Advanced TV Herstory

Love TV? TV women have brought us great lessons in leadership, achievement and diligence. It’s time their stories are told and in many cases, placed in the proper context of the women’s movement, social change and political trends. Representation of women on TV – whether it’s in the news, programming schedule or sports – is a fraction of the amount of screen time men get. Yet every generation of women is profoundly impacted by what they see. It’s more than the memory of watching it, it’s the confidence that if a girl or woman sees another doing it, she is more likely to believe in herself.

Advanced TV Herstory connects the dots of TV and feminism with American politics and culture. Within each episode, we zero in on the life lessons discovered through research and analysis. Shows from every era and genre, and the women who made them, get their place in the spotlight.

Hosted and produced by Cynthia Bemis Abrams

Pt 4 Her Stories: Declining Ratings and Daytime's Demise

Apr 28, 2020

Dr. Elana Levine and Cynthia wrap up an extensive chat about daytime dramas by talking about the cancellation of many beloved shows. We discuss advertising, the loss of broadcast TV's prevalence in daytime and what replaced the serial genre.

Dr. Levine is author of Her Stories (published by Duke University Press) and...

Pt. 3 Her Stories: Feminism & Inclusion in Daytime

Apr 23, 2020

Daytime changed TV herstory with long arcs about adoptions, reproductive rights and rape. Dr. Elana Levine shares examples of how key stories aligned with social changes from the 60s until today.

We also discuss the limited roles available for actors of color and how they often were positioned as secondary stories to to...

Pt. 2 Her Stories with Elana Levine

Apr 19, 2020

Dr. Elana Levine of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and author of Duke University Press' Her Stories shares insights into TV technology and artistic elements that upped daytime storytelling's game. We discuss how 1:1 conversations evolved to story arcs of General Hospital's "Summer on the Run," Nola's old...

Pt. 1 Her Stories with Elana Levine

Apr 16, 2020

Dr. Elana Levine's recently published Her Stories (Duke Univ. Press) forms the backbone of this 4-part series on soap operas. This episode includes a look at the formative pioneers of serial storytelling - Irna Phillips, Agnes Nixon and William Bell. Other topics covered who owned any given show and how that impacted...

Talking Adaptations with Abbe Wright

Apr 12, 2020

Some of the freshest works on TV today are the result of screen adaptations of best selling novels. Abbe Wright of Penguin Random House, who is also podcast host of The Adaptables and Read it Forward, discusses this current trend of adaptations from the publishing and storytelling perspectives.

Since the early days of...