Hallie Rubenhold
Hallie Rubenhold is the host of Bad Women: The Ripper Retold. Follow her on Twitter here.
Why are people so obsessed with Jack the Ripper?
The murders committed by Jack the Ripper were (and still are) unsolved. At the time of the killings, the police simply didn’t have the ability or the manpower to contend with a serial killer and so it felt to them, and to the press, who were watching with keen interest, that the murderer seemed to possess some sort of genius, even some sort of supernatural power. This legend – that the Ripper was ‘great’ in some way, seems to have stuck. He’s transitioned from being a real person who killed real people into a type of fictional monster, like Dracula or Mr Hyde.
What did you learn about yourself making the show?
That podcasting is a completely different beast to making TV or writing books – the two things with which I’m most familiar. I had to learn on my feet – and I’m still learning!
Fill in the blank: you will like Bad Women if you like ______
You will like Bad Women if you like The Five but also if you like True Crime, history, or exploring issues that impact women today. In the series we really do a deep dive into all of these things, and for those people who’ve read the book, the show riffs on many ideas and subjects introduced in The Five and expands the discussion much further.
What’s a big thing people get wrong about Jack the Ripper?
Ha ha! Pretty much everything! The number one take away should be – Jack the Ripper was not a killer of ‘prostitutes’ – only 2 of the 5 women murdered have documented links to the sex trade. Instead, the Ripper was a killer of marginalized women; women living in poverty, homeless women, women in the sex trade, addicts, victims of domestic violence – the very same people who are still murdered today and whose deaths go ignored.
What did it do to your mind/psyche dealing with all this dark stuff when you were making Bad Women?
When I was writing and researching The Five, I had to go to a very dark place. It was extremely intense and I had to take a lot of breaks from it. Doing the podcast has been a continuation of that experience, but by now I’m accustomed to dealing with such emotionally difficult material. One of the outcomes of working with this story is that it made me much more aware of homeless women and their plight. I try to stop and speak to homeless women now when I see them, to acknowledge them and what they are experiencing and to offer help, if possible. I also support two UK charities - Shelter and Beyond the Streets.
Why is it called Bad Women?
“Bad Women” is an ironic title. Historically, any woman who did not live in the proscribed way and fulfil her ‘duty’ to become a good daughter, wife and mother was considered a ‘bad woman’. She’d failed at the one thing that was expected of her. History is filled with ‘bad women’, and theirs are the most interesting stories.
Did you look to any podcasters as inspiration when you were making the show?
I love Serial and Sarah Koening. I love her style of presenting, her voice, her insights. She’s one of my podcast heroines.
Thanks, Hallie!