When a young black woman named Joan Little ran from her jail cell, leaving her white male guard dead on the floor—without his pants—the country couldn’t decide who, exactly, Joan Little was. The prosecution said she was a vicious seductress who’d lured the guard in specifically to kill him. The defense said she was an innocent angel who hadn’t even known he was dead. Who in the world was Joan Little, really?

Want more Criminal Broads? Come to Caveat NYC on October 30 at 70 pm to see me the host of DIE-ALOGUE talk about female cult leaders!!! Get your tickets here!

*** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Patreon supporter and get a cool postcard. Get 10% off your first month of Betterhelp at betterhelp.com/criminalbroads. Snag a free month of weird and entertaining courses at The Great Courses Plus at thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads by entering code FREEMO. And check out Harlequin Suspense’s new line of creepy fall books at bit.ly/mustreadsuspense.***

Sources:

New York Times coverage of the Joan Little case, 1975-1989The Innocent of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery, by James RestonJoan Little ephemera (including her poem, “I Am Somebody”), from usprisonculture.com“Free Joan Little: Anti-Rape Activism, Black Power, and the Black Freedom Movement,” by Ashley Farmer, from Black Perspectives by AAIHS

Music:

“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by Anna Telfer “Shake It and Break It” by Lanin's Southern Serenaders, licensed under a Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License“Gospel House Mix 1” by DJ Renay, via archive.org. Public domain. 



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When a young black woman named Joan Little ran from her jail cell, leaving her white male guard dead on the floor—without his pants—the country couldn’t decide who, exactly, Joan Little was. The prosecution said she was a vicious seductress who’d lured the guard in specifically to kill him. The defense said she was an innocent angel who hadn’t even known he was dead. Who in the world was Joan Little, really?Want more Criminal Broads? Come to <a href="https://www.caveat.nyc/event/female-persuasion-on-women-led-cults-10-30-2019">Caveat NYC</a> on October 30 at 70 pm to see me the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/die-alogue-a-true-crime-conversation/id1470890320">DIE-ALOGUE</a> talk about female cult leaders!!! Get your tickets <a href="https://www.caveat.nyc/event/female-persuasion-on-women-led-cults-10-30-2019">here</a>!*** SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a <a href="http://patreon.com/criminalbroads">Patreon supporter</a> and get a cool postcard. Get 10% off your first month of Betterhelp at <a href="https://betterhelp.com/criminalbroads">betterhelp.com/criminalbroads</a>. Snag a free month of weird and entertaining courses at The Great Courses Plus at <a href="http://thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads">thegreatcoursesplus.com/broads</a> by entering code FREEMO. And check out Harlequin Suspense’s new line of creepy fall books at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/800025ED-B29E-4127-B861-27903B7A5B48">bit.ly/mustreadsuspense</a>.***Sources:New York Times coverage of the Joan Little case, 1975-1989The Innocent of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery, by James RestonJoan Little ephemera (including her poem, “I Am Somebody”), from <a href="http://www.usprisonculture.com/">usprisonculture.com</a>“Free Joan Little: Anti-Rape Activism, Black Power, and the Black Freedom Movement,” by Ashley Farmer, from Black Perspectives by AAIHSMusic:“Guilty” by Richard A. Whiting, Harry Akst, and Gus Kahn, sung by <a href="https://www.annatelfer.com/">Anna Telfer</a> “Shake It and Break It” by <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lanins_Southern_Serenaders/">Lanin's Southern Serenaders</a>, licensed under a <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/Sound_Recording_Common_Law">Public Domain / Sound Recording Common Law Protection License</a>“Gospel House Mix 1” by <a href="https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22DJ+Renay%22">DJ Renay</a>, via <a href="https://archive.org/details/RARMIX_007">archive.org</a>. Public domain.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

Criminal Broads is a true crime + history podcast about wild women who’ve ended up on the wrong side of the law, whether for leading a cult, serially murdering their husbands, swindling billionaires, or faking ectoplasm. The podcast is hosted by Tori Telfer, author of “Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History.”

Criminal Broads

The prosecution said she was a vicious seductress. The defense said she was an innocent angel. Who in the world was Joan Little?

The Cause Célèbre: Joan Little

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/36455f47-e52f-4fa8-ae6a-b39a014ef120/transcript