Curated playlist
American feminists
- Kristen StewartKristen Stewart is an American actress and filmmaker who says she was never the child who dreamed of fame. She was not, in her words, the "I want to be famous, I want to be an actor" kid. Still, one small habit of celebrity came to her…
- Anne HathawayAnne Hathaway is an American actress whose films have grossed over $6.8 billion worldwide. In 2015 she ranked among the highest-paid actresses in the world. Yet that same year she said, "I always assume that every film is my last, and I…
- Katharine HepburnKatharine Hepburn bought out her own studio contract after theater owners called her box office poison.
- Stephen ColbertAt a 2006 dinner, Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush to a cold room. His show's ratings jumped 37% the next week.
- Jennifer LawrenceJennifer Lawrence was 14 years old and on a family vacation in New York City when a talent scout spotted her on the street. The scout arranged for her to audition for talent agents, and that detour set the course of her life. Today she is…
- Brie LarsonBrie Larson's 2005 album Finally Out of P.E. sold only 3,500 copies. She later won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
- Susan B. AnthonySusan B. Anthony voted in 1872, waited, and was arrested days later. She then refused to pay her $100 fine.
- Meghan, Duchess of SussexMeghan, Duchess of Sussex, was eleven years old when she first tried to change how a major company addressed the public. She and her classmates wrote a letter to Procter & Gamble. They urged the company to make a dishwashing-soap…
- Sadie SinkSadie Sink was 14 years old when casting directors for Stranger Things decided she was too old for the part she wanted. She refused to let it end there. She begged and pleaded for more material to perform, and that stubbornness set the…
- Alanis MorissetteAlanis Morissette recorded a demo cassette in August 1989 and sent it to Geffen Records. The tape has never been heard. It was stolen, along with other records, in a burglary of the label's headquarters in October 1989. Whatever it held is…
- Jane FondaJane Fonda sat on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a 1972 visit to Hanoi, and a photograph of that moment outraged a large number of Americans. It earned her a nickname that has followed her for decades: Hanoi Jane. For many…
- Mark RuffaloMark Ruffalo has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which ties a record. Each nomination came for a different kind of man. Ruffalo is an American actor and producer, and the road to that record was…
- Herbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse analyzed Nazi ideology for American spies before students made him a hero.
- Daniel CraigIn 2021, the English actor Daniel Craig was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It sits at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard, an address that winks at the code number 007. Two days later his final film as that famous spy opened in the…
- Ann DunhamStanley Ann Dunham grew up answering to a name that other children found funny. She kept using it through high school, "apologizing for it each time she introduced herself in a new town." By the time she reached college, she was going by…
- Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov coined the word "robotics" in a 1941 story, thinking it was just a natural term.
- Joan KellyIn 1976, historian Joan Kelly asked: Did women have a Renaissance? Her answer was no.
- Idina MenzelIn 1992, a young singer named Idina Menzel recorded a demo of a song called "In Your Eyes" and was paid $75 for the job. The song went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, sung by the Irish performer Niamh Kavanagh. That story…
- Harriet TubmanHarriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross, never forgot the moment she first felt free. Years later she described it this way: "When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory…
- Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in straight sets in 1973. He had claimed women's tennis was too weak.