#684 BRAVE HEARTED: The Women of the American West

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Author Interview series on radio and podcast. I’m Paul Vogelzang, and today’s show is part of our Smithsonian Associates author interview series, and we have an excellent program about the true-life stories of women's experiences in the 'Wild West.’ These stories are more gripping, more heart-rending, and more stirring than all the movies, novels, folk-legends and ballads that popular imagination has been able to create. Please stay tuned… Thank you so much for listening. As I say, we’ve got a great guest today, who, after reading her new book, I’ve been looking forward to for a while and whom I’ll introduce in just a moment…But, quickly, if you missed any episodes, last week was our 682d episode, when I spoke with Sam Mulaim about his WordPress and Woo Commerce support work for online businesses and over-age 55 entrepreneurs. Two weeks ago I spoke with Robert Ellsberg about his new book and his friend, PBS star Sister Wendy Beckett. Wonderful holiday and New Year’s relevant shows…If you missed those shows, along with any others, you can go back and check them out with my entire back catalog of shows, all free for you there on our website, NotOld-Better.com…and if you leave a review, we will read it at the end of each show…leave reviews on Apple Podcasts for us. Smithsonian Associate and our guest today, successful writer, journalist, travel writer, and novelist, Katie Hickman has written the new book, ‘Brave Hearted: The Woman of the American West.’ Katie Hickman will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes today for more details about Katie Hickman at Smithsonian Associates. But we have Katie Hickman today to talk about her new book, her upcoming Smithsonian Associates presentation about the hard-drinking, hard-living poker players and prostitutes of the new boom towns; wives and mothers traveling two and a half thousand miles across the prairies in covered-wagon convoys, some of them so poor they walked the entire route; African American women in search of freedom from slavery; Chinese sex workers sold openly on the docks of San Francisco; Native American women brutally displaced by the unstoppable tide of white settlers. And all were women forced to draw on huge reserves of resilience and courage in the face of tumultuous change. That of course is our guest today, Smithsonian Associate and author Katie Hickman reading from her new book, ‘Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West.’ Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates author interview series, Smithsonian Associate Katie Hickman. My thanks to author Katie Hickman, and her new book, ‘Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West. Thanks, Katie, for reading today. Katie Hickman will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes today for more details about Katie Hickman at Smithsonian Associates. My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show. My thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience on radio and podcast…please be well and be safe, which I’m mentioning in every show because I want to bring attention to the issue of assault rifles, which aren’t safe, in anyone’s hands but the military and law enforcement. Assault rifles are killing our children and grandchildren in the very places they learn: schools! Please, let’s work together to eliminate assault rifles, and let’s do better. Let’s talk about Better…the Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast, Smithsonian Associates Author Interview series…