Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network — New Books in Women’s History
Host: Jane Semeka
Guest: Lottie Whalen, author of Radicals & Rogues: The Women Who Made New York Modern (Reaktion, 2023)
Date: January 16, 2026

This episode dives into the influential—yet often overlooked—women of early 20th-century New York’s avant-garde movement, as explored in Lottie Whalen’s new book. The conversation highlights the artistic, political, and personal revolutions led by figures like Mina Loy, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, tracing their impact on modern American culture and the enduring obstacles they faced. The discussion also examines the deep ties between art, activism, and the changing roles of women, all set against the vibrant (and sometimes perilous) backdrop of Greenwich Village bohemia.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis of the Book and Mina Loy’s Story

• Birth of Interest: Lottie Whalen's fascination began with her PhD thesis on poet Mina Loy, whose under-appreciated art and design work prompted questions about women’s roles in New York’s avant-garde.
• Loy’s Two New Yorks:
  • First Era (1910s): Loy became an instant celebrity, celebrated for her looks and radical poetry, and was at the center of the avant-garde set (Marcel Duchamp, the Arensbergs, etc.).
  • Second Era (1940s): Loy returned, now older and impoverished, creating powerful but largely overlooked work inspired by Lower East Side poverty.
  • “In the intervening years, she’d struggled...getting older as well. She was kind of into her 50s by this point...she was living in a boarding house around the Bowery. She’s in utter poverty. And it was actually a really rich time for her creatively...” (03:43)

2. The Understudied Role of Women in New York’s Modernism

• Neglected Narratives: While some figures like Loy and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney are being rediscovered, the fact that women led so many fronts (galleries, institutions, activism) remains under-recognized.
  • “The fact that these were founded by women, I don’t think gets enough recognition.” (05:40)

3. Themes at the Heart of Radicals & Rogues

• Art meets Activism: Avant-garde art was inseparable from political movements—birth control, workers’ rights, civil liberties.
• Community & Collaboration: Whalen emphasizes community and relationships—not just “great women,” but the dynamic networks they created.
  • “It’s more about showing how relationships developed and how those relationships provided a kind of bigger creative spark.” (07:57)
• Spaces as Characters: Salons, cafes, and galleries played central roles, symbolizing the freedom and possibility of New York—especially Greenwich Village, nicknamed the “smock colony” for women’s bohemian dress.

4. Fashion as Creative and Political Rebellion

• Philosophy in Dress: Clothing became a site of protest and self-definition—short hair, loose smocks, sandals.
  • Louise Norton, in Rogue magazine, wrote essays blending fashion, humor, and politics:
    • “She calls [reviving the corset] a tactic to keep women out of the polls and out of politics. Because in her words, she asks, ‘Can the mind be enfranchised when the body is enslaved?’” (10:32)
• Generational Conflict: The move away from Victorian fashions created family and internal struggles, needing “real battles” with expectations. Beatrice Wood’s clashes with her mother are cited as emblematic.

5. Redefining Modernity

• Transgressive Content: Women’s experimental literature—Mina Loy and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven—described bodily experiences like lust, birth, and abortion, unthinkable at the time.
• Breaking Social Conventions: Beyond art, women questioned marriage, motherhood, and gender roles in radical groups like Heterodoxy.

  • “...just living life is kind of political and different and modern for these women...” (15:49)

  • Notable Quote:

    “The sheer fact of women talking being paradoxical, inexplicable, flip, self-destructive, but above all else, public is the most revolutionary thing in the world.”
    —Chris Kraus, cited by Lottie Whalen (16:31)

6. Research Journey: Surprises and Obstacles

• Hidden Roles in Iconic Moments: Women shaped famous moments—e.g., Louise Norton’s key role in the Fountain scandal—yet remain erased from the narrative.
  • “[Louise] Norton’s address and telephone number...is listed on the submission ticket that was submitted with Fountain under the infamous pseudonym R. Mutt.” (18:28)
• The Power and Precarity of Documentation: Many archives were saved “by accident”; Jessie Tarbox Beals’ photographs are crucial visual records nearly lost to time.
  • “So much of what was going on at the time, it was kind of ephemeral...a lot of that was lost.” (20:36)

7. Complex Relationships with Men

• Friends and Foes: Marcel Duchamp embodies both sides—sometimes an exploitative lover, later a genuine champion for women’s retrospective exhibitions.
  • “...for all the talk of free love, you know, women are not really at the forefront of that. It’s all on men’s terms.” (22:16)
• Antagonists and Authority Figures: Anthony Comstock, the moral crusader enforcing “decency,” targeted artists and publishers, creating real risks of arrest, especially for women.
  • “He’s a kind of bete noir, really, for a lot of these figures.” (23:38)

8. Risks of Art and Publication

• Blind Man Magazine Scandal:
  • Beatrice Wood wanted editorial credit, unlike her male co-editors, despite risk.
  • Her father found copies, leading to family drama; fear of reprisal for patrons led her to pull back.
  • “Risk of arrest was real...they were breaking the law according to Comstock Law.” (25:51)
  • “Going to jail might just be a new experience.” —Beatrice Wood (26:03)

9. Iconic Figures: Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

• Ahead of Her (and Our) Time: Pioneer of found object art, performance, and sexual liberation—“the street was her gallery.”
  • “She had this voracious sexuality that they couldn’t handle...She, she saw herself as, as like their equal or maybe even their better.” (28:49)
• Provoking Even the Avant-Garde: Her boldness terrified male peers; Wallace Stevens avoided entire neighborhoods for fear of meeting her.

10. The Social Scene and Legacy of Bohemia

• Who to Hang Out With?: Clara Tice, artist and “it girl,” suffered censorship but leveraged it into stardom and became the life of the party.
  • The Blind Man’s Ball and frequent extravagant parties were cultural highlights, creating lore that endures.

11. Double Standards and Persistent Dangers

• Fun, but High Stakes: The freedoms of bohemian life were not evenly distributed; cultural “license” often protected only wealthy, well-connected, or male figures.
• Queer Community & Precarity: Greenwich Village had a vibrant lesbian and queer community—bars like Eve’s Hangout, the Mad Hatter—yet remained vulnerable to police raids and devastating consequences, especially for immigrants and people without wealth.
  • “It wasn’t all a good time...there was really serious consequences for some of these people...” (33:24)

12. What’s Next for Whalen?

• Current research focuses on Margaret Zorach, exploring the merging of domesticity and creativity, and a possible future project delving deeper into Beatrice Wood’s playful autobiography.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On bodily rebellion, fashion, and freedom:

  “Can the mind be enfranchised when the body is enslaved?”
  —Louise Norton, quoted by Lottie Whalen (10:32)

• On women’s radical presence:

  “The sheer fact of women talking...public is the most revolutionary thing in the world.”
  —Chris Kraus, cited by Lottie Whalen (16:31)

• On avant-garde double standards:

  “We want you to be revolutionary and experimental, but not like that.”
  —Jane Semeka (16:50)

• On risktaking:

  “She’s got a lot of attitude and says going to jail might just be a new experience.”
  —Jane Semeka, talking about Beatrice Wood (26:03)

• On social risk and status:

  “Some people had more license to do what they wanted than others, depending on various factors.”
  —Lottie Whalen (34:18)

• On the Baroness:

  “She was arrested for wearing a man’s suit in public...the street was her gallery, in a way.”
  —Lottie Whalen (28:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:52 | Whalen’s inspiration via Mina Loy | | 06:44 | Core themes: community, art & activism, space as “character” | | 09:13 | Fashion as political & creative rebellion | | 13:43 | Redefining “modern” in art and life | | 17:01 | Surprising finds in research; obstacles in women’s historical records | | 21:58 | The role—both complex and contradictory—of men in the movement | | 24:32 | Beatrice Wood, Blind Man Magazine scandal | | 26:45 | Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, radical performance | | 30:11 | Greenwich Village’s wild party scene, Clara Tice | | 32:19 | The queer and lesbian community in the Village | | 34:33 | Whalen’s upcoming projects and research interests |

Tone and Language

• The conversation is energetic, full of admiration for its subjects, and honest about both the excitement and the perils of women’s bohemian lives.
• Both Whalen and Semeka use vivid anecdotes, a mix of scholarly insight and humor, and maintain a tone that is both accessible and passionate about feminist history.

For Further Exploration

• Books Mentioned:
  • Radicals & Rogues by Lottie Whalen
  • Irene Gammel’s biography of Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
• Figures for Further Research: Mina Loy, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Beatrice Wood, Jessie Tarbox Beals, Clara Tice, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, Margaret Zorach
• Institutions & Events: The Blind Man’s Ball, Greenwich Village “smock colony,” Heterodoxy Club, Eve’s Hangout

This episode offers an essential entry point into both the spectacle and substance of New York’s modernist women, shining a light on their uncensored lives and their radical, enduring creative legacy.