This week, Maggie Doherty joins me on the podcast to discuss her new book, The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s. Maggie Doherty is a literary scholar, historian, and critic based at Harvard and has written a fascinating account of an experiment in combining intellectual pursuits and motherhood by providing “a room of one’s own” at Harvard for a select group of women in the 1960s.
“The timely, never-before-told story of five brilliant, passionate women who, in the early 1960s, converged at the newly founded Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study and became friends as well as artistic collaborators, and who went on to shape the course of feminism in ways that are still felt today.”
You can also listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
“The Equivalents is such an exciting, engaging, and important book that I loathed doing anything but reading it. With great psychological acumen, and ever-mindful of the nuances of class, race, and gender, Maggie Doherty brings these women vividly to life, allowing us to hear them speak, to feel their conflicts and their triumphs. By the end, I was electric with insights into my own relationships and work, and, perhaps surprisingly, I felt very optimistic about the future. Being creative while female has never been easy, and our best hope for resolution is this variety of historical excavation, one that shows us how people have tried to resolve it before, so we may learn and keep pushing forward, newly enlightened.”
—Kate Bolick, author of Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own
Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:
A Bookish Home has teamed up with Bookshop.org! Support A Bookish Home and independent bookstores at the same time when you purchase books from our new online bookshop!*
Browse books by authors interviewed on the podcast, titles mentioned on the show, and more recommendations from your host and librarian, Laura Szaro Kopinski.
We hope this helps you discover your next favorite read! You can also browse titles here and then request them from your local library.
Are you reading a book mentioned on the blog or podcast? I’d love to hear. Tag me wherever you hang out on social media @ABookishHome.
Happy Reading and Listening!
Laura Szaro Kopinski
*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.
Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. Thanks for supporting A Bookish Home and your local indies!
A Bookish Home Podcast 