What to Watch | History in Movies Part IV

What to Watch | History in Movies Part IV

"Based on a true story." "Inspired by actual events." "The following actually happened."


These five words might be Hollywood's greatest magic trick, transforming entertainment into education, fiction into fact, and Brad Pitt's abs into ancient Greek warfare. More Americans learn their history from movies than from any other source. Think about that for a moment. Our understanding of the past - of who we were, what we've done, and where we're going - can be shaped more by screenwriters than scholars, more by CGI than citations.


So what happens when Hollywood gets it wrong? When the decade-long siege of Troy gets compressed into a long weekend? When a president's decision to invade Iraq gets reduced to daddy issues?


And yet - what about when they get it right? When a film captures not just the facts but the feeling of a moment? When Colin Firth's king reminds us that history turns on personal struggles as much as grand strategies? When Spielberg refuses to look away from humanity's darkest hour and finds light anyway?


Join Jon, Dan, and Joe as they wade through Hollywood's version of history - celebrating the films that honor the past and calling out the ones that butcher it for a buck. From newsrooms to royal courts, from Warsaw ghettos to Trojan beaches, we're asking the question that matters: in an age where movies are our history teachers, what exactly are we teaching ourselves? And more importantly - who gets to decide what's worth remembering?

Episoder(476)

Sketches in History | The Speaking Stone

Sketches in History | The Speaking Stone

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America's Utopian Mores

America's Utopian Mores

This season has been about good and bad ideas, and we are concluding with Jon's thoughts on a journey he's been on through early American history. In his 1989 book Albion's Seed, Dr. David Hackett Fis...

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Pop Quiz | The Future of Warfare

Pop Quiz | The Future of Warfare

This week, Joe and I discuss how warfare is evolving on the battlefields of Ukraine, the role drones and other new technologies are changing the battlespace, and whether or not we are headed directly ...

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"Dieu et mon droit" | A discussion on the Divine Right of Kings

"Dieu et mon droit" | A discussion on the Divine Right of Kings

Join us for a discussion on the Divine Right of Kings and how it continues to shape modern political systems in our world today!Leave a comment below with any questions--we love to hear from our audie...

16 Jun 202527min

Sketches in History | A Silent Symphony

Sketches in History | A Silent Symphony

The 15-Minute History Podcast team brings you a new segment, just for kids, called Sketches in History, where history isn’t just a story—it’s an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her ext...

12 Jun 20259min

"Dieu et mon droit" | The Divine Right of Kings

"Dieu et mon droit" | The Divine Right of Kings

Throughout history, leaders have claimed their positions in a variety of ways: military conquests, electoral mandates, revolutionary uprisings, and more. But probably the most common and certainly the...

9 Jun 202518min

Pop Quiz | Answering an Audience Question & The Overton Window

Pop Quiz | Answering an Audience Question & The Overton Window

In this double pop quiz, Jon answers a question from an audience member and then discusses the Overton Window and how the range of "acceptable" political discourse changes over time.Join us every othe...

5 Jun 20259min

The Magna Carta | A Discussion on Power, Politics, and the Birth of Liberty

The Magna Carta | A Discussion on Power, Politics, and the Birth of Liberty

Join us as we discuss the history of the Magna Carta, how it changed English governance, and its influence on all democracies and constitutional federal republics that came after.

2 Jun 202535min

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