1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 The author of one of Lisa’s favourite books,&amp;nbsp;Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s, Anne Sebba explores the lives of women ‘writers and fighters’. As a journalist and author she's worked in film-star-filled 70s Rome, moved to New York with a baby, camped in the Mexico desert with Wallis Simpson’s free-diving step-son, had her camera film thrown into the Ganges while tracing Mother Theresa and, for her most recent book on Ethel Rosenburg, to Belarus and Sing Sing Prison. &amp;nbsp; On this episode we cover: Lisa obsessed with her book about Parisian women during Nazi Occupation Getting a job at the BBC World Service Arabic department Being the first female correspondent at Reuters (and later, when she got pregnant, the first woman they sacked!) Not believing she was paying for something so exciting Being told France. Germany and Russia were too dangerous for a women Being sent to Rome age 21 and having a blast Sitting next to the Trevi foundation for lunch every day Rome in the 1970s being full of film stars Nude swimming parties with Roman Polanski Being a ‘repressed English girl’ Flying in the Aga Khan’s helicopter in Sardinia Covering the kidnap of Jean Paul Getty Rome being ‘rife with banditry and mafia’ The heart of Europe being fought in that area But Rome not being taken seriously by London at that time The difference between the ex-pat lifestyle and what really goes on Left wing students being imprisoned The Vatican and deep Catholicism controlling attitudes&amp;nbsp; The British having a terrible reputation in Italy at the time The extraordinary life in Rome at that time Blagging her way into a restaurant to interview Elizabeth Taylor Moving to New York in the edgy late 70s With a small baby! Writing about Enid Bagnell (author of National Velvet) After getting sacked from Reuters New York giving her a passion for writing about American women Travelling the west coast and New Orleans Her new book about Ethel Rosenberg who was convicted of spying Visiting Sing Sing prison where Rosenberg spent two years in solitary confinement Ethel Rosenberg’s eventually execution Travelling to Minsk in Belarus for research Belarus locals being very fearful Finding her way Los Alamos and remote New Mexico Treading in the footsteps of the developers of atomic bomb J Robert Oppenheimer The direct line from distrust of Communism to Trumpian politics 1936 being the one year the world could have stopped Hitler &amp;nbsp; Writing about women ‘fighters and writers’ How the Wallis Simpson crisis distracted us from Hitler Her book about Jennie Churchill, Winston’s American mother Jumping on a plain to meet a free-diver in Mexico (who’s Wallis Simpson’s stepson) Desert camping under the stars with Aaron Solomon In the place where John Steinbeck wrote Pearls Les Parisiennes – what women did in occupied Paris Questioning whether you’d sleep with a Nazi or become a member of the Resistance The German officers being deliberately chosen as charming and cultured Joining the Resistance being very hard for women as they had to give everything up The one dimensional view that all French women collaborated 200,000 Franco-German babies during the war The 39 British women who were parachuted into Paris under the Nazis The life expectancy of a wireless operator in Paris being about 6 weeks The British and American role in the liberation of Paris Ravensbruck, the camp outside Berlin where the Frenchwomen were sent Odette Fabius and Genevieve De Gaulle who ended up the camp Walking the streets of Paris and imagining the Nazis stomping the cobblestones and taking over the cafes The preservation of Paris being a condition of the occupation The velodrome where most of the Jews were rounded up, 14,000 Parisian Jews taken there Loving interviewing old people looking back Lisa’s grandmother given birth during WW2 air raids Lisa’s argument with an ex boyfriend about Anne Frank in Amsterdam Anne’s soldier son listening to Mary Poppins on the streets of Basra&amp;nbsp; Writing a children’s book about Mother Theresa Making The Saint Making Process for Channel 4 in the Himalayas Being interrogated by India Police for two hours! How Calcutta and Bengal helped her understand India more&amp;nbsp; The police throwing her camera film into the Ganges &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; The Big Travel Podcast http://www.thebigtravelpodcast.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/18362450/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/18362450