Podcasts about that woman the life

Why was there a women's orchestra in Auschwitz, and what can that help us understand human resilience? In this deeply moving episode of the show, I speak with Anne Sebba — renowned biographer, historian, and journalist — about one of the Holocaust's most extraordinary and little-known stories: the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. Anne's latest book tells the story of how a group of female prisoners were forced to form an orchestra in one of the most brutal Nazi concentration camps. They played not for celebration or escape, but as part of the machinery of terror — and yet, through music, they found a way to survive. As Anne shares, her journey into this story began with a startling personal discovery: her father was present at Bergen-Belsen shortly after its liberation. That visceral connection led her to uncover the story of Alma Rosé, the orchestra's conductor and the niece of Gustav Mahler, who used discipline and musical brilliance to save lives. We talk about the complexities of human behaviour, the ethical dilemmas of survival, and the way music — even when twisted into a tool of torture — remained a powerful expression of the human spirit. We also explore how Anne approached telling this story as someone who is neither a survivor nor the child of survivors. She explains the challenges of working with conflicting testimonies, the emotional toll of researching this subject, and why she took piano lessons while writing the book. Above all, this episode is about the resilience of the women who played in the orchestra, and the importance of telling stories that allow us to see history not just in abstract terms, but through individual lives. 

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in Britain's history, but it was a decision by her uncle that cleared Elizabeth's path to the throne. King Edward abdicated in 1936 so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth's father the new king. Anne Sebba, the author of "That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor," joined Judy Woodruff to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in Britain's history, but it was a decision by her uncle that cleared Elizabeth's path to the throne. King Edward abdicated in 1936 so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth's father the new king. Anne Sebba, the author of "That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor," joined Judy Woodruff to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in Britain's history, but it was a decision by her uncle that cleared Elizabeth's path to the throne. King Edward abdicated in 1936 so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth's father the new king. Anne Sebba, the author of "That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor," joined Judy Woodruff to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Anne Sebba is a biographer, lecturer, journalist and former Reuters foreign correspondent. She has written 10 critically-acclaimed books of non-fiction, mostly about iconic women who enjoyed using power and influence in different ways such as Enid Bagnold, Mother Teresa, Laura Ashley and Jennie Churchill, as well as her 2016 book Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s. Her biography, That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, quickly became a bestseller on publication in 2011.

We’ll talk to Anne Sebba, author of That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson Duchess of Windsor. She’ll discuss the controversial historical figure, her role in the abdication of King Edward VIII and the royal family. Also, over 60 years ago at the height of the cold war Holocaust survivor Frank Shatz helped a young girl, Erika Fabian, and her family escape from a prison in Bratislava. They recently re-connected after Erika read an online article that Shatz wrote for The Virginia Gazette. Erika is in town visiting Shatz, and they’ll join us to share their incredible story.

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It's precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin's Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba's impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess's life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn't intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It’s precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba’s impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess’s life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn’t intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It’s precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba’s impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess’s life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn’t intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It’s precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba’s impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess’s life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn’t intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It’s precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba’s impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess’s life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn’t intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor is more often than not presented as a great love story: she is the woman for whom the King gave up the throne. It’s precisely this oversimplification of the facts that Anne Sebba seeks to correct in her excellent new biography That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). The first woman to write a full biography of the Duchess, Sebba provides a much-needed rehabilitation of this polarizing figure. The bite of the title succinctly captures the bitterness and antipathy directed towards Wallis Simpson- during her life and after- but Sebba’s impeccable research illuminates a woman far more complex than the popular imagination has allowed. This is myth-busting to the nth degree. With access to previously undiscovered letters, Sebba creates an account of the Duchess’s life that is, at times, downright revelatory. For instance, Wallis Simpson didn’t intend to marry the Prince of Wales. Who knew?! As Sebba writes: “She was not in love with Edward himself but in love with the opulence, the lifestyle, the way doors opened for her, the way he made all her childish dreams come true. She was sure it was a fairytale that would end, but while it lasted she could not bring herself to end it herself.” Ultimately, this was the stuff of tragedy rather than fairytale, but the story is riveting nonetheless. “That Woman,” an American woman who captivated a Prince to the point of obsession. As Sebba writes: “Few who knew them well would describe what they shared as love.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices