On the heels of an new executive order (March 1, 2025) by Donald Trump declaring English to be the official language of the US, a March 6, 2025 Lost Women of Science news release (received via email) announces a new bilingual podcast series being launched during Women’s History Month (March 2025),
March is Women’s History Month and, not coincidentally, on March 13 we will launch our new five-part season: The Extraordinary Life and Tragic Death of Evangelina Rodríguez Perozo. We’re also doing something new: the season will be available in both English and Spanish, and is narrated by “Orange is the New Black” star and Dominican Republic national, Laura Gómez. See Laura below with Evangelina’s statue at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.
Evangelina Rodríguez Perozo was the first female doctor in the Dominican Republic. Born into poverty and abandoned by her parents, Evangelina was raised by her grandmother. As a child she sold candy on the streets to make ends meet. Evangelina’s drive and compassion earned her supporters who helped her graduate from Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. She even made it to Paris to pursue her medical education. Upon her return to the Dominican Republic, she set up a maternity clinic and free milk distribution for the poor; and she promoted sexual health education. But, in the end, like so many, she was persecuted by the Trujillo dictatorship.
Listen throughout March and into April to hear this moving story. Click the buttons below to listen to the trailer in English or Spanish.
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The March 6, 2025 news release goes on,
We’re the best!
In February [2025], FeedSpot, a podcast platform, ranked us as the best Women in Science podcast and second-best California Science podcast. We also got a boost on February 11th, International Day for Women and Girls in Science, when Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta and of Lean In fame, shared our stories on her social media. It’s fantastic to see so many people joining us on this mission.
In case you missed it…
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Bestselling author Lisa See and Chinese medicine scholar Lorraine Wilcox joined us for Lost Women of Science Conversations in February [2025]. Together with our host Carol Sutton Lewis, they explored how Lisa came to write her latest novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. Lorraine translated the real-life textbook that Lady Tan published in 1511, detailing her medical practices as a female doctor during the Ming Dynasty. Find out how fact meets fiction and how this almost forgotten woman of science is now immortalized in a story of filial piety, friendships, and of course, medical science.Listen to Conversations: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women here
Marthe Gautier
Our two-part series, released in January [2025], delves into the life of Marthe Gautier, the French cytogeneticist and physician who played a pivotal role in identifying the chromosomal anomaly responsible for Down syndrome. Despite her groundbreaking work in the 1950s, Gautier’s contributions were overshadowed and appropriated for decades by a male colleague.Our producers Lorena Galliot and Sophie McNulty traveled to Paris to visit the hospital where she worked, as well as meet her niece. We tell Marthe’s own story and set the historical record straight.
You can find the Lost Women of Science website here. Lost Women of Science was previously highlighted here in a December 2, 2021 posting.