1 Sealed Letter

“My Soul, Not Just a Mother” – Paula Modersohn-Becker and the Art of Being Overwhelmed

In this 15-minute episode of Her Canvas Speaks, we explore the life and letters of Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907), one of the first women to paint herself nude and a pioneer of early Expressionism. Through her correspondence, Paula offers a rare, unfiltered window into the emotional world of a woman artist caught between creativity, duty, and selfhood. This episode centers on one of Paula’s 1907 letters written while she was pregnant, a raw and revealing piece in which she pleads with her sister to stop calling her impending childbirth a “blessed event.” Tired of being defined only by motherhood, Paula confides her fear of losing her identity as an artist and admits, “I have worked so little.” We reflect on how Paula’s exhaustion, honesty, and fierce self-belief echo the struggles many still face today: the tension between personal purpose and societal roles, between ambition and expectation. Through historical context and Paula’s own words, this episode offers a meditation on identity, overwhelm, and the timeless courage to believe in oneself. Full Letter Featured: Letter from Paula Modersohn-Becker to her sister (Worpswede, 1907), translated from German. Primary Sources and References: • Bachrach, Susan. Paula Modersohn-Becker: Biography. Fembio. https://www.fembio.org • The Art Story Foundation. “Paula Modersohn-Becker Artist Overview and Analysis.” https://www.theartstory.org/artist/modersohn-becker-paula • Musée d’Orsay. “Women Painters in the 19th Century.” https://www.musee-orsay.fr • Radycki, Diane. Paula Modersohn-Becker: The First Modern Woman Artist. Yale University Press, 2013. • Modersohn-Becker, Paula. Letters and Journals. Translated by J. A. Underwood, 1960.

111. A New Lease on Life: Dostoevsky’s Letter from the Edge of Death

In this episode of One Sealed Letter, we travel back to December 22, 1849, when the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky stood blindfolded before a firing squad. Moments before the command to fire, a messenger arrived with a pardon from Tsar Nicholas I. What followed was one of the most extraordinary letters ever written: a missive to his brother Mikhail, written just hours after Dostoevsky believed he was about to die. We’ll explore the backstory of his arrest and mock execution, then read the full text of the letter that begins, “Life is a gift, life is happiness, each minute might have been an age of happiness.” Through Dostoevsky’s words, we’ll reflect on how close encounters with death can reawaken our appreciation for beauty, simplicity, and time itself. Read the letter in full and other letters of Dostoevsky here: https://ia800506.us.archive.org/15/items/dostoevskyletter00dostuoft/dostoevskyletter00dostuoft.pdf Sources: • Fyodor Dostoevsky, Letter to Mikhail Dostoevsky, December 22, 1849 (Old Style), translated in Lapham’s Quarterly (“Reborn Into a New Form”) • Walker Caplan, “On the Terrifying Hoax Execution That Haunted Dostoevsky’s Writing,” Literary Hub (2022) • Alex Christofi, “Reborn Into a New Form (1849),” The Public Domain Review • Spencer Baum, “Dostoevsky and the Firing Squad,” Medium

110. God Save Benedict Arnold with Jack Kelly

Jack Kelly is an award-winning author and historian. In his newest book God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man, Jack offers a fresh exploration of Arnold’s paradoxical career, shedding new light on this gutsy yet enigmatic figure. In this podcast episode, Jack delves into the life and personal letters of Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold, examining what they reveal about Arnold’s character and legacy nearly 250 years later. ⸻ Learn More about Jack Kelly • Website: JackKellyBooks.com — https://jackkellybooks.com • Substack (“Talking to America”): Subscribe for nuggets of history and updates — https://jackkellyattalkingtoamerica.substack.com • Pre-order his new book, Tom Paine’s War (publishing January 2026): • Macmillan page: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250331939/tompaineswar/ • Or wherever you get your books ⸻ Letters Discussed in This Episode 1. Letter from Arnold’s mother (Hannah Arnold, April 12, 1754): https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold._A_biography/1 2. Benedict Arnold to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety (Ticonderoga, May 11, 1775): https://www.fortticonderoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Capture-of-Fort-Ticonderoga.pdf 3. Arnold’s angry letter to General Horatio Gates (Camp at Stillwater, September 22, 1777): https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2024/09/22/otd-arnold-wrote-gates-9/ 4. The Nathaniel Bacheller letter (Oct 9, 1777): https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2019/08/a-benedict-arnold-letter-that-changed-history/ 5. Arnold’s love letters to Betsy DeBlois (1777–78) and recycled for Peggy Shippen (1778–79): https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/betsy-deblois-girl-got-away-benedict-arnold/

109. Felice Cohen: A Love Letter to Letters

In this episode, I sit down with Felice Cohen, an author and professional organizer whose lifelong love of letter writing has become her newest creative frontier. Felice is in the midst of a yearlong experiment of handwriting one letter every day, which she shares in her Substack, A Love Letter to Letters: https://felicecohen.substack.com. With more than 1,000 saved letters from her own life, she is also crafting an “epistolary memoir” that weaves together correspondence with reflections on intimacy, nostalgia, and the enduring beauty of putting pen to paper. Beyond her devotion to letters, Felice is the bestselling author of 90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (…or More), inspired by her time living in one of New York City’s smallest apartments, as well as Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love and What Papa Told Me, based on her grandfather’s Holocaust survival. Her books have been endorsed by Elie Wiesel, taught in classrooms worldwide, and honored with multiple awards. We talk about what letters preserve that digital communication cannot, how personal correspondence becomes a record of connection and resilience, and why handwriting remains a radical act of presence. Learn more about Felice at her website: https://www.felicecohen.com Follow her Substack: https://felicecohen.substack.com Watch her story on YouTube: • Living Large in 90 Square Feet: https://youtu.be/Z4LNwaTUE60?si=h4i-jtDhS7IvbnRF • Organizing Tips & Life Lessons: https://youtu.be/JZSdrtEqcHU?si=y117jtwudEXZCm1T

108. Denis Diderot’s Leap into Love & Freedom

In 1743, Denis Diderot, later famed as a co-founder of the Encyclopédie, risked everything for love. After being imprisoned in a monastery by his father to prevent an “unsuitable” marriage, Diderot escaped through a window, trudged miles through rain to Paris, and wrote a desperate letter to his beloved, Anne-Antoinette Champion. In it, he confessed that his “life or death depends on [her] welcome.” This episode reads Diderot’s letter in full (in English translation) and explores the circumstances of his clandestine wedding. The marriage took place in secret in Paris in November 1743, just after his thirtieth birthday when parental consent was no longer required. More than a romantic anecdote, this story uncovers the drama of Enlightenment ideals colliding with family authority, and how vows of love and freedom can become life-defining acts.