The United States of America is almost 250 years old, and political violence has been here the whole time. On this episode of Bad Elizabeth Kathy and Gideon look at Betty Ann Duke, a Texas-Born woman who joined a bunch of domestic terrorists (or are they Freedom Fighters?) called the May 19th Communist Organization. The May 19 Group started as an offshoot of The Weather Underground and was a women-led revolutionary group that perpetrated a number of violent acts in the late 1970s through the early 1980s. They robbed banks, broke other revolutionaries out of prison, and were responsible for a series of bombings including the US Capitol in 1983.

To help navigate this complicated and fascinating story, is Bill Rosenau whose book Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol: The Explosive Story of M19, America's First Female Terrorist Group is a gripping chronicle of who these people were, what they did, and what they believed in. It is the only in depth look into The May 19 group, and members like Betty Ann Duke, who is still at large.

In 2026, political violence is still very much a part of pop culture (One Battle After Another) and in the news (the recent assassination attempt of the President) so this episode about a group of 70s radicals seems oddly relevant.

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack

Bad Elizabeth co-hosts Kathy Egan-Taylor and Gideon Evans look into the life of Queen Isabella of Castile, known to many as Queen Isabel of Spain. And, yes, "Isabel/Isabella" is a legit variation of the name Elizabeth.

The show is as much fun as you can have while also discussing some very dark subjects including The Spanish Inquisition, Torture, and Colonization. If you don't laugh you cry, right?

Kathy and Gideon talk about how Isabel and her husband Ferdinand had an equal partnership in ruling the land that would become Spain. And we are joined by special guest, writer, actress, and expert podcaster Julie Klausner. Julie weighs in on Isabella, and advises us on the rules of podcasting with an equal co-host (apparently we are allowed to cut one another off - it just means we're excited).

We also talk to Julie about her amazing career. Along with hosting the podcasts How was Your Week? and Double Threat (with Tom Sharpling) she also created, wrote and produced the very funny Hulu series Difficult People. We also discuss Julie's love of musical theater, which culminated with her work on the Broadway send-up Schmigadoon. Apparently there was a third season of the Apple TV series that was written, but never filmed. Learn all about Julie's plan to "Free Schmigadoon Season 3" in her interview.

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack

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SOURCES:

Isabella of Castile

Europe's First Great Queen

Giles Tremlett

https://a.co/d/06E9hrh2

Isabella of Castile part one

The History Chicks

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/isabella-of-castile-part-1/id415983183?i=1000446257098

Isabella of Castile part two

The History Chicks

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/isabella-of-castile-part-2/id415983183?i=1000447312094

How Was Your Week? with Julie Klausner

https://www.patreon.com/cw/HowWasYourWeek

Double Threat with Julie Klausner and Tom Scharpling

https://www.patreon.com/cw/DoubleThreatPod

Schmigadoon!

https://tv.apple.com/us/show/schmigadoon/umc.cmc.1tqmf2znhr4oui4vo69ircyui?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000

Difficult People

https://www.hulu.com/series/d865868f-0a63-4595-b48d-d651e7f67f7b

This week on Bad Elizabeth we double the intrigue and mystery with a sensational story about twin sisters accused of murder.

In 1992, Betty Wilson and her twin sister Peggy Lowe were both put on trial for murder, accused of plotting to kill Peggy's opthalmologist husband Dr. Jack Wilson, who was found in a puddle of blood on the landing in his house, with an aluminum bat next to his body.

This case was front-page news in Alabama, where the crime was committed, and became a sensation nationally as well, even becoming the Made-For-TV movie Separated by Murder, starring Sharon Gless - of Cagney & Lacey fame - playing both twins.

The case has twists and turns galore. One suspect was an alcoholic swinger, who referred to her husband a "shitbag," and the other was a choir teacher at church who was married to a minister. The story also involves a particularly inept, extremely addled hitman. Were both sisters involved in the plot? Was only one of them? Or did the hitman commit the crime on his own. Both twins were charged with the same crime, yet they had two separate trials. Only one went to jail.

After Kathy and Gideon dig through the details of the case, they welcome Emmy-winning actress Sharon Gless who talks about the challenges of playing twins in the Made-for-TV movie, her on-screen kiss with Rosie O'Donnell in Queer as Folk, and how her producer husband Barney Rosenzweig saved Cagney & Lacey from being pulled off the air. Gless also tells the story behind the famous McCarthy Chopped Salad at the Polo Lounge, named after her powerful lawyer, polo-loving Grandfather.

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack

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