'We the Women' and 'Rise, Girl, Rise' are stories about revolutionary women

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

To mark Women’s History Month, today’s episode features new books focused on women who have paved the way for gender equality. First, journalist Norah O’Donnell documents untold stories in American history in We the Women, written in collaboration with Kate Andersen Brower. In today’s episode, O’Donnell tells NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about lesser-known female heroes, like the woman who printed the Declaration of Independence and a female soldier who fought in the American Revolution. Then, activist Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee speak with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about their new children’s book, Rise, Girl, Rise.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. This past Sunday was International
0:07.4	Women's Day. Now, maybe you only remembered that because of a reminder on your Google Calendar,
0:13.0	or you saw a post on social media, or maybe you didn't remember until now. But the day has
0:18.5	its history in radicalism, in politics, in really sticking your
0:22.7	neck out and fighting for something. So today, we've got two books that embody that spirit,
0:27.6	and a bit two major feminists working today talk about their book trying to inspire the next
0:32.4	generation. But first, journalist Nora O'Donnell's new book is titled, We, the Women,
0:39.2	The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America.
0:46.7	It's a collection of stories of women you probably have never heard about, even if they directly contributed to our lives today.
0:49.4	She talks to NPR's Mary Louise Kelly after the break.
1:00.5	Nearly 250 years ago, July 4th, 1776, dozens of delegates got together and signed the Declaration of Independence.
1:07.1	Now, signing was a huge risk. Having your name on that founding document of the United States was treason.
1:12.3	Even if you're just the guy who printed the document. And actually, the guy who printed the document wasn't a guy. She was a woman, Mary Catherine Goddard. At the very bottom of one of the
1:19.5	official versions of the Declaration, just under John Hancock and all the other male signes,
1:25.5	is Goddard's name. She is one of the women profiled in a new book by CBS News
1:30.3	senior correspondent, Nora O'Donnell. The book is We, the Women, the Hidden Heroes,
1:35.8	Who Shaped America. Nora's dropped by the studio to tell us about it. Hi there. Welcome.
1:40.1	Thank you for having me, Mary Louise. So start there. We're talking the 18th century.
1:45.9	We're talking a moment when a lot of women could not read, could not write.
1:50.4	How did Goddard land the gig of printing the Declaration of Independence?
1:54.0	It's an incredible story and one I can't believe we aren't all taught in school.
2:00.5	The Declaration of Independence, the founding document.
	...

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