Ep. 5 - She Fought the Machine: Women of WWII and the Rise of Facism

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In Episode 5, “She Fought the Machine, Part 1,” Chelsey and Jenn unpack how early-20th-century fascism weaponized gender—banning contraception, rewarding motherhood, and erasing women’s autonomy—then spotlight five trailblazers who refused to stay silent: Sophie Scholl, Nancy Wake, Noor Inayat Khan, Virginia Hall, and Hedy Lamarr. From leaflets smuggled past Gestapo checkpoints to groundbreaking frequency-hopping patents, these women show how truth, science, and sheer defiance became the first line of resistance—an inheritance we must claim again as modern-day “national renewal” efforts aim to scrub our history and silence dissent.

Key Sources

• Paxton, Robert O. The Anatomy of Fascism. Knopf, 2004.
• Pine, Lisa. “Nazi Family Policy.” Oxford Bibliographies, 1997.
• US Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Noor Inayat Khan.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, ushmm.org.
• University of Munich White Rose Archive. Sophie Scholl trial transcripts, 1943.
• Lamarr, Hedy & Antheil, George. U.S. Patent 2,292,387, “Secret Communication System,” 1942.
• Heritage Foundation. Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership, project2025.org.
• Newsweek. “Trump Executive Order Targets Married Women’s Financial Autonomy,” April 2025.

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