347: We Were Soldiers with Joshua Donohue
Travel back to the 1960s during the Vietnam War while historian Joshua Donohue unpacks the real events behind the 2002 film “We Were Soldiers.” From the heart-pounding “Broken Arrow” moment to the crucial role of helicopter pilots in the heat of battle, discover what Hollywood got right and where it took creative liberties. This deep […]
346: This Week: 300: Rise of an Empire, United 93, A Star-Spangled Story, The Exorcism of Emily Rose
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEP 9-15, 2024) — Tuesday this week marks the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, which we see in the movie 300: Rise of an Empire. Then, of course, we’ll be looking at this week’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks from the movie United 93. For our third historical event, we’ll learn […]
345: Today: The Great Fire and the Extinguishment of the Great Fire of London
BOATS TODAY (SEPT 5, 2024) — After four days of fighting the flames, the Great Fire of London was finally extinguished on this day in 1666 so today we’ll learn more about how the events from exactly 358 years ago today were shown in the TV miniseries called The Great Fire. Until next time, here’s […]
343: This Week: Rome, Geronimo: An American Legend, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEPT 2-8, 2024) — On this day almost two thousand years ago, the Battle of Actium decided power in Rome. Not coincidentally, we’ll learn about that today from a TV show called Rome. The second event from this week in history according to the movies comes from the 1993 film called Geronimo: […]
344: Today: The Great Fire and the Initial Ignition of the Great Fire of London
Editor’s Note: The fire started after midnight on September 2nd in London, so if you’re in the United States like I am then you might see this minisode release on September 1st due to time zones. BOATS TODAY (SEPT 2, 2024) — The Great Fire of London started exactly 358 years ago today, so we’ll […]
342: This Week: Saving Mr Banks, Krakatoa East of Java, From Hell
BOATS THIS WEEK (AUG 26-SEPT 1, 2024) — Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of Disney’s Mary Poppins premiered, and that event is shown in the 2013 movie called Saving Mr. Banks about the making of Mary Poppins. If that’s too confusing, give the episode a listen to unravel it all. From there, we’ll travel to […]
341: This Week: The Crucible, Sweet Dreams, Pompeii
BOATS THIS WEEK (AUG 19-25,2024) — Historical events from the movies start with The Crucible and how it depicts the Salem witch trials from this week in 1692. Then, we’ll learn a bit about Patsy Cline’s hit song “Crazy” because it was this week in 1961 that she started recording it in the studio, and […]
340: The Mummy with Dr. Aidan Dodson
The Mummy (1999) is packed with supernatural powers, Hollywood magic, and…maybe some truth? After all, mummies were a real thing. We’ll chat with acclaimed Egyptologist Dr. Aidan Dodson to find out how much of the movie is based in history. Aidan’s Historical Grade: D- What’s your historical grade? Learn about the true story Monarchs of […]
339: This Week: The Philadelphia Experiment, Macbeth, The Pacific
BOATS THIS WEEK (AUG 12-18, 2024) — Today is the 81st anniversary of the conspiracy theory from the 1984 movie The Philadelphia Experiment. Or is it? Tune in to find out. After that, we’ll move into the Shakespearean classic-turned-modern movie Macbeth (2015) because this Wednesday is the 984th anniversary (1040 CE) of King Duncan I […]
338: This Week: Braveheart, Hatfields & McCoys, The Walk, Frost/Nixon
BOATS THIS WEEK (AUG 5-11,2024) — This week’s events from historical movies starts with Monday’s 719th anniversary (August 5th, 1305) of William Wallace’s (Mel Gibson) capture shown in the movie ‘Braveheart.’ In the History Channel’s dramatic miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys”, we’ll see how it portrays the feud between their two families turning to bloodshed for […]
337: This Week: USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, Rush, Patton
BOATS THIS WEEK (JUL 29-AUG 4,2024) — There were two major disaster this week in history. The first we’ll learn about is an event many consider the worst shark attack in history, which began on July 30th, 1945, and is shown in the movie USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage. Our next historical disaster marks its […]