Podcast passion project lifts lid on Louisa Lawson's life in Mudgee

Jess Scully, who you might know from her award-winning work on Mudgee's local FM station began producing the podcast after learning about Louisa Lawson and her story and felt it was time to bring the famous feminist back into the spotlight following the unveiling of a statue of Lawson on Market Street.

Jess was driven to learn more about the woman who had accomplished so much but had been relatively forgotten in Australian history and using her radio chops began work on the podcast.

"The more I looked into her [Louisa's] story, and the more I looked into what she achieved, the causes she fought for that I still hold dear to this day, the more I was like, 'why don't I know more about her?'," Ms Scully said.

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"I get really sad, the idea of this woman who achieved so much [and] didn't really get that love and ceremony... she was achieving so much at that time. So perhaps this is rewriting history a little bit. It's just a wrong that I really want to be righted in some way."

Already 11 episodes in, the show explores Louisa's life and myriad accomplishments through interviews with local historians, artists and writers who all share a love and appreciation for the trailblazing feminist, including local sculptor Margot Stephens who created the statue of Louisa.

"If Louisa has taught us anything, it's that if you want something done, maybe you have to do it yourself. So the idea was that I was going to just release the interviews online after the statue went out. We thought, 'well, we can actually use the medium that is podcasts to tell the story a little bit further,'" Ms Scully said.

"If people Google her name, it will come up with this and they can at least listen to stories of really remarkable people in our hometown now who are fighting for the same cause this is what she is and also celebrating her."

Born in Guntawang in 1848 Louisa has been described as one of Australia's original feminists and the mother of women's suffrage. The second of 12 children and raised in poverty, Louisa accomplished much in her life in addition to her work fighting for women's rights, including creating and publishing The Dawn, Australia's first journal produced solely by women.

The podcast is titled More than a mother: Louisa Lawson and can be streamed for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.