You’ve heard of Julius Caesar right? Sure you have, you don’t live under a rock. That’s a good start as our second episode on Rome covers the First Triumvirate. Caesar and his pals – history’s richest man Crassus and the swashbuckling Pompey the Great – came together to run roughshod over the ailing Republic. But…
Welcome to Reel History! On this podcast we talk about historical movies and TV, anything that claims to be based on a true story, and we check – how bad did they mess it up? What was life actually like during that time period? That’s why we’re here – to separate the real history from the Reel History!
Hosted by two Irish history buffs and a Swedish guy who doesn’t know anything about history. Part of the Shows What You Know network. Cover art by Kim Boland. Music by Dan Monaghan. Follow us @Reel_History and don’t forget to rate and review!
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ROME II | The Die is Cast (49 BC – 44 BC)
ROME I | Rise of the Republic (753 BC – 49 BC)
Join us for the first episode of our deep dive on the history that inspired the BBC/HBO series Rome (2005-2017). Oh you say you know nothing about the Roman Empire? Perfect, this is the pod for you, citizen. There’s plenty of melodrama as we discuss how the familial feuds and incestuous relationships among the Roman…
Inglourious Basterds (2009) | Vive La Résistance! (1940)
Greetings, partisans, to episode 5 of Reel History Season 2! 🇫🇷 Join us as we focus our lens on a bombastic and brilliant tale of ‘a bushwhacking gorilla army doing one thing and one thing only – killing Nazis’. These memorable opening lines are spoken in the southern drawl of Brad Pitt’s Lieutenant Aldo in…
Master and Commander (2003) | The Napoleonic Wars (1805)
Welcome aboard for episode 4 of Reel History Season 2! To quote Jakob – “this week we’ve gone nautical, lads” ⚓️ so all hands on deck as we man the canons and survey the horizon for dark sails 🏴☠️ in the epic period war drama “ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”…
Seven Samurai (1954) | Sengoku Jidai (1586)
Akira Kurosawa has stood the test of time as one of the most influential filmmakers ever, and his 1954 big-budget historical film Seven Samurai is a huge part of that legacy. A t the time, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai was the most expensive film ever made in Japan, and you can certainly see that money on…
Apocalypto (2006) | Mesoamerica Meets Cortés (1519)
Welcome to episode 2 of season 2 of Reel History! 🎤 This week we dust off our mics, clear our throats and try not to choke as we digest the 2006 smash hit ‘Apocalypto’. Mel Gibson delivers a heart thumping tropical jungle chase that is one part Rambo, one part Predator with a double serving…
A Knight’s Tale (2001) | Feudal Europe (1372)
Season 2 of Reel History starts today! We’re aiming to release episodes every other week so please subscribe, leave us a review and tweet your history puns at us @reel_history. A Knight’s Tale from 2001 is a sport films about jousting and while it has a tenuous connection to any real history it serves as…
Reel History Season 1 FINALE
With 10 episodes we’re closing out season 1 of Reel History! In this finale episode we follow a more loose structure, having general chats about history and answering listener questions that have cropped up throughout the season. If you have any questions for us to answer in future episodes, don’t hesitate to get in touch…
Outlaw King (2018) | Robert the Bruce at War (1304)
Welcome to episode nine of Reel History: Shows What You Know About Braveheart! Join us as we delve into 14th Century Britain and come to terms with the feudal struggle between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England. How can a man falling off a horse lead to decades of bloodshed? How does Robert the Bruce…
The Irishman (2019) | The American Mafia (1975)
Welcome to Cut to Black: A Reel History Special. This is a crossover between two of our Shows What You Know podcasts! On Cut to Black we discuss The Sopranos; on Reel History we dig into the historical context of movies and television. This episode bridges the gap between both podcasts as we’ll be using…