Buffalo Boss Babes: DIG- A history Podcast
Today's Buffalo Boss babes are a pretty awesome crew! This group of women historians digging up intimate stories of the past to uncover history that matters. The group of producers are – historians, social media marketing side hustlers, teachers, writers, Civil War geeks, runners, deadlifters, and all-around AWESOME! They cover topics such as fashion all the way to national parks!
Photo by fellow Boss Babe Lovern Photography
What made you start or brought you to where you are today? Tell us your story and what makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe.
Averill Earls: I love the concept of edutainment. Historians are - in addition to being trained, qualified, and highly invested in their work - storytellers. You can be a naturally good storyteller, but it's also a craft that you can hone. This podcast is a way that I practice putting together new and interesting stories for my other (classroom) audiences. It's a lot of double-dipping - the stories I choose to research and write for the podcast become fodder for my classes. If nothing else, I imagine a Buffalo Boss Babe has to be resourceful and have the side hustle going at all times. This podcast is one such side hustle of resources for me!
Sarah Handley-Cousins: I think what makes me a Buffalo Boss Babe is that I - along with my co-producers, of course - had the audacity to jump in and start this thing before we had *any* idea what we were doing. We had no business diving in to this, but did it anyway. We were committed to this project, and made it work. And here we are. That confidence and work ethic makes a boss babe!
What does being a Buffalo Boss Babe mean to you.
Marissa Rhodes: To me, being Buffalo Boss Babe is about daring to all the things you want to do, even if men, and other women, are telling you that you can't do it all at once. I'm sick of people telling women they need to either choose between being an academic or a mother, a feminist or a wife, or a career-woman and a family gal. Buffalo Boss Babe can do it all if she wants, or none of it, or some of it. It's all about what kind of Babe you want to be.
Elizabeth Garner Masarik: Being a Buffalo Boss Babe means being unafraid to do what you want to do how you want to do it. We’ve created this collaborative team on our own terms and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. We’ve done it OUR way and that’s what makes it so special.
Who are your favorite people to follow?
Averill Earls: Instagram follow? Luke Evans, obviously. In the footsteps of? Would it be too presumptuous to say RBG? Or HRC? Except that I want to teach, not lead. So maybe more like Natalie Zemon Davis, or perhaps Jill Lepore.
Sarah Handley-Cousins: I've tried to follow the careers of a couple historians I admire just to get an idea of how they have found success. A couple of them have great social media presences, like Joann Freeman, Kevin Levin and Kevin Kruse. I also follow other podcasters for inspiration, especially Liz Covart and Backstory's Joann Freeman, Ed Ayres, Nathan Connolly, and Brian Balogh.
What are your favorite things to do in the area (Buffalo and greater WNY)?
Marissa Rhodes: I like to spend time at the waterfront, hiking in Reinstein Nature Preserve, running on the streeets of North Buffalo, and walking on the Rails to Trails path in my neighborhood.
Elizabeth Garner Masarik: I love exploring the Olmstead park system. My favorite is actually Cazanovia Park. It is one of Buffalo’s underutilized treasures.
Tell me about your favorite collaborations or a dream collaboration?
Marissa Rhodes: A dream collaboration for me would be between Dig and women comedians like Amy Schumer, Kairi Pritchard McLean & Rachel Fairburn, Karen Kilgariff, or Sarah Silverman. It would involve smart chatting, wine, sex talk and gossip.
Averill Earls: I'd love to collaborate with an NPR or PBS show - someone who can help us hone our podcasting craft, but who will also give us some wider listenership.
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
Averill Earls: I hate coffee, but I'd like to sit down with Ava DuVernay. I love the way she is changing the Hollywood game.
Elizabeth Garner Masarik: I’d want to sit down with some online femepreneurs, people like Melyssa Griffin or Michelle Schroeder-Gardner. Women who are really thriving in the digital world.
What are your hopes, dreams, goals? Big or Small.
Sarah Handley-Cousins: In the next year, my big goal is to get see my book in print.
Marissa Rhodes: Finish my dissertation, graduate, get a tenure-track job or another job that I love.
Elizabeth Garner Masarik: Finish my dissertation. That would be ahhhh-mazing. I also want to see the podcast reach thousands more listeners. We’re off to an amazing start but I want to see this thing GROW!
Averill Earls: Get tenure. Live somewhere without neighbors. Inspire someone to love history who previously hated it. To vote for a woman president who wins.
Tell us about your family (2 Legged , 4 Legged) ?
Averill Earls: It's just me, my partner Dan, and our 2-year-old mutt, Madame Curie. We're looking to adopt a second pup this summer, once my semester ends.
Elizabeth Garner Masarik: My husband Jason (Ink, Inc. Buffalo Tattoo Parlor) and our two children ages 7 and 9. Our black cats Edgar and Skeleton Jack, and our deaf pug Freya.
Marissa Rhodes: My husband Pat, and two kids, Remy is 6 and Noble is 2.
Sarah Handley-Cousins: My husband James and I have three daughters, ages 9, 5, and 2, and we have a very unintelligent but sweet black lab, Abbey.
FEEL GOOD FIVE <3
Averill Earls:
Color: Purple
Food: Cheese
Super Power: Who cares about super powers? I'm still waiting for my letter from Hogwarts.
Animal: Chinchilla or Snow Leopard. Anything fluffy, really. And I really love animals that look especially fluffy, but that would probably kill you if they could.
Season of the year: Spring, Summer, Fall, and short Winters.
Favorite thing about Buffalo: How layered its history is. Compared to the people and places that I study professionally (Ireland), Buffalo is young; but it is a fascinating youth.
Sarah Handley-Cousins:
Color: Purple
Food: Apples
Super Power: Time travel (duh).
Animal: Dogs and horses!
Season of the year: Fall
Favorite thing about Buffalo: The people. I'm consistently touched by how funny, loyal, and generous Buffalonians are.
Marissa Rhodes:
Color: Purple
Food: Bacon
Super Power: Time travel
Animal: monkey
Elizabeth Garner Masarik
Color: Black
Food: Fried Okra
Super Power: Powerlifting
Animal: Pug
Season: Fall and early Summer
Favorite thing about Buffalo: I’m originally from Texas so Buffalo is still a new and strange place to me. I absolutely LOVE how everyone celebrates the s*&% out of Summer. It’s awesome!!
This team of boss babes makes some amazing content on top of doing all of their own marketing, social media, editing, recording and more! Right now they have over 30K listens a month and 1K a day! ( that's amazing!) You can follow them on social media FB: dig: a history podcast IG: @dig_history - You can also find them on Apple Podcast and everywhere you listen to podcasts! Be sure to subscribe to their channel and leave them a review ;)
Until next time Babes!
>>>>>Photos in this feature are graciously provided by fellow Boss Babe Alison Lovern of Lovern Photography. Lovern Photo specializes in documentary style photography that captures the candid moments of everyday life. <<<<< @lovernphoto
Buffalo Boss Babes is a woman run blog series featuring women in and around the city of Buffalo N.Y.
If you know someone doing amazing things for our community, past and present, young and old..... send us a message at buffalobossbabes@gmail.com
Be kind to everyone you meet.
Here's to strong women! May we know them. May we be them
