Josephine Baker: podcast appearances and interviews

Freda Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer, actress, and spy who was active primarily in France. She gained fame as a performer in European entertainment, notably headlining at the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her 1927 revue Un vent de folie featured an iconic costume of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, which became a symbol of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. Baker was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, appearing in the French silent film Siren of the Tropics. She was celebrated by artists and intellectuals, who gave her titles such as the Black Venus, the Black Pearl, the Bronze Venus, and the Creole Goddess. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship after marrying French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937 and became a French national. Baker adopted twelve children, whom she called the Rainbow Tribe, raising them in France. During World War II, she aided the French Resistance and worked with British and American intelligence services; her activities became publicly known only after declassification of documents in 2020. In recognition of her efforts, she received several honors, including the Resistance Medal, the Croix de Guerre, and being named a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and contributed to civil rights causes. She declined a leadership role in the civil rights movement in 1968 due to concerns for her children's wellbeing. In 2021, she was inducted into the Panthéon in Paris, becoming the first Black woman honored with this distinction.