198: They Died with Their Boots On with Gregory J.W. Urwin

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 […]

192: The Pacific Part 3 with Marty Morgan

The true story behind The Pacific (Part 3)

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 Listen to Part 1 Listen to Part 2 Order Call of Duty: Vanguard Get Marty’s book D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion Get Marty’s book Down to Earth: […]

191: The Pacific Part 2 with Marty Morgan

The true story behind The Pacific (Part 2)

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 Listen to Part 1 Listen to Part 3 Order Call of Duty: Vanguard Get Marty’s book D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy […]

190: The Pacific Part 1 with Marty Morgan

The true story behind The Pacific (Part 1)

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 Listen to Part 2 Listen to Part 3 Order Call of Duty: Vanguard Get Marty’s book D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy […]

189: Defiance with Roland Tec

The true story of Defiance

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. Get Defiance the book Find Roland’s work Disclaimer: Dan LeFebvre and/or Based on a True […]

188: Lafayette with Mike Duncan

The true story of Lafayette

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. Get Mike’s book Disclaimer: Dan LeFebvre and/or Based on a True Story […]

184: Band of Brothers Part 3 with Marty Morgan

We’re wrapping our series on Band of Brothers today as we look as the last three episodes of the HBO miniseries. Listen to Part 1 Listen to Part 2 Watch What on Earth? Watch Strange Evidence Get Marty’s book D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion Get Marty’s book Down to Earth: The 507th […]

183: Band of Brothers Part 2 with Marty Morgan

Today we’re continuing our look at the historical accuracy of Band of Brothers as we cover episodes six and seven while Easy Company is in Bastogne. We’ll wrap up the series in our next episode of Based on a True Story. Listen to Part 1 Listen to Part 3 Watch What on Earth? Watch Strange […]

182: Band of Brothers Part 1 with Marty Morgan

June 6th, 2021 is the 77th anniversary of D-Day. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. So, today we’ll kick off a 3-part miniseries of our own where we cover Band of Brothers with World War II historian and author Marty Morgan. Listen to Part 2 Listen to Part 3 Watch […]

181: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Gordon Laco

Today we’ll learn about the historical accuracy of 2003’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Helping us separate fact from fiction is Gordon Laco, who was the Lead Technical Advisor and Historical Consultant for the movie. Gordon’s website Disclaimer: Dan LeFebvre and/or Based on a True Story may earn commissions from qualifying […]

180: The Last Samurai with Dr. Brian Dirck

In 2003’s The Last Samurai we learn the story of Captain Nathan Algren, an American soldier who travels to Japan to train the early Imperial Japanese Army to fight off a rebellion against the Emperor. How much of it actually happened? That’s what we’ll look at in this episode. Dr. Brian Dirck joins us again to […]