Podcast appearances and mentions of kirstin downey

Kirstin Downey grew up in Kailua on Oahu, where her father was a state harbor pilot working out of Aloha Tower. She went to Pennsylvania State University where she majored in journalism, and then worked at newspapers in Colorado, Florida and California before joining the Washington Post, where she was an award-winning economics and investigative reporter for 20 years. She was a finalist for the Livingston prize for outstanding young journalist in America. In 2000, she was awarded a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. Starting in 2005, she wrote dozens of news articles about problematic new kinds of real estate loans, reporting that foreshadowed the mortgage meltdown. She was part of a Washington Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for covering the Virginia Tech campus slayings. She later served as an investigator for the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and as editor of FTC:WATCH, a newsletter that follows the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. In 2009, Kirstin published The Woman Behind the New Deal, a biography of path-breaking government official Frances Perkins, a book that was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book prize and named one of the top ten biographies of the year by the American Library Association. In 2014, she wrote a biography of Queen Isabella of Castile, called Isabella the Warrior Queen, a book that BBC called one the ten most notable books of the fall. In 2015, she returned home to Hawaii, where she now works as a special correspondent for Honolulu Civil Beat, reporting on how actions taken in Washington affect the state. She is currently writing a new history of Hawaii during the first 50 years after Captain Cook arrived, with a focus on a remarkable Kauai chief, Kaumualii, who fought to protect his island and his people.

In the second episode of American Compassion, we turn to the story of how the core elements of our safety net began to come together in the lives and minds of Theodore Roosevelt and - especially - in the transformational and criminally-overlooked work of Frances Perkins.   With historian H.W. Brands, author Kirstin Downey, and Erine Gray as our guides - and with Archival Audio of Frances Perkins herself - we go back to the fateful day in March 1911 when thirty-one-year-old Frances Perkins happened to witness the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Just as Erine Gray's conversion experience in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, inspired him to focus on public policy, Frances Perkins's experience on that day inspired her to work toward prototypical safety net elements like workplace safety codes and fire regulations.   From there, considering the complex context of life in America in the early 20th Century, we follow Frances Perkins' life and work all the way through her transformational success in building compassionate structures into the American system. To name a few things for which we have Frances Perkins to thank, consider Social Security, unemployment insurance, the 40-hour workweek, the minimum wage, overtime pay, Federal Housing assistance which helps people buy houses with low down payments, the National Labor Relations Act which gave workers the right to organize, oh and also public works projects like the Lincoln Tunnel, the highway through the Florida Keys, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.   The Woman Behind The New Deal

Sarah Gristwood reveals the high drama of Arbella Stuart's life. She was Queen Elizabeth's chosen heir for the throne, but she ended up dying alone in the Tower of London. Kirstin Downey explains the bloody legacy left by Queen Isabella who unified Spain but kicked off the Inquisition.

Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504) was one of the most significant figures in world history. We continue this season’s theme of Women Leaders In History And The Men Who Whined About Them with the Isabella's journey from little girl trapped in a ghost castle to teenage war mediator to PR stunt inventor to genocidal dictator! This is a heavy one, so get ready. References: Essays I wrote about her: Isabella I, part one; Isabella I, part two Two recent-ish biographies that do a solid job of balancing the genocidal parts of her legacy with other parts of her legacy are: Isabella of Castile: Europe's First Great Queen by Giles Tremlett and Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey, both of which are featured on my list of recommended books at Bookshop.org Further links as mentioned in the podcast, that dive into other aspects of her legacy: Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion Islam In Spain ‘These are the keys of this paradise’: how 700 years of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end Christopher Columbus 1451 – 1506 Opens the Door to European Invasion of the Americas Atrocities Against Native Americans Columbus and Genocide Columbus Controversy In a nutshell: Spanish Inquisition Other stuff: My Patreon Follow Vulgar History on Instagram and Twitter Vulgar History merch

April 30, 2015 at the Boston Athenæum. In this book talk, Kirstin Downey, author of Isabella: The Warrior Queen, will speak about Isabella of Castile, the Queen of Spain who became one of the most influential female rulers in history. Just as Isabella was a queen in a world of kings, female members of the Athenæum have navigated what librarian Charles Knowles in the Athenæum Centenary called “a man’s institution” for the majority of its history. (Barbara Adams Hebard tackles this topic in her essay, "The Role of Women at the Boston Athenæum" in The Boston Athenæum Bicentennial Essays, which illuminates the hidden history of female contributions to the Athenæum since its inception.) Isabella’s life is not so hidden, sponsoring major historical events such as Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World and the Spanish Inquisition. Whether saintly or satanic, no female leader has done more to shape our modern world, in which millions of people in two hemispheres speak Spanish and practice Catholicism. Using new scholarship, Downey's luminous biography tells the story of this brilliant, fervent, forgotten woman, the faith that propelled her through life, and the land of ancient conflicts and intrigue she brought under her command.

Journalist and business writer Kirstin Downey celebrates her latest book, a portrait of this devoted public servant, a woman who changed the landscape of American business and society. Frances Perkins was this country's first female cabinet secretary, and her work and actions greatly affected the New Deal and the whole of American politics at the time.

Journalist and business writer Kirstin Downey celebrates her latest book, a portrait of this devoted public servant, a woman who changed the landscape of American business and society. Frances Perkins was this country's first female cabinet secretary, and her work and actions greatly affected the New Deal and the whole of American politics at the time.

Award-winning journalist and author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience gave a talk on March 31. Kirstin Downey provided a riveting exploration of how and why Perkins slipped into historical oblivion, and restores Perkins to her proper place in history.

Award-winning journalist and author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience gave a talk on March 31. Kirstin Downey provided a riveting exploration of how and why Perkins slipped into historical oblivion, and restores Perkins to her proper place in history.