Ep. 99 Josephine Baker: How This Exotic Dancer Turned Spy Is Really So Much More Than That

This week, we'll delve into the mind blowing life of Josephine Baker, a Black performing artist who took Paris by storm starting in the 1920s. She sang, she danced, she barely wore any clothing, and she had a pet cheetah named Chiquita that regularly terrorized the orchestra pit. But Josephine Baker was so much more than that. from St. Louis street rat to world famous performer, first Black female movie star to French spy during World War II, entrepreneur to US civil rights activist, mother of twelve… I think you will find that Josephine Baker is nothing if not completely unexpected. Let’s fix that. 

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Sources: 

• The New Yorker "Josephine Baker Was the Star France Wanted - and the Spy It Needed"
• CBS News "The legacy of Josephine Baker"
• The Guardian "From the archive, 26 August 1974: An interview with Josephine Baker"
• Wikipedia "Josephine Baker"
• Slate "Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe"
• Spiegel International "Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe"
• The Conversation "Josephine Baker's 'Rainbow Tribe' and the pursuit of universal brotherhood"

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