Did That Really Happen?

About Did That Really Happen?

The movie podcast for history nerds. In every episode, historians Jamie and Sofia talk about a different historical film and take a deep dive into the parts that did and didn't really happen. In each episode, we try to answer the big questions: Is this good history? Is this a good movie? And are those the same thing? To get in touch, send us an email at DidThatReallyHappenPod@gmail.com, or follow us on Twitter @ReallyHappenPod. You can also support the show by visiting Patreon.com/DidThatReallyHappen Our theme music is "Allon Gay Gay", performed by Jon Sayles.

Publisher

Did That Really Happen?

Category

history · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Oct 2020

Latest episode

5 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

157 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Fackham Hall

   This week we're going back to 1930s England with the very silly Fackham Hall! Join us as we learn about wedding music, cousin marriage, domestic worker unions, and more! Sources: Kelly Massicot, "The History of the Wedding March," New Orleans Magazine, available at https://www.myneworleans.com/the-history-of-the-wedding-march/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fackham_Hall Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fackham_hall/reviews/top-critics https://spartacus-educational.com/Domestic_Workers_Union.htm Laura Schwartz, "A Job Like Any Other? Feminist Responses and Challenges to Domestic Worker Organizing in Edwardian Britain," International Labor and Working-Class History 88 (2015): 30-48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43956663 Selina Todd, "Domestic Service and Class Relations in Britain 1900-1950," Past & Present 203 (2009): 181-204. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25580932 Anna Clark, "Domestic Servants and the Labour Movement, 1870s-1914" in Labour United and Divided from the 1830s to the Present edited by Emmanuelle Avril and Yann Beliard (Manchester University Press, 2018). https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18b5dxr.12 SMITH MT. ESTIMATES OF COUSIN MARRIAGE AND MEAN INBREEDING IN THE UNITEDKINGDOM FROM 'BIRTH BRIEFS.' Journal of Biosocial Science. 2001;33(1):55-66. doi:10.1017/S0021932001000554 Dominic Wilkinson, "Banning first cousin marriage would be eugenic and ineffective," Practical Ethics, available at https://blog.uehiro.ox.ac.uk/2025/03/banning-first-cousin-marriage-would-be-eugenic-and-ineffective/ https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3907 Amy Cole and Emb Hashmi, "Couple defend first-cousin marriages amid ban call," BBC, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g38l07895o

2. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Picnic at Hanging Rock

   In this unexpectedly NSFW episode, we're traveling back to 1900 Australia with Picnic at Hanging Rock! Join us as we learn about the curricula and scandals of girls' schools, the history of tourism at Hanging Rock, bananas, the poet Felicia Hemans, and more! Sources: Poem: Casabianca, available at https://allpoetry.com/poem/8471921-Casabianca-by-Felicia-Dorothea-Hemans Felicia Hemans (1793-1835), TAMU, available at https://odp.library.tamu.edu/victorianpoetry/part/felicia-hemans/ Behrendt, S.C. (2001). 'Certainly not a Female Pen': Felicia Hemans's Early Public Reception. In: Sweet, N., Melnyk, J. (eds) Felicia Hemans. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389564_6 "Alex Grammatikos, Carleton University. "The Nothingness of Fame, At Least to Woman": Felicia Hemans and the Price of . Century Gender Studies. Issue 10.3 (Winter 2014)" "THE HANGING ROCK, NEAR WOODEND." The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil (Melbourne, Vic. : 1873 - 1889) 17 February 1877: 182. Web. 28 Aug 2026 . Larissa Romensky, "No Picnic at Hanging Rock: Campaign to Recognize Aboriginal Past Rather than "White Myth". ABC News, available at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-17/campaign-to-recognise-indigenous-history-hanging-rock/8187942 Marjorie Theobald, "Discourse of Danger: Gender and the History of Elementary Schooling in Australia, 1850-1880," Historical Studies in Education, 29-52. Marjorie Theobald, "'Mere Accomplishments'?: Melbourne's Early Ladies' School Reconsidered," Women Who Taught: Perspectives on the History of Women and Teaching (1991), 71-91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442683570.7 Shelley Richardson, "Educating Daughters: The Melbourne Girls," Family Experiments: Middle-class, professional families in Australia and New Zealand c. 1880-1920 (2016), 259-84. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1q1crn1.17 Nicholas Surany, "The Australasian Banana Industry: Chinese, Australian, and Pacific Economic Connections," in Chinese Colonial Entanglements: Commodities and Traders in the Southern Asia Pacific, 1880-1950, edited by Julia T. Martinez, Claire Lowrie, and Gregor Benton (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024), https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.8441685.7 "Picnic at Hanging Rock," National Film and Sound Archive, https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/picnic Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picnic_at_Hanging_Rock_(film) Vincent Canby, "Picnic at Hanging Rock," https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/40-picnic-at-hanging-rock https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/41-dennis-lehane-s-top-10 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-picnic-at-hanging-rock-1975

3. 

   31 Aug 2026

   First Cow

   This week we're traveling back to 1820s Oregon Territory with First Cow! Join us as we learn about baked goods, "soft gold", cats, and more! Sources: Washington Irving, The Beauties of Washington Irving, 1825. Excerpt available at https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Beauties_of_Washington_Irving_Esq/IgdCAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=olykoek&pg=PA33&printsec=frontcover Dan Kois, "I Made the Oily Cakes from First Cow,' Slate, available at https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/first-cow-oily-cakes-recipe.html https://inliterature.net/sleepy-hollow/traditional-dutch-1800s-olykoek-recipe/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Cow RogerEbert.com review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/first-cow-movie-review-2020 Preston Lewis, How Feral Cats Fared in the Wild West. Hint: It Usually Didn't End Well. Available at https://historynet.com/feral-cats-wild-west/ Barton Barbour, "Fur Trade in Oregon Country,' in Oregon Encyclopedia (August 2024), https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/fur_trade_in_oregon_country/ "Beaver Trap," Oregon History Project, https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/beaver-trap/ Melinda Jette, "Exploration & Fur Trade" Oregon History Project, 2003, https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/exploration-amp-fur-trade-by-robert-gray/ Jennifer Ott, ""Ruining" the Rivers in the Snake Country: The Hudson's Bay Company's Fur Desert Policy," Oregon Historical Quarterly 104, no. 2 (2003): 166-95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20615318

Who has been a guest on Did That Really Happen?

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ryan Britt
• Roger Ebert
• Ben Sherlock
• Daniel Gillespie
• Rachel Leishman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.2 / 5

18 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

93

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

84

Contact Did That Really Happen?

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Did That Really Happen?