Category Archives: History

One morning in early May, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell made history as the first nonbinary-identifying actors to be nominated for Tony Awards. The night before the nominations were announced was the first time that either performer had attended the Met Galaor, as Newell calls it, our Tony nominee party. A couple weeks later, the pair met with TIME together in a Midtown caf close to both of their theaters to discuss the nominations, Ghee for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for their role as Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot and Newell for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their role as Lulu in Shucked.

Neither are newcomers to Broadway. Ghee made their debut as Lola (a drag queen who helps save a failing shoe factory) in Kinky Boots in 2017, and Newell made theirs the same year as Asaka (the Earth goddess) in Once on This Island. (The two go way back, having met at a performance of Kinky Boots.) This year, Some Like It Hot and Shucked were also both nominated for Best New Musical, meaning that Ghee and Newell originated their roles on-stage, and can make them their own.

Those roles feel tailor-made to their performers: In Shucked, Lulu is a small-town whiskey distiller who brings down the house with a standing ovation in the middle of Act I with Independently Owned, a show-stopper about not needing a man.

Newell says they are learning from Lulu about gradually opening up. That in my own independent life, there is something else to have, there is another person to be had, that can meld, mesh well into this independent life that I live.

And in Some Like It Hot, based on the 1959 Billy Wilder film that starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, two musicians, Jerry (Ghee) and Joe (Christian Borle), must flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. They go undercover in drag, joining a traveling all-girl band, but Jerry, the bass player, finds himself drawn to his newfound persona as Daphne.

Of course, doing Some Like It Hot and bringing men in dresses back to Broadway, everybody has feelings, Ghee says. So theyre concerned about how its going to be perceived and received. And there were moments where I was like, cant we just be artists and create?

In conversation, Gheein a black, strappy, leather top and pleated miniskirtand Newellwearing a white, puff-sleeved top and a set of feathery lashesvamp and riff and ricochet off of each other, toggling seamlessly between thoughtful and funny. They discussed their characters, who their art serves, and what winning really means.

This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.

Alex Newell belts during rehearsal for 'Shucked' at a studio space in midtown Manhattan.

'Shucked'Emilio Madrid

Ghee: You know how to make the church go up in a way of, Im using what I got today. Using the gift. So it is definitely such a formative way of learning yourself as an artist.

Newell: And your instrument in general. You create your own style in church. The fact that gospel and hymns have their own diaspora inside a genre, that we can have a Lecresia Campbell giving us operatic tones into a belt, and we can have pop from Mary Mary. Thats that artistry of finding yourself and your voice.

Ghee: When I started doing drag, I used to say I never imagined myself doing it, which was a complete bold-faced lie. I was young Lola playing in my moms clothes as a kid, and using blankets as trains and making dresses. And so it was me tapping back into the little version of me, and that freest, most imaginative person, and having complete creative control of how I can be effective with my gifts.

Because Im always trying to be intentional with everything that I do, and especially with drag, and so it was my way of: How am I ministering to people? How am I reaching hearts and souls and minds through this artistry? So it really helped me free myself in every way.

Newell: Well, you know, I wasnt in drag ever until I won RuPauls Secret Celebrity Drag Race. No, I guess I never knew what drag was for so long, because I didnt know what I was doing when I was putting on my mamas heels and tromping around the house. Honey, I cried the day my foot went past a seven. I cried.

Newell: Very different. I always say drag is appreciating the womans body, in a way. And appreciating what life started out of. To appreciate our moms and our idols and all of that good stuff, and to really exaggerate the beauty of that form and that art.

Newell: Ill be honest, Im tired. I am exhausted. Mine is particularly strange, because I do the opening number, I have a 40-minute break, and when I come back on stage, its the number. Im just like, Ah! And its such a big thing from zero. I just jump in and feel like Im shot out of a cannon.

Ghee: By that time, Im warm. Im working towards that point in the show. And there are shows where Im like, Where am I pulling this from today? But I get into it and it is that giving into Daphne and that freedom to find the joy every time. And it cracks a part of me open every time.

Ghee: Changes every day. And I love it. I love being able to step in and be like, OK, what am I finding today? For them and for myself. What kind of freedom? What kind of joy? And bringing myself to the day in the moment, and then also leaving space for exploration and uniqueness. Very intentional of, like, Oh, this is very close to home and purpose-driven. But then also, how do I expand within this?

Newell: When Lulus singing the song, it is male-driven, about how this independent woman has done everything without a man. Ive done the same exact thing. I havent had a partner thats attached to me. Its just been me. And half of that creates a callus over the emotion of not needing anyone.

But then knowing that its OK to want it and to have it. It is OK to be independent and still have the things that everybody else does. I mean, there is the one line. Its so small, it happens so fast. And its, There might be someone that I aint met yet.

Newell: Well, you know, I modeled my Lulu off of Delta Burke and Julia Sugarbaker. Im the hybrid of both of them on Designing Women. And its me but heightened in the fact that I am loud. I am very outspoken. But I do have a filter, which is shocking to most. I do think about what Im going to say. Lulu does not. Lulu, if it comes up, it comes out.

Ghee: The creative team really trusted me and gave me the space to go. They really were like, We defer to you.

When I say to Christian [Borle, who plays Joe/Josephine] in Act II, when hes like, What do I call you? Jerry? Daphne? And Im like, Either is fine, as long as you do it with love and respect. When people ask me my pronouns, I say, All things, with respect. I understand that the world is conditioned to respond to what they see. So theyre always going to immediately say he/him. But I dont expect you to know what I am feeling and what I am carrying that day. And what Im presenting doesnt necessarily attach to what I am. And I walk in the fullness of who I am at all times.

J. Harrison Ghee performs as Daphne in 'Some Like It Hot.'

Marc J. Franklin

Newell: You dont see it coming.

Ghee: Truly.

Newell: You dont see that youre gonna laugh about something that you need to fix.

Ghee: One of my favorites is when Kevin [Del Aguila, who plays Daphnes love interest] says in the show, The world responds to what they see. And everyones like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then, Well, the world doesnt have very good eyesight. And youre like, Ah. Oh, right. Thats very true. In so many ways.

Newell: Ours is just blatant. Our Plan B joke is blatant. Maizie [Lulus cousin], she needs to find a plan B. Even though most people are trying to put a stop to Plan B. No ones expecting to laugh for two hours and then hear a joke like that. And literally say, Heres the mirror. If you feel uncomfortable, youre the problem.

Newell: Baby, I dont know. The change itself is an extremely hard one to make. Because if we sit here and we talk about why the categories were separated at the beginning, it was to give other people than cis white men awards. And we did take gender off of some awards in the U.K., and the only thing that won was cis white men. And I said, Ooh, we just went right back to where we started. So I dont know what that looks like. Its a deeper conversation. I think its adding a category, widening the horizon of the category.

Ghee: Weve got to free ourselves to see ourselves. We really got to give ourselves the permission to be like, You know what, we can do whatever we want to do. We do shape society and culture. Lets be ahead of that, and let us make the room and the space for everybody at the table to do all of the things.

Newell: In my spirit, Ive already won. Not a statue, not anything. I created a lane for somebody after me to come and do exceptional. I have created space and created conversation and made the ruckus that needs to create active change. If I win, yay, Ill put the statue in my bathroom. And Ill play with it every time I brush my teeth. And Id love it.

Ghee: But it is exciting to see so many people feeling seen and represented who are like, Wow, thank you. I didnt know that there was any possibility for me in this world. And I know that feeling of moving to New York. I wasnt a theater kid growing up. I grew up singing in church. And so it was like, well, I sing and dance and people respond; theater sounds right. Let me go try this out. And then to find Billy Porters album of At the Corner of Broadway and Soul, I was like, Whoa, there is somebody in this industry I can

Newell: See! And be!

Ghee: Something to look up to. So to now be that for somebody else? Again, the winning is already happening.

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J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell on Making Tony History - TIME

FLORENCE COUNTY On a wooded bluff overlooking the Great Pee Dee River, a team of archaeologists digs into the Pee Dee region's past.

Artifact by artifact, the team assembled with the help of the Archaeological Institute of the Pee Dee hopes it can reassemble the story of an area of South Carolina replete with history but largely neglected, they say.

Weve got an incredible human history in this part of the world, an incredible history of humans and their interaction with the natural environment. Ninety eight percent of that history can only be understood through archaeology, said Ben Zeigler, Archaeological Institute of the Pee Dee chairman.

Zeigler contends local history has been overlooked due to a lack of resources and a lack of development in the region.

Since 2021, the institute has helped organize a number of digs and hosted lectures on area history. Now, its working on a comprehensive plan for archaeology in the Pee Dee, which will determine where the organization focuses its efforts.

In May, a team of archaeologists spent 10 days excavating a spot off of the Pee Dee River in Florence County that they believe hosted a Native American settlement. A shovelful at a time, they sifted through the dirt, searching for evidence that people had once lived on the bluff.

Previous surveys of the area uncovered evidence from the Mississippian period, which runs from about 1100 AD to contact with European settlers, said Chris Judge, secretary of the AIPD and an archaeologist at the University of South Carolina Lancaster.

This is the zenith of Native American cultural complexity prior to Europeans arriving, right here in Florence County, he said.

Among the artifacts archaeologists have found at the Florence County site are fragments of pottery stamped with the Mississippian Complicated Stamp. Archaeological Institute of the Pee Dee/Provided

The Mississippians originated in what is now Oklahoma, slowly expanding and eventually displacing the woodland cultures that existed in South Carolina previously. However, Mississippian activity in the Pee Dee remains an enigma, according to Zeigler. Evidence of Mississippian settlement largely disappears beyond the east bank of the Pee Dee. Historians dont know why.

Judge hopes that the teams work can begin filling in the gaps in understanding of the Mississippian period in the Pee Dee, as well as what interaction Native Americans at the time had with Spanish settlers as they traveled inland.

Already, the archaeologists have uncovered a number of artifacts at the site in Florence County, most notably shards of pottery, some of which are stamped with a pattern unique to the period: the Mississippian Complicated Stamp, a winding crosshatch made with a wooden paddle. The pattern both distinguished the pots and made them easier to hold, according to Zeigler.

Once identified, the artifacts will be stored at the Florence County Museum, which acts as the regional hub for the AIPD.

Stephen Motte, curator of collections and interpretation at the museum, said historians know little about Native Americans in the Pee Dee. Few archaeologists have studied the area, and what is known is based on limited primary source material. The work done by the AIPD provides crucial clues as historians work to put the regions history back together.

Having the institute available to the museum, that gives us the ability to more tightly focus on the Pee Dee so that over time, as they continue to work and make discoveries, we can better tell the story of the people who lived here before us, Motte said.

Many think Native American activity in the Pee Dee was limited to small, roving bands that lived in the woods. Thats a misconception, Motte said.

In fact, Motte and Zeigler said, societies in the region were large and complex. They had a complicated, hierarchical society. They frequently traded with each other. They grew corn and lived a sedentary life.

People think that they dont know much because theres not much to know, Motte said. But thats not true.

The work of telling a more complete story is tricky, though. Much of it is speculation based on incomplete data. Archaeologists must use the artifacts they find and the data they collect to imagine their way into the past, Judge said.

Unearthing pieces of a stamped pots from hundreds of years ago is one thing. Imagining someone sitting in the dirt, holding a wooden paddle etched with the pattern, pressing it into the damp clay of the pot thats something else entirely.

But as technology advances and archaeologists make more discoveries, theyre getting closer.

At the end of May, the archaeologists along the Pee Dee River packed up their tools, filled in the holes and headed back to the lab, where they will spend the next months cataloging their findings and studying what theyve collected.

For now, theyre hopeful they found something. A pattern of small, dark circles in the dirt could be a sign of post holes for a home built hundreds of years ago. But its just as likely that the circles are the remnants of long-dead trees, Judge said.

Only with further research will they know for sure.

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Pee Dee archaeologists hope to unearth Native American history - Charleston Post Courier

When Dr. Emily Blanck began studying Juneteenth more than a decade ago, a persistent question drove her research: Why did half of U.S. states commemorate this day, celebrating the liberation of enslaved people in Texas more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation? Many states had their own Emancipation Days.

She will share her findings in her upcoming book, Remembering Emancipation: Juneteenth as Americas Emancipation Holiday, which will be published by the University of North Carolina Press. Blanck, associate professor of history in Rowans College of Humanities & Social Sciences, previously authored Tyrannicide: Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts(University of Georgia Press, 2014).

Historian

Slavery in the U.S., Juneteenth, American studies, U.S. legal history

The newer book traces 150 years of history, examining Juneteenths spread in Texas and beyond.

Initially, Black communities in and around Texas observed the day with festivals, but in 1980 the state declared Juneteenth a state holiday. It changed the meaning of Juneteenth. It was no longer for the Black community, but for the whole state of Texas to recognize, Blanck said.

Blanck found that Juneteenth was different than other states emancipation days because when Texans moved from the state, they took the holiday with them, celebrating it in other areas of the country.

Grassroots efforts promoted the adoption of Juneteenth as a state holiday throughout the U.S.In 2021, it was recognized as a federal holiday. It became Americas emancipation holiday, Blanck said. In her book, she ties that to the response to the murder of George Floyd, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Juneteenth has a lot of power because it commemorates two important things about who we are as Americans: slavery and emancipation, said Blanck, who is developing a Juneteenth digital archive. By freeing enslaved people, we have worked towards freedom. But we know were still not there.

Rowan University researchers are passionate about what they do. Find more at Meet Our Researchers.

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Studying slavery and the history of Juneteenth | Rowan Today ... - Rowan Today

In this case, the interviews begin with archivists at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum not far from the theater as they process the astonishing trove of photographs sent to them by a possible donor who says little about how he got them. The images of Auschwitz leaders and workers enjoying outings and singalongs and rewards for their accomplishments, including bowls of fresh blueberries, seem to say almost too much.

By the time the play introduces another Auschwitz album one that fills the historical and emotional gaps of the first with images of inmates you understand why, as a former Nazi propagandist explains, One must harden oneself against the sight of human suffering.

Yet Im not sure plays should. Blueberries, which closed on Sunday in Washington but will be presented next spring at New York Theater Workshop, is so brisk and unsentimental it sometimes feels merely clinical, or perhaps surgical, its unbearable topic opened up for autopsy.

Thats effective, but the more powerful moments for me are those in which characters vitally and morally involved in the story descendants of Nazis, a survivor of the camp speak from painful experience about the ways history implicates them, and all of us, even as it starts to fade from collective memory. The procedural mysteries of the albums are, after all, less important than the living fact of their irrefutable testimony.

Theater is its own kind of testimony. Blueberries, like Exclusion and Good Bones, uses drama (and comedy) to extend our thinking about the legacies of prejudice and resistance, power and deprivation. But then so does any tour of this history-rich, antihistorical city. As our teacher son walked us back to our hotel after seeing Blueberries, I asked him about a particularly impressive Beaux-Arts building we passed. The Carnegie Library, he said. Its now an Apple store.

Good Bones Through June 18 at the Studio Theater, Washington D.C.; studiotheatre.org. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.

Exclusion Through June 25 at Arena Stage, Washington D.C.; arenastage.org. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

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In a City of Monuments, History Lives Onstage and in the Streets - The New York Times

Dua Lipa mostly keeps her remarks about her love life relegated to her music.

The "Don't Start Now" singer has been linked to several fellow A-list stars over the years, from her longtime romance with Anwar Hadid to her rumored fling with Jack Harlow. Most recently, Lipa made her red carpet debut with her boyfriend Romain Gavras at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. While she is relatively private about her relationships, save for the occasional public appearance, Lipa has opened up about her past romances in her music.

Her 2017 debut album Dua Lipa featured breakup songs like "IDGAF" and "New Rules," while her Grammy-winning follow-up, Future Nostalgia, was rife with happy tracks about being in love seemingly inspired by her romance with Hadid, whom she dated from 2019 to 2021.

"I had to fight inner demons. I wanted to write songs that were more sad, more about heartbreak, because I thought that writing happy songs would turn into cheesy songs," she told British Vogue of Future Nostalgia. "I had to fight that because I was like, 'I am happy. I deserve to be happy.' I should be able to write about that without the fear of feeling like I'm compromising my authenticity because I'm not crying about something or someone."

From her long-term relationship with Hadid to her new romance with Gavras, here's a look at Dua Lipa's dating history.

Lipa's first public relationship was with British model and chef Isaac Carew. The couple first met and began dating in 2015. They split amicably in February 2017, and later that year, Lipa began dating model and singer Paul Klein. In May 2018, however, she and Carew were spotted leaving Soho House together in London, with Carew's arm around Lipa's shoulder.

Carew then joined Lipa and her parents at the Grammys in February 2019 and at the Met Gala that May. By July, the couple had seemingly split for good, as Lipa was seen kissing Hadid at a music festival in London.

Lipa dated model and musician Paul Klein, the lead singer of LANY, for five months before they split in January 2018, per the Associated Press. Though Lipa hasn't spoken publicly about the relationship or breakup, Klein seemingly addressed their split on Instagram in July 2018, saying that he deleted Instagram and Twitter from his phone that January after his "heart got ripped right out of [his] f---ing chest." He added that he was happy to be able to "make art out of really s--- situations."

Klein opened up more about the split in an interview with Harper's Bazaar in July 2018, recalling that he wrote his band's entire album, Malibu Nights, within 50 days of the breakup.

"I never felt a pain like that. I'm not trying to be dramatic here," he said. "I think that was the first time I've ever been in love, and I never felt anything like that in my life."

In August 2020, when asked if she listened to Malibu Nights, Lipa told SCMP, "I haven't really heard it."

Lipa's longest public relationship so far has been with Anwar Hadid, brother of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid.

Hadid and Lipa were first spotted getting cozy at Gigi's birthday party in Malibu, California, in June 2019, then at a music festival in London early that July. They made their first public appearance together at the Marc Jacobs show in September during New York Fashion Week. That November, Hadid and Lipa made their official red carpet debut at the American Music Awards.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw Lipa and Hadid spending more time together while social distancing. That April, Lipa told PEOPLE that self-isolating brought her and Hadid closer than ever, literally and figuratively.

"It's been really great easy and fun and chill," the singer said of the experience. "We've been making the most of this because we got all this extra time that we weren't expecting to just hang out. It's been an absolute blast, and we're learning so much more about each other."

The pair marked their first anniversary in June 2020 and adopted a puppy named Dexter together the following month. In January 2021, Lipa told Rolling Stone that she felt "very comfortable" in her relationship with Hadid. However, by the end of that year, they had split after two and a half years together.

"Dua and Anwar are currently taking a break from their relationship and are spending time apart," a source told PEOPLE in December 2021. "They're figuring things out right now."

Lipa later shared in a June 2022 cover story for Vogue that she was spending time being single and focusing on herself: "The next chapter of my life is about truly being good with being alone."

Trevor Noah and Lipa were rumored to be dating after the Daily Mail published photos of the former Daily Show host kissing her on the cheek in September 2022. However, a source told PEOPLE that Lipa and Noah were just friends.

That October, Noah appeared on Lipa's Dua Lipa: At Your Service podcast and had nothing but praise for the "New Rules" singer, whom he said he first saw perform at the UEFA Champions League soccer final in May 2018.

"I said to my friend one day, 'Every time I see Dua Lipa, it's at an award show. So, now that means if I see her, my life is going well. Now I just hope to see her more so that it means my life is going exceptionally well,' " he recalled on the show. "You've always been really wonderful and gracious. You've always been a really wonderful light, just in the spaces that everybody's in."

When asked about dating Lipa in a November 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Noah reportedly leaned back and laughed.

Rapper Jack Harlow released a song called "Dua Lipa," in which he says he wants more than "a feature" from the "Boys Will Be Boys" singer, on his second album, Come Home The Kids Miss You.

Discussing the track in a May 2022 appearance on The Breakfast Club, Harlow explained that he FaceTimed Lipa to get her approval for the song before its release so she wouldn't "be blindsided by that or feel like creeped out or anything."

"If she had said, 'Yo, I hate it. I don't want it to come out,' it wouldn't have come out," he said. "She was like, 'Oh, I mean it's not my song. I suppose it's OK.' She was just kinda thrown off and she just kinda let it go."

He said their conversations became "less awkward" after the song came out, and when asked if he had a crush on Lipa, he replied, "I admire her."

That December, a source told PEOPLE that Lipa and Harlow were "hanging out" after they were spotted at the Variety Hitmakers Brunch. Things had seemingly cooled off by early 2023, however, as Lipa was spotted with Gavras in February.

In February 2023, Lipa was seen leaving a BAFTAs afterparty in London with a mystery man in photos obtained by the Daily Mail. He was later identified as French filmmaker Romain Gavras.

Gavras was previously in a relationship with singer Rita Ora for six months. A rep for Gavras confirmed to the Daily Mail that they'd split in March 2021 due to conflicting schedules and work commitments.

Gavras and Lipa went public with their romance at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2023. The couple walked the red carpet together and posed for pictures; the singer wore a black one-shoulder dress with cutouts, while Gavras sported a black suit and tie.

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Dua Lipa's Dating History: From Anwar Hadid to Romain Gavras - PEOPLE

As the No. 12 overall seed in the field,Kentucky Baseballwill host a four-team NCAA Regional site this coming weekend when NCAA Tournament play begins across the country. The Wildcats are one of eight SEC programs to earn one of the sixteen home-field advantages, meaning half of the nationally-seeded hosts are from the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky had a winning record in that league.

In postseason play, the Cats will welcome West Virginia, Indiana, and Ball State to the Bluegrass for the Lexington Regional, where Kentucky Proud Park will host its first-ever NCAA Tournament action. Only twice before has Kentucky played host to an NCAA Regional, and both came before Kentuckys new $49 million facility opened in 2019. The tournament made previous stops in Lexington in 2006 and 2017 but never a third until 2023.

Lets look back at 06 and 17 with memories of the past. One went better than the other.

CLIFF HAGAN STADIUM

Participants: Kentucky, Coll. of Charleston, Notre Dame, Ball State

In 2006, the University of Kentucky was awarded one of the sixteen host spots following the schools first and only SEC Championship regular season. John Coens Wildcats shocked college baseball by winning the league from a last-place finish the year before, only to drop the ball in the NCAA Regional on their home field.

Of all teams, Ball State spoiled the excitement with a Game 1 upset of the Wildcats in Lexington. Lets hope that doesnt happen again this Friday.

Then on Sunday of that 06 weekend, College of Charleston stole Kentuckys place in the Atlanta Super with a win over the Wildcats, Charlestons third straight win in Lexington to advance.

Game Scores:

Ball State 3, Kentucky 1 Coll. of Charleston 5, Notre Dame 4 Kentucky 10, Notre Dame 4 Coll. of Charlestown 11, Ball State 0 Kentucky 12, Ball State 9 Coll. of Charleston 7, Kentucky 4

CLIFF HAGAN STADIUM

Participants: Kentucky, Indiana, NC State, Ohio

The Cliff got another shot at an NCAA Tournament in 2017, and this time, the Wildcats took advantage of the opportunity under first-year head coach Nick Mingione. After Mingiones Wildcats finished third in the SECs regular season, UK returned home to a rowdy Lexington Regional to win four of five, including back-to-back victories over NC State on Sunday and Monday.

With the wins,KENTUCKY advanced to the Super Regional for the only time in school history(where the Wildcats lost to Louisville, but we dont need to dwell on that chapter of the book).

Game Scores:

Kentucky 6, Ohio 4 NC State 7, Indiana 6 Indiana 11, Ohio 2 NC State 5, Kentucky 4 Kentucky 14, Indiana 9 Kentucky 8, NC State 6 Kentucky 10, NC State 5

Relive some of that 17 Lexington magic as we count down to Friday:

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Kentucky Baseball's Homefield History In The NCAA Tournament - KSR

Scholarly interest in nuns and sisters has flourished in recent years as historians increasingly acknowledge that history cannot be written without an understanding of religion, specifically, of the history of Catholic women religious.

New networks of researchers are promoting inquiry into women religious from medieval times to the 21st century. One of these is the International Scholars of the History of Women Religious Association, or ISHWRA, which was established in 2021 by Cormac Begadon, Sarah Barthlemy and Gemma Betros. The network aims to be transnational and multidisciplinary, welcoming scholars and non-scholars alike.

One challenge the trio of young scholars has identified is that the history of women religious has tended to exist in national, regional and chronological silos.

"We found that people often weren't looking beyond these regional silos," said Begadon, a history fellow at the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University in Durham, England. "When you're working on such specialized things, much of your time is spent on localized topics. We wanted to break down these barriers and facilitate inquiry and learning from each other."

Betros, an honorary lecturer in the School of History at Australian National University, said that the association's main aim "was to establish a global network that could act as a point of contact for scholars working on the history of women religious in any period and in any part of the world."

The association is not the only network of scholars focused on the history of women religious, Sarah Barthlemy, its third co-founder, explained. But other associations usually have a more focused research object.

"We have strong links with Project Sorores, supported by the cole Franaise de Rome and the Casa de Velzquez of Madrid, on European non-cloistered female religious life," said Barthlemy, who is Catherine de Francheville Fellow in the history of Catholicism at Durham University and a visiting professor at Universit Saint-Louis in Brussels. "One of their coordinators, Sergi Sancho Fibla, is part of our advisory panel. We hope to open a space for collaboration on a global scale."

Researching women religious in revolutionary and Napoleonic France, Betros was aware of other scholars working in similar areas, but "we rarely crossed paths. As a result, I had long felt I was missing out on collaborative opportunities that are central to academia in the 21st century."

By making research accessible and opening up the network, Begadon said the association hoped to bring together scholars working in Western Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. "We wanted those working on the 20th century to learn from people working on medieval history and people working on the 17th and 18th centuries to look at the 19th century and so on."

"If you were to look at the number of scholars looking at female religious as opposed to male religious right now, especially in the Anglophone world, it is weighted heavily on the female side," Begadon said. One reason for the growing interest, he said, is the archival legacy many congregations have left. "It has given us a snapshot into the lives of females, which is not always there for uncloistered non-religious women."

There is also agreement that this is an area that has been overlooked for too long. Even as the impetus to recover women's history gained momentum in the last decades of the 20th century, "nuns were considered of little interest due to their perceived lack of agency," Betros explained.

Also at play was a "long and somewhat prurient interest in nuns, which perhaps reached its height in 18th-century France. The association hopes to direct attention away from nuns "as figures of fascination or amusement or disdain to a group of women, like any other, whose stories and experiences deserve and need to be made known and understood within their broader historical contexts," Betros said, adding that he believes religious congregations' "extraordinary records" have the potential "to illuminate the history of our societies in ways we are only just beginning to understand."

This more nuanced approach is welcomed by many religious. Sr. Helen Jacobson, a member of the Sisters of St Francis of Philadelphia for more than 53 years, has been the archivist for her congregation for the past 20 years.

"Women in general and sisters in particular are unsung heroes whose stories have been hidden and disregarded for far too long," she told GSR. Through the International Scholars of the History of Women Religious Association, she has learned about several topics from different perspectives on matters of interest to women religious, especially in the United States.

"It is interesting to learn about other religious congregations; to compare and contrast similar or unique circumstances regarding how decisions were made regarding a wide range of topics in the past as well as those being made today," she said.

In recent years, many religious congregations have been more open toward researchers accessing their archives. Betros recalls visiting the archives of several orders in Paris in the mid-1920s and finding "some reticence in allowing an outsider to examine documents." She is acutely aware of how easily archives could be lost or destroyed.

"As more communities come to the end of their journeys the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, for example, recently issued a press release about their 'path to completion' I suspect the future of their archives are a source of concern for many," Betros said.

The growing interest among researchers stems from the accessibility of religious congregations' archives, Begadon said.

"I think one of the reasons we have had this explosion in research is that the archives of a growing number of religious congregations are now open for business," he said. "Many congregations now employ professional archivists, and they are doing their utmost to facilitate researchers, but more could be done."

He also believes there is "a growing thirst to get a fuller picture of the history of female religious and their activities" among a younger generation of scholars who have a different experience and perspective of women religious. But he stresses the research that the association is facilitating is not about providing a platform simply for "good news" stories.

He also believes there is "a growing thirst to get a fuller picture of the history of female religious and their activities" among a younger generation of scholars who have a different experience and perspective of women religious. But he stresses the research that the association is facilitating is not about providing a platform simply for "good news" stories.

In a piece on the association for the Centre for Catholic Studies in Durham's newsletter, GSR sister liaison, Sr. Joyce Meyer, highlighted that women religious have lived through extraordinary experiences of mission, war, oppression, revolution, all the while serving and working with others to make the world a better place. She said the stories revealed through the association's research "has brought me sadness, joy, amazement, disappointment and even at times, anger; but no matter the feelings they evoke, the stories open consciousness of how God's Spirit has led and continues to lead women through their particular historical contexts, even though at times misguided, in their desire to spread God's realm."

Currently, the association's principal output is a series of monthly seminars as well as biennial workshops, which focus on very specific themes. Some seminars are hosted in hybrid form in order to facilitate global participation. According to Begadon, more than 600 people from more than 50 countries have registered for events. "We have quite a geographical spread and we're not restricted to scholars," he said. " Recently, we have had quite a few religious join us from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda."

The seminar series is deliberately broad, covering subjects such as institutional racism within the orders themselves, the emergence of East African congregations, and women religious in American secular institutions of higher education.

Papers presented at the association's first workshop in 2021 are set to be published by Boydell & Brewer as an edited collection, Female Religious and Narratives of the French Revolution: Identity, Memory, and History. It is Begadon's hope that in time International Scholars of the History of Women Religious Association will have a published series looking at specific research themes. Another long-term goal is to secure funding from donors to enable the association to staff the network and fund research projects.

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Association of international scholars turns focus to history of women ... - Global Sisters Report

Pat Mann Phillips is the first woman elected to serve as chair of the board of directors for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Women have taken on a greater role during performances at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which in 2022 added breakaway roping to its slate of events. Professional cowgirls previously had only one opportunity to compete in the United States' largest rodeo, in barrel racing, while the other six events are for men.

Pat Mann Phillips, a longtime rodeo volunteer who has served on its board of directors since 2012, said she pushed for the addition of breakaway roping because it would make the rodeo more diverse and inclusive and also because she is a "big fan." She had once aspired to be a competing cowgirl while growing up on her family's ranch in North Texas, where she showed livestock such as pigs and cattle at rodeos around the region.

"I attempted to be a roper back when I was growing up, and I wasn't near as good as these ladies today," Mann Phillips said. "I'm very inspired by them. It's very admirable what they're accomplishing."

Young girls and women in the rodeo world and beyond might now be inspired by Mann Phillips, who is fresh off a significant accomplishment of her own. Last week she became the first woman elected as chair of the board of the directors for the Houston Rodeo, which has been held for nearly a century.

Mann Phillips, who in 2019 became the first woman elected to the board's 15-member executive committee, was picked to serve in the chairperson role by her peers. Rodeo CEO Chris Boleman said the historic appointment had more to do with Mann Phillips' leadership skills, expertise and track record of involvement with the rodeo as opposed to her gender, but he still considers it to be a noteworthy moment in the rodeo's history.

More than half of the rodeo's 35,000-plus volunteers are women, according to Mann Phillips, who said the volunteer corps was mostly men when she joined the ranks in 2002 a year after she and her husband attended the rodeo's barbecue cookoff for the first time.

"It demonstrates the growth and the diversity of our show," Boleman said. "To see Pat move into this role says a lot about our organization and the future of it."

Mann Phillips, 63, who works as a consultant in the energy industry, was elected to serve a three-year term as chair of the board, which is a volunteer role like all of the other 300-plus positions on the rodeo's board of directors. She said she wants to help continue the success of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which drew more than 2.5 million visitors this year in a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels, but also wants to see the annual event "up our game" by becoming more of a destination for international rodeo-goers.

Boleman said Mann Phillips was elected to lead at a "pivotal" time for the rodeo, which is working on extending its lease at NRG Park and also wants to maximize its outreach and involvement in the community. The rodeo committed more than $22.5 million this year to youth in the Houston area and across Texas through grants, scholarships and other educational programs, which Mann Phillips jokingly referring to the scholarship recipients as "my kids."

"I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to serve in any position in this organization," she said. "I just love it. It's a labor of love."

Serving as chair of the board for the Houston rodeo which Mann Phillips called the "Super Bowl" of rodeos is not something she imagined when she first started volunteering more than two decades ago. Mann Phillips she said gradually worked her way up the organizational ladder, becoming a committee chair and later a vice president who oversaw all 110 of the rodeo's volunteer committees.

Mann Phillips said other female volunteers who have taken on leadership roles, such as Carolyn Faulk, Dr. Kelly Larkin, Pam Springer and Sharleen Walkoviak, provided inspiration for her and deserve credit for helping her make history with the Houston rodeo. In turn, Mann Phillips hopes to be an example for other women and perhaps young girls who dream of competing or leading at the rodeo.

"This is truly an honor I share with all the other women I work with that have been before me that are role models to me," she said. "It's kind of exciting to see all the ladies who are stepping into leadership roles right now with the show. As more women got involved in the show, you're starting to see them bubble up to the top."

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Pat Mann Phillips makes Houston rodeo history as first woman elected to lead board of directors - Houston Public Media

The final day of the Hustler Casino Live $1 million buy-in game has produced some truly epic pots, but none more so than one Tom Dwan took down for $3,081,000 million the largest pot in live-stream poker history.

About six hours into Tuesday's stream, which had more than 50,000 concurrent viewers throughout much of the night, the best hand of them all took place. When the HCL Twitter page hyped it up as the hand that will "break the internet," they weren't spewing hyperbole.

Earlier in the show, "durrrr" won a massive pot against Doug Polk, whose failed bluff attempt on the river cost him a $1.1 million pot. In that hand, Dwan tank-called both the turn on the river with a monster hand, leading some to believe he slow-rolled his opponent. While that hand was quite entertaining, it pales in comparison to one Dwan played later in the session.

During the fourth and final $1 million game on Hustler Casino Live, there were some sick bluff attempts. Some got through, others didn't. One that did was a hand where "LSG Hank" wagered over $900,000 on the river with ace-high and forced Polk off pocket aces.

And then there was an attempted bluff that cost "Wes Side" Wesley, one of the HCL fan favorites, a California mansion. Wesley had bought in for $3 million, more than anyone else at the table. But he could only hold onto that stack for about five hours.

The stand up game was on during the record-breaking hand. For those unfamiliar with this gimmicky action game, the player who is last to win a hand must pay everyone else at the table a $6,000 fee. So, that adds an extra dynamic, which often baits players into playing more aggressive to avoid being the last to stand.

As for the hand itself, Wesley three-bet to $30,000 with AK and Polk folded after having seen Wesley's cards. During the hand, Polk was in an awkward position as he had to do his best to not give off any tells to either player in the hand.

Following the three-bet, Dwan then raised to $100,000 with QQ and his opponent five-bet to $275,000 and was called to see a flop of 388. Dwan would check-call a $125,000 bet and the pot was already over $800,000. The turn was the 5 and Wesley was still stuck on ace-high, but he fired out another massive wager, this time for $350,000, which put "durrrr" into a brief tank. He'd eventually call and then the 6 would appear on the river.

Knowing he could only win if he bet, Wesley put Dwan to the test for his remaining $786,000 stack. The former Full Tilt Poker pro again tanked as he faced a difficult decision for a seven-figure pot with nothing but one pair, albeit an over pair. After some thought, he made the gutsy call and took down a $3.1 million pot, the largest in live-stream poker history.

As for Wesley, he's built up a "tight" reputation on Hustler Casino Live. You can put that characterization to rest. He seemed to take the loss in stride.

With that hand, Dwan was up more than $2 million on the day at the time of publishing. The stream would continue on the Hustler Casino Live YouTube channel.

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Tom Dwan Wins Largest Pot in Live-Stream Poker History ($3.1 ... - PokerNews.com

The history of spy animals; 'Blue Ribbon Kitchen' offers award-winning recipes : Here & Now Anytime Recycling plastic creates microplastics that contaminate the air and water, a new study found. Grist reporter Joseph Winters joins us to talk about what this means amid a pollution crisis. And, an alleged Russian spy has surfaced in the waters of Sweden. The spy, Hvaldimir, is a beluga whale. There is a long history of animals being used for espionage in military conflict, and Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer Gervase Phillips joins us to unpack it. Then, Linda Skeens won 25 ribbons at the Virginia-Kentucky district fair last summer. She's cataloged this impressive feat in a new book, "Blue Ribbon Kitchen." The cookbook details her award-winning recipes and offers some insight into her life in Appalachia.

Recycling plastic creates microplastics that contaminate the air and water, a new study found. Grist reporter Joseph Winters joins us to talk about what this means amid a pollution crisis.

And, an alleged Russian spy has surfaced in the waters of Sweden. The spy, Hvaldimir, is a beluga whale. There is a long history of animals being used for espionage in military conflict, and Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer Gervase Phillips joins us to unpack it.

Then, Linda Skeens won 25 ribbons at the Virginia-Kentucky district fair last summer. She's cataloged this impressive feat in a new book, "Blue Ribbon Kitchen." The cookbook details her award-winning recipes and offers some insight into her life in Appalachia.

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The history of spy animals; 'Blue Ribbon Kitchen' offers award ... - NPR