Based on a True Story

Released in 2001, Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor is often criticized as being entirely inaccurate as it attempts to tell the story of the surprise attack on December 7th, 1941 that led to the United States entering World War II. Today we'll be joined by historian and author Marty Morgan to take a deep dive into what details the movie got right and what it got wrong. Learn more about the true story Wat...

The classic TV series The X-Files is fiction, but there are some true stories and UFO cases that inspired episodes of the series. To help us learn more about them, we'll chat with UFO researcher and host of Our Strange Skies, Rob Kristoffersen. Learn more about the true story Listen to the episode Rob recommended: https://links.boatspodcast.com/211raechelseyes Follow the Our Strange Skies podcast:...

Dolemite Is My Name is the 2019 biopic about Rudy Ray Moore, the comedian, singer, actor, and film producer who has often been given the nickname the "godfather of rap." We'll chat with Mark Jason Murray, who was the Research Consultant on the film and author of Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself: The Authorized Biography Of Rudy Ray Moore Aka Dolemite . Learn more about the true story Get Mark's...

The movie's title W.E. stands for Wallis and Edward. Was the movie correct to suggest King Edward VIII's reason for abdicating the throne in 1936 was so he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson? We'll chat with author Andrew Lownie about the true story to find out more. Learn more about the true story Get Andrew's book, Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Win...

Zero Dark Thirty shows the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden. Peter Bergen is the author of The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden and he joins us today to dig into the true story behind the movie. Learn more about the true story Get Peter's book, The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden: https://links.boatspodcast.com/208book Also mentioned on this episode, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Lad...

This episode was originally released on August 28, 2017. This is a remastered version of that interview. Matt Bondurant joins us today episode as we compare what really happened with the movie Lawless . Matt's grandfather, Jack, and two grand-uncles that were the inspiration for his book that the movie is based on, The Wettest County in the World . Learn more about the true story Get Matt's new bo...

Jack Horner was the Paleontology Consultant on all six of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movies. He joins Based on a True Story to chat about the real dinosaurs we saw in the franchise. Learn more about dinosaurs! Follow Jack's work at https://links.boatspodcast.com/206guest How to Build a Dinosaur: https://links.boatspodcast.com/206book Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment:  https://gala...

Not all movies try to be historically accurate, and yet they still depict moments in history. To help us extract history from the satirical comedy, we’ll be chatting with professor, scholar, and author of Jesus of Hollywood and Bible and Cinema , Adele Reinhartz. Learn more about the true story Get Adele's books: Jesus of Hollywood: https://links.boatspodcast.com/205book Bible and Cinema: https://...

Operation Dynamo, also known as the Miracle at Dunkirk, was an event that many believe kept Britain in World War II before the United States even joined the fight as it took place between May 26 - June 4, 1940. Today we'll be chatting with Joshua Levine, who was the historical consultant on the 2017 movie from director Christopher Nolan that depicts the event. Learn more about the true story Get J...

Today we'll be talking about the 1956 movie The Conqueror with author Ryan Uytdewilligen. Learn more about the true story Get Ryan's book, Killing John Wayne: https://links.boatspodcast.com/203book Find all of Ryan's work: https://links.boatspodcast.com/203guest Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment:  https://galas.fm/episode/de72a04c-52ab-4e67-9769-bf5d33de1e2d Find the transcript and full...

We're joined by author Sheila Myers to learn about the real character of Thomas 'Doc' Durant in AMC's Hell on Wheels . Want to hear more stories of the Durant family? Imaginary Brightness: a Durant Family Saga - A Novel: https://links.boatspodcast.com/202book Or pick up Sheila's new book The Truth of Who You Are: https://links.boatspodcast.com/202newbook Find all of Sheila's books: https://links.b...

Author Richard Munson joins the podcast to discuss the historical accuracy of the 2020 movie 'Tesla.' Dig deeper into the true story Pick up Richard's book called Tesla: Inventor of the Modern: https://links.boatspodcast.com/201book Find more of Richard's work: https://links.boatspodcast.com/201guest Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment:  https://galas.fm/episode/a270e11a-86be-47b9-ada7-ae0...

The 2020 movie Worth shows how Kenneth Feinberg (played by Michael Keaton) and Camille Biros (played by Amy Ryan) tackled the impossible task of determining the worth of life to help families affected by the September 11th attacks. Kenneth and Camille join us today to chat about what the movie got right, what it got wrong and a peek into the true story. Dig deeper into the true story Read Kenneth'...

Dr. Brian Dirck is a Professor of History at Anderson University and author of multiple books on President Lincoln. He joins us today to chat about the real history behind the fantasy/horror movie  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Learn more about the true story with Brian's books The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death: https://links.boatspodcast.com/199blackheavens Lincoln and the Constitut...

Today we'll be learning about George Armstrong Custer as he was depicted in the classic 1941 film  They Died with Their Boots On . To help us separate fact from fiction in the movie, we’ll be chatting with Professor Gregory J. W. Urwin from Temple University. Gregory is a military historian and author of Custer Victorious: The Civil War Battles of General George Armstrong Custer. Learn more about...

The 1982 movie Frances  tells the story of Hollywood actress Frances Farmer and how her struggles with mental health issues affected her career. We'll be joined by writer and author Jack El-Hai to learn about the film's historical accuracy. Learn more about the true story with Jack's books The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness: https://li...

Moneyball  tells the story of sabermetrics and the Oakland Athletics' 2002 season and joining us to separate fact from fiction is attorney Will Cooper, who worked in the A's clubhouse during the timeline of the movie. Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment:  https://galas.fm/episode/1fdcc2b4-4204-4a10-b326-791a36f33b93 Find the transcript and full show notes:  https://links.boatspodcast.com/1...

Historian and author John Neal Phillips joins the show to chat about the historical accuracy of the 1967 movie  Bonnie and Clyde . Learn more about the true story with John's books Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Fast Yen Years of Ralph Fults: https://links.boatspodcast.com/195running My Life with Bonnie and Clyde: https://links.boatspodcast.com/195mylife Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a com...

Today we'll be chatting with the Creator and Showrunner of the History Channel's Project Blue Book about what it takes to create a TV show that is inspired by true events. Sign the Save Blue Book Petition Learn more about the campaign to save Season 3 of  Project Blue Book  on  http://savebluebook.com Sign the official petition at  http://change.org/savebluebook . Did you enjoy this episode? Leave...

Steven Naifeh is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has a new book out called  Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved.  He'll be joining us today to learn about the 2018 movie At Eternity's Gate . Learn more about the true story with Steven's books Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved: https://links.boatspodcast.com/193book Van Gogh: A Life: https://links.boatspodcast.com/193vangogh Did you enjoy this ep...

Our three-part series covering HBO's The Pacific  wraps up today with the last three episodes. Episodes we're covering today: 8. Iwo Jima 9. Okinawa 10. Home Learn more about Marty's work D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion: https://links.boatspodcast.com/192ddayphoto Down to Earth: The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy: https://links.boatspodcast.com/192the507th Wat...

We're continuing our look at the HBO miniseries The Pacific by looking at the three episodes that cover Peleliu. Episodes we're covering today: 5. Peleliu Landing 6. Peleliu Airfield 7. Peleliu Hills Learn more about Marty's work D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion: https://links.boatspodcast.com/191ddayphoto Down to Earth: The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy: http...

Today we're kicking off a three-part series on the HBO miniseries The Pacific by looking at the first four episodes. Episodes we're covering today: 1. Guadalcanal/Leckie 2. Basilone 3. Melbourne 4. Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika Learn more about Marty's work D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion: https://links.boatspodcast.com/190ddayphoto Down to Earth: The 507th Parachute Infantry Reg...

Roland Tec's mother, Nechama, wrote the book that 2008's Defiance was based on. He was also a co-producer on the movie, so we'll get to hear some stories from the set as well as the historical accuracy of the movie. Learn more about the true story Get Nechama Tec's book the movie was based on: https://links.boatspodcast.com/189book Find Roland's work: https://links.boatspodcast.com/189guest Did yo...

The Marquis de Lafayette is a historical figure who has been largely left out of the cultural spotlight. So, instead of looking at a single movie, we'll instead look at a few different depictions of Lafayette with podcaster, historian and author Mike Duncan. Learn more about the true story Get Mike's book about Lafayette: https://links.boatspodcast.com/188book Follow Mike's podcast Revolutions: ht...