The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France
The Not Old - Better Show
Paul Vogelzang
5 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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In our latest Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview series episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with acclaimed historian and author Nancy Goldstone about her riveting new book, The Rebel Empresses. It’s a dual biography that traces the intertwined lives of two women who refused to be footnotes in the grand story of European empire.
Elisabeth (known as Sisi) and Eugénie were married into power, but they never conformed to it. They pushed boundaries—from challenging court politics to redefining women’s roles in public life. One became the fashion icon of her age; the other quietly reformed prisons, promoted women’s education, and preserved a nation’s cultural identity.
Yet both women lived through unimaginable personal sorrow. Nancy’s storytelling reveals their complexity—not as tragic figures, but as bold, often misunderstood agents of change. For listeners 50+, their stories remind us it’s never too late to be influential, purposeful… even radical.
📚 Whether you love women’s history, European politics, or simply a good story well told, this episode is worth your time. Nancy Goldstone’s research, wit, and passion shine through every minute.
🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts!
#WomensHistory #SmithsonianAssociates #Resilience #PodcastInterview #NancyGoldstone #LifelongLearning #NotOldBetter
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates interview series on radio and podcast. |
| 0:10.6 | The show covering all things health, wellness, culture, and more. |
| 0:14.2 | The show for all of us who aren't old, were better. |
| 0:17.1 | Each week we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people, doing extraordinary things, |
| 0:23.2 | all related to this wonderful experience of getting better, not older. |
| 0:27.6 | Now here's your host, the award-winning Paul Vogelzang. |
| 0:34.9 | Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. |
| 0:39.8 | I'm Paul Vogelzang, and today we opened the curtain on two women who wore crowns but never bowed. |
| 0:45.5 | Two empresses who stood at the center of 19th century Europe glittering with power and beauty, |
| 0:53.1 | yet haunted by betrayal, heartbreak, and war. |
| 0:57.3 | Elizabeth of Austria and Eugenie of France, names that may sound like fairy tale heroines, but |
| 1:05.8 | whose lives were anything but. |
| 1:08.3 | When they married into empire, they became icons of fashion and strength, idolized, and |
| 1:14.3 | scrutinized. |
| 1:15.5 | But behind the velvet gowns and royal portraits were women at war with expectation and often |
| 1:21.3 | with their own families. |
| 1:22.4 | Author, historian, and Smithsonian associate Nancy Goldstone joins us to talk about her newest book, The Rebel |
| 1:28.7 | Empress's, a sweeping, emotional account of two women who reshaped their worlds, not with |
| 1:35.3 | armies, but with intellect, willpower, and undeniable presence. Nancy Goldstone's storytelling |
| 1:41.8 | reminds us that history is never dry. |
| 1:45.0 | It's lived. |
| 1:46.4 | It's defiant. |
... |
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