The Paris Showgirl Who Fought The Nazis
Summary
Host Kate Lester and Professor Hannah Diamond explore the life of Josephine Baker, tracing her journey from poverty in St. Louis to becoming a Parisian icon in the 1920s. Diamond, author of *Josephine Baker’s Secret War*, details how Baker leveraged her celebrity status to spy for the French Resistance and Allied forces during WWII. The episode covers her daring intelligence missions in North Africa, her postwar recognition, and her later activism in the civil rights movement, culminating in her 2021 interment in the Panthéon.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Josephine Baker in 1925 Paris
Welcome to Betwixt the Sheets and guest introduction
Professor Hannah Diamond's background and research focus
The gap in Josephine Baker's WWII biography
Early life: Poverty, segregation, and rise to fame
Childhood, early marriage, and entry into vaudeville
Moving to Paris and the Revue Nègre
Freedom in France and the 'Colonial Unconscious'
The Banana Dance and Parisian celebrity status
Learning French and Count Abbatino's influence
Marketing herself and the interwar persona
Love life, animals, and the path to espionage
The looming threat of WWII and decision to stay
Supporting the French war effort during the Phony War
Recruitment by French counterintelligence (Abte)
Espionage in North Africa and the Casablanca context
Smuggling intelligence and the Lisbon border incident
Illness, hospital ruses, and post-war recognition
Post-war career, medals, and military service
Return to America and engagement with Civil Rights
Adopting children and the 'Rainbow Family' experiment
Later life, death, and reburial in the Panthéon
Legacy: Fighter for equality and historical significance
Closing remarks and thanks
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