History's Deadliest Women: The Evil Stepmother
episode
Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
45 min
2 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why does the episode open with a call to vote in the Listener’s Choice Awards?
Hello, everybody. This is just a quick word ahead of the episode because we need to ask you to vote for us once again in the Listener's Choice Awards at this year's British Podcast Awards. And thank you to everyone who's voted so far. You've managed to get us into the top 20. However, we've now had a lot of messages and a lot of emails from people saying that they're trying to vote, but they can't. And we didn't understand why. But now we do. They've only gone and flipping changed the way. That you can vote. I know. Nobody told us that was going to happen. We didn't sign on for this. Now, only people in the UK and Ireland can vote. So if you're not in the UK and Ireland, you are out. And you can only vote in the Spotify app.
Insanity. And we need to ask you to vote again because all the things that went before don't count. I mean, what on earth is going on? I'm not going to tell people to download Spotify. I'm just not. That's what they want us to do. But what we Are you gonna do is this, right? Spotify listeners, come to the front. Come to the front. You are being called up. We need you. You're the only ones now that can do this. You are our only hope. If you follow the link in the show notes, you'll be taken to a page on Spotify where you can cast three votes for someone in the top twenty. Please vote for us again. But it's all on you now, guys. You're the only ones that can do this. The whole Betwixt the Sheets family is counting on you.
Godspeed, soldiers, you can do it. Hello, my lovely Betwixters. It's me, Kate Lister. Welcome back once again to Betwixt the Sheets. How fabulous to see you. You are so welcome here. And because we care about you deeply, we have to make sure that you are okay throughout this programme. And we do that by giving you the Fair Days warning. And here it is. This is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about adults and adults away coming away, subjects and used to be an adult too. And are you an adult? Are you actually an adult? Because today we are talking about child murder and abuse. So you're better. Better be an adult. Do you wanna go ahead? Do you do you really? Alright, then let's crack on. It's an autumn day in Perth, Australia, and the fierce heat has just begun to ease.
A 14-year-old boy leaves his father's home for what he hopes is the last time. He speeds down the dusty roads between the single-story houses with corrugated iron roofs and verandas, but he's tangled overhead wires strung between wooden telegraph poles. As he's running, he checks behind him, but he's determined to reach his mum's house. He can't go back. He's afraid that he'd lose his life if he did. It's become all too clear that his stepmother is a dangerous woman to live with.
Hello and welcome back to Betwixa Sheets The History of Sex Scandal in Society with me, Kate Lister. Cinderella, Snow Whites, the Twins in Parent Trap, what do they all have in common? An evil stepmother, of course. But today's evil stepmother is not the stuff of fairy tales or even dark comedies. She was a real-life child killer. Today I'm joined by Professor Joanna Book to head back to early 20th century Western Australia and meet serial killer Martha Rendell. How does the idea of the evil stepmother feed in? To this story? Where did it come from in the first place, and what exactly did Martha Rendell do? I'm ready to find out if you are.
Okay, okay.
Well hello and welcome back to Betwixt the Sheets. It's only Professor Joanna Book. How are you doing?
I am really fine. I'm really happy to be here. It's great seeing you again, Kate.
Lovely to see you again. And thank you for coming back to tell us about a case I didn't know anything about at all. And you're the perfect person to do this because you are Professor Emeritor at the University of Birkbeck and at Grisham College, but you're also the author of Disgrace: Global Reflections on Sexual Violence and Five Evil Women, Hinley West Warnus, Hamulka. Tucker.
Who is the host and what is the premise of the ‘evil stepmother’ episode?
So if anybody knows evil women, it's you, Joanna.
Unfortunately.
This isn't a case that I know very much about at all.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does the episode open with a call to vote in the Listener’s Choice Awards?
0:00–4:11
2
Who is the host and what is the premise of the ‘evil stepmother’ episode?
4:11–9:01
3
What was life like in early‑1900s Perth and how does the story of a teenage boy set the scene?
9:01–15:19
4
How do fairy‑tale stepmothers and real‑world ‘baby‑farming’ anxieties shape the narrative?
15:19–23:00
5
Who was Martha Rendell and what do we know about her background before the murders?
23:00–30:23
6
What method did Rendell use to kill her step‑children and how did neighbours react?
30:23–39:47
7
How did the trial unfold, what evidence was presented, and what was the sentence?
39:47–44:23
8
What lasting impact did Martha Rendell’s case have on Australian views of women and crime?
44:23–45:52