2	She was brilliant.
2:07.7	She was sensual.
	...

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