Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters

In episode 20, we "chat up" the Amazon Prime series A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN with author and poet Toni Asante Lightfoot about the character Max Chapman, her family including her trans uncle Bertie, best friend Clance, and Rockford's African American community as depicted in the series. In the 1992 "A League of Their Own" feature film on which this series is based, you see the...

This episode of Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters is devoted to fashion – past and present – inspired by the film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. The conversation covers luxury fashion and couture as a global phenomenon influenced by contemporary concerns about sustainability of people and planet, as well as how clothes help us recall special memories and can represent life changing adventures....

In each episode of Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters we wrap up our conversations with guests where we ask our LIGHTNING ROUND questions related to the podcast themes. One of the questions is “If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?” We picked 5 guest responses to our time travel question from the 18 past podcasts for this BONUS episode. In addition to our Boston Siste...

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED was the DOWNTON ABBEY of its time. The miniseries premiered in the UK in 1981 and the U.S. in 1982 on PBS “Great Performances.” This bonus podcast, “Brideshead [Re] Revisited,” features the recording from a Clubhouse conversation on January 21, 2022 where friends gathered to talk about Brideshead Revisited and why it resonates 40 years later. In the recording you’ll hear: Wine...

Created by Russell Lewis , ENDEAVOUR is the prequel to the INSPECTOR MORSE television series inspired by characters in Colin Dexter’s detective novels. In season 8, the year is 1971. We see the impact of events from season 7 where Endeavour Morse ( Shaun Evans ) suffered a major loss that sets off a grieving process triggering self-doubt, alcohol abuse, and a cynic’s perspective that puts him at o...

The award-winning K-drama MR. SUNSHINE was released in 2018 and became the 6th highest ranking drama in South Korean cable history, and is still trending on Netflix in the United States and around the globe. What makes MR. SUNSHINE a binge-worthy epic? Why are audiences outside South Korea connecting with this  historical drama of love, revenge, and revolution? How does MR. SUNSHINE inspire c...

When a murder occurs of an American tycoon on the luxurious Orient Express train on which he’s traveling, detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case. But does solving the murder really close the case, especially for Poirot’s conscience? It’s been said that murder mysteries satisfy our need to feel that there is justice in the world and a moral order, which is expressed in the characte...

In part 2 (Episode 15) of our BRIDGERTON deep dive, Cornell University history professor Durba Ghosh (author of Sex and the Family in Colonial India: The Making of Empire ) and The Boston Sisters look at the questions: • Where does the Bridgerton family's wealth come from? 
 • How does money influence the Sharmas's choices in marriage?
 • What is the role of colonial capitalism in the fortune...

Shondaland's BRIDGERTON (Netflix), inspired by Julia Quinn’s novels, presents a Regency Britain where people of diverse colors, races, and cultural backgrounds meet and mate through choreographed matchmaking in grand ballrooms and frolicking country estates of "the ton." In this 2-part podcast DURBA GHOSH , Cornell professor of history and author of “Sex and Family in Colonial India: The Making of...

Part 2/2 of our SANDITON “deep dive” features a conversation with SHARON D. JOHNSON, Ph. D. script and story consultant to PBS MASTERPIECE. Dr. Johnson describes how her experiences as cultural historian, screenwriter, and academic with background in depth psychology contributes to bringing authenticity to the presence and stories of Georgiana Lambe (Sanditon) and other people of color in historic...

HBO Max's Julia is inspired by Julia Child's extraordinary life and her long running public television series, The French Chef , which pioneered the modern cooking show. In this podcast, The Boston Sisters (Michon and Taquiena) riff on impressions of the HBO Max series and Julia Child's impact on American cooks, public television, and our own palates with restaurant consultant and wine expert, Jan...

In January HBO premiered The Gilded Age , a series set in 1882 New York City created and written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. In this bonus edition of Historical Drama with the Boston Sisters, Michon and Taquiena look at the series through the lens of women and power -- recapping the series and imagining what Season Two could look like in the battle between "Old New York," new money f...

In January HBO premiered The Gilded Age , a series set in 1882 New York City created and written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. In this bonus edition of Historical Drama with the Boston Sisters, Michon and Taquiena look at the series through the lens of women and power -- recapping the series and imagining what Season Two could look like in the battle between "Old New York," new money f...

In Episode 11 [part 1 of a 2-part Sanditon deep dive], Michon and Taquiena Boston talk with American actress Crystal Clarke who portrays Georgiana Lambe, a Black heiress from the West Indies, in Sanditon inspired by Jane Austen’s unfinished novel. The second season of Sanditon is featured on PBS MASTERPIECE starting March 20, 2022. Season 2 of Sanditon continues Jane Austen’s classic quandary of h...

The 1972 Academy Award winning film The Godfather raised the profile of the cannoli in popular culture with one of the film’s most quoted lines, “ Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. ” The line was partially ad-libbed by actor Richard Castellano who portrayed Peter Clemenza, captain of the Corleone family’s enforcers, in Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation of Mario Puzo’s best-selling crime novel....

Episode 10 revisits Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather on its 50 anniversary with Dan Moldea , an investigative journalist and best-selling author who specializes in organized crime. Based on the 1969 novel about a Mob family written by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola , The Godfather is praised for its cinematic artistry, performances and storytelling around an organized crime fa...

In Episode 9 of Historical Drama with the Boston Sisters, we talk with Jeannie Barbour , Content Producer for Chickasaw Nation Productions , about Chickasaw films with their focus on First American stories and historical films, as well as the Chickasaw Nation Productions feature films Te Ata and Montford: Chickasaw Rancher [both films are streaming on Netflix]. Founded by Chickasaw Nation Governor...

Filmmaker and award-winning director, Julie Dash who directed the recent ABC limited series Women of the Movement based on the real-life events around Mamie Till-Mobley’s attempts to get justice for the brutal murder of her 14-year old son Emmett Till in the Jim Crow South of 1955. Mamie Till-Mobley’s activism for justice would accelerate the Civil Rights Movement. Julie Dash broke through racial...

Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters looks at the artistic journey of Chadwick Boseman , best known for the iconic role T’Challah/Black Panther in the Marvel Universe films. A purpose-driven artist, Chadwick Boseman's creative choices (and willingness to struggle) led to his destiny of creating celebrated portrayals of historical and fictional people. We talk about "Chad" – as he was known to...

In this episode we talk about our new-found appreciation for Disney’s 1964 adaptation of P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins . Mary Poppins, who flew from the London skies into the lives of the Banks family, was the kind of disruption this family needed. Our conversation with coach and speaker Pete Cohen explores how disruptors like Mary Poppins can be motivational and help us grow. Pete Cohen is a coach,...

The release of a new film production of West Side Story (directed by Steven Spielberg with script by Tony Kushner) sparked this conversation with Felix Sanchez , co-founder and chair of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts , about representation of Latinos in film and dramatic series. Visit the Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters podcast webpage for more information including the fil...

Spoiler note: We’re giving an alert for persons who haven’t read or watched an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. In this episode co-hosts Michon and Taquiena talk about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol , based on the 2019 FX reinterpretation of Dickens’ iconic story about Ebeneezer Scrooge, a resentful miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the ghosts of...

Emily Bernard (American literature scholar and author) dives into Passing , the Rebecca Hall (Netflix) film based on the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, and talks about how the characters Clare Kendry’s and Irene Redfield’s struggles for identity and belonging mirror tensions about race, class, and sex that continue today. Passing, starring Ruth Negga (Clare) and Tessa Thompson (Irene), takes place in...

Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of the PBS drama series, MASTERPIECE, shares how this 50-year phenom is changing to bring more diversity to the stories, casts, and creative production of historical dramas, fiction adaptations, and mystery series set in the past with UK partners. Winner of 83 Primetime Emmys® and 18 Peabody Awards, MASTERPIECE has been essential Sunday night viewing for million...

Get to know us, The Boston Sisters, Michon and Taquiena, your co-hosts for this podcast,  Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters . Hear about upcoming episodes and find out how you can join the conversation on historical drama films and series. Michon Boston and Taquiena Boston are real-life sisters who grew up surrounded by history in Washington, DC, where their parents introduced them to...