Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters

NISEI , a short film written and directed by Darren Haruo Rae , (our guest for Ep. 72), shines a light on an all-Japanese-American troop of soldiers who fought in World War II for a country imprisoning them and their families because of their ancestry. The story is inspired by the filmmaker's Japanese American grandfather's WWII experiences in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In the previ...

In episode 71 we talk with Gill Hornby , author of the best-selling novel Miss Austen which has been adapted for a 4-part series premiering on MASTERPIECE on PBS May 4, 2025 (check local listings). MISS AUSTEN seeks to unravel the historic literary mystery by reimanging Cassandra Austen’s act of sisterly love in burning the letters of her famous author sister Jane Austen after Jane’s death in 1817...

Episode 71 preview: In episode 71 we talk with Gill Hornby , author of the best-selling novel Miss Austen which has been adapted for a 4-part series premiering on MASTERPIECE on PBS May 4, 2025 (check local listings). The complete podcast (Episode 71) featuring this conversation with Gill Hornby will be published Tuesday, April 29 .  MISS AUSTEN seeks to unravel the historic literary mystery by re...

In episode 70, we go behind the scenes of CALL THE MIDWIFE with Jenny Agutter who portrays Sister Julienne in the series. Jenny Agutter has been with CALL THE MIDWIFE since the series premiere in 2012. CALL THE MIDWIFE is enjoying its 14th season on PBS. Created and written by Heidi Thomas, CALL THE MIDWIFE is based on the trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth about her experiences as a midwife nur...

In episode 70, we go behind the scenes of the drama series CALL THE MIDWIFE with Jenny Agutter who portrays Sister Julienne. Jenny Agutter has been with CALL THE MIDWIFE since the series's premiere in 2012. CALL THE MIDWIFE is enjoying its 14th season on PBS. Created and written by Heidi Thomas, CALL THE MIDWIFE is based on the trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth about her experiences as a mi...

In episode 69 we spotlight the PBS Masterpiece series WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT with a behind-the-scenes visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library exhibition, “ How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition ” with the curator Dr. Heather Wolfe Curator of Manuscripts for the Folger (in Washington, DC), which holds the world’s largest Shakespeare collection.  WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT tr...

March has been a busy month for the Boston Sisters. This is an extended trailer for Episode 69. The complete podcast will be available for download Thursday, March 27th where we spotlight  the PBS MASTERPIECE series WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT and our visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC for the exhibit "How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition ." Our guest for Episode 69...

In episode 68 we explore themes of time, place, race and identity in BLITZ , the 2024 World War II drama written and directed by Academy and BAFTA-Award-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen. BLITZ is told from the unique perspective and epic journey of a 9-year-old biracial boy named George (played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan) whose mother sends him from London to safety in the English countryside. B...

In episode 68 of “Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters” we explore World War II from the unique perspective and journey of a 9-year-old biracial boy named George (played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan ) in the 2024 film BLITZ . BLITZ is written and directed by Academy and BAFTA  Award- winning filmmaker Steve McQueen . Our guest, is Tré Ventour-Griffiths , a multiply-disabled historian, creativ...

Boycotts have been a strategy and tactic for advancing social and economic justice, especially when laws, courts, or government are not on the people's side as they were for Black citizens in 1955. In Ep. 67 Michon and Taquiena (aka The Boston Sisters) talk about why they highly recommend the 2001 HBO film BOYCOTT . Directed by Clark Johnson and based on the book Daybreak of Freedom by Stewart...

The Boston Sisters (Michon and Taquiena) end the month of February -- Black History Month -- with a conversation about an historical drama selected from their watch list: the 2001 HBO film  BOYCOTT .  BOYCOTT  chronicles the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, where a 26-year old minister named Martin Luther King Junior (Jeffrey Wright) was called by the community to lead a local movement that ended segr...

In Episode 66, we dive into the feature film THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT with Brenda L. Moore , associate professor of Sociology at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, and author of “ To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African American WACS Stationed Overseas During World War II " (New York University Press).  THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT film and Professor Moor...

Enjoy this preview of our podcast spotlighting the 2024 film THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT written and directed by Tyler Perry and featuring Kerry Washington as Major Charity Adams about the first and only Women's Army Corps (WAC) unit of color to serve overseas during WWII. The preview features podcast guest, Brenda L. Moore -- professor of Sociology at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sc...

In part two of our conversation about A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, The Boston Sisters (Michon and Taquiena) talk with award winning poet, literary activist and author E. Ethelbert Miller about bringing Bob Dylan's writing into the classroom, and the artist as a witness to history. A COMPLETE UKNOWN is the recent Academy Award-nominated biopic about musician, songwriter Bob Dylan, based on the book by E...

In episode 64, The Boston Sisters (Michon and Taquiena) talk about A COMPLETE UNKNOWN , the biopic about musician/songwriter Bob Dylan (portrayed by Timothée Chalamet) inspired by the book “ Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties ” by Elijah Wald , with award-winning and Grammy-nominated poet, literary activist, and author E. Ethelbert Miller .  The conv...

Preview The Boston Sisters's (Michon & Taquiena) conversation with award winning and Grammy-nominated poet, literary activist, and author E. Ethelbert Miller about A COMPLETE UNKNOWN , the Bob Dylan biopic featuring Timothée Chalamet and inspired by the book, “Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties" by Elijah Wald . The 2-part conversation is availab...

Episode 63, is a continuation of our talk with filmmaker Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo), who takes us inside the writers room for the AMC series DARK WINDS based on the Leaphorn and Chee detective novels by Tony Hillerman . Billy Luther is story editor, writer and director for DARK WINDS . DARK WINDS is set in Navajo country in the 1970s and features tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn...

Preview Episode 63, a continuation of our talk with filmmaker Billy Luther , story editor, writer and director for the AMC series DARK WINDS . Based on the Leaphorn and Chee detective novels by Tony Hillerman , DARK WINDS is set in Navajo country in the 1970s and features tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn ( Zahn McClarnon ), Bernadette Manuelito ( Jessica Matten ), and Jim Chee ( Kiowa Gordon )....

The Boston Sisters talk about the film THE PIANO LESSON with Constanza Romero , playwright August Wilson's widow, an executive producer for the THE PIANO LESSON , and executive director of the August Wilson Legacy, LLC. In this conversation with Constanza Romero we talk about her role in preserving Wilson's legacy. The conversation  also highlights:  THE PIANO LESSON   film's visual st...

PREVIEW: In Episode 62 of Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters , we're talking about the recent film adaptation of August Wilson’s Tony Award-winning play THE PIANO LESSON with Constanza Romero , August Wilson’s widow, an executive producer for the film, and executive director of the August Wilson Legacy LLC. The recent film adaptation of THE PIANO LESSON is directed by Malcolm Washington and...

In this podcast The Boston Sisters are talking with filmmaker Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo) about his 2023 feature film FRYBREAD FACE AND ME (available on Netflix). The conversation highlights the film's themes of identity, family, and cultural heritage, and the impact of executive producer Taika Waititi. The conversation also touches on Luther's upcoming TV series adaptation...

Preview Episode 61 "Finding Home in FRYBREAD FACE AND ME, a Conversation with Filmmaker Billy Luther." FRYBREAD FACE AND ME is a coming of age story set in 1990 before highspeed broadband, streaming, or Netflix (where you can watch the film today). Eleven-year-old Benny of San Diego spends a summer on his Diné-speaking grandmother’s ranch on the Navajo reservation. He meets and bonds with a precoc...

PBS MASTERPIECE Head of Scripted Content and Executive Producer Susanne Simpson previews the historical dramas for the 2024-2025 season with a spotlight on two new series: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT based on the final novel in Dame Hilary Mantel’ s (1952-2022) multi award-winning trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and Henry the VIII; and MISS AUSTEN , a series adapted from Gill Hornby ’s best-selling nov...

The new season of PBS  MASTERPIECE  and  MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!  is here and so is our annual preview podcast with executive producer  Susanne Simpson . In the preview Susanne describes her executive producer role as an inheritance similar to the legacy estate of the family patriarch, Lord Grantham, in  DOWNTON ABBEY , MASTERPIECE's most popular series to date. In the full podcast Susanne highlights...

In Ep. 59 our topic is Shirley Chisholm, the first Black Congresswoman, political icon and subject of the 2024 Netflix biopic SHIRLEY featuring Oscar-winning actress Regina King as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. The special guest for this election year conversation is Dr. Zinga A. Fraser, the historical consultant for the film SHIRLEY, Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s...