Aphra Behn: Revolutionary, Author, Spy

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Aphra Behn was a true original. Not only was she the first woman to earn a living by writing, she was also a spy, a political propagandist and a revolutionary. Publicly she was all brash sexuality and outspoken politics, but what is known about the woman beneath? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Janet Todd to discuss how Behn navigated the complexities of 17th-century society and crafted her public persona while challenging cultural and sexual norms.

Hear our episode on Tudor Spycraft >

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Readings by Sarah Perceval.

The researcher is Alice Smith, edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:31.9	I'm Helena Bonham Carter, and for BBC Radio 4, I'm back with a brand new series of history's secret heroes.
0:40.5	And he tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent.
0:45.9	She will work undercover.
0:47.5	And if she's got, she's going to be shot.
0:50.6	Join me for more stories of unsung heroes, acts of resistance, deception and courage from World War II.
0:57.9	Subscribe to History's Secret Heroes, wherever you get your podcasts.
1:06.6	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, and welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit,
1:12.4	the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs,
1:16.9	from Holbein to the Huguenose, from Shakespeare to Samarise,
1:21.5	relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.
1:25.7	Not in other words, just the Tudors,
1:27.9	but most definitely also the Tudors.
1:41.2	Dramatist, spy, political propagandist, revolutionary.
1:45.0	The first woman to earn a living from her pen, Afroben, led a life as remarkable as it is impossible to define.
1:52.0	In a world of heightened public attention, she fashioned herself like a question for which there are a multitude of answers.
2:00.0	Her origins, like much of her story,
2:02.1	are a matter of speculation and doubt. One of the first self-made women, Ben, was a writer of over
	...

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