How do you tell a “true" story? Award-winning historian Jim Downs delves into this question with master storytellers across film, TV, publishing, theatre, and gaming. Together, they explore the process of crafting authentic narratives, particularly those that typically have not been told by the entertainment industry.
Host Jim Downs talks with writer and director Manjari Makijany about making her hit film Skater Girl (*spoiler alert* - watch it first!), building a skatepark in rural Rajasthan that challenges the patriarchy, and directing Spin - the first Disney Channel original film with an Indian-American lead.
29 Jul 2021TRANSCRIPT
Piper Kerman
Host Jim Downs talks with author and activist Piper Kerman about her experience of incarceration, capturing the humanity and resilience of her "bunkies" on the page and on screen, and those chickens in the Netflix hit Orange Is The New Black.
15 Jul 2021TRANSCRIPT
12 Mighty Orphans with Ty Roberts and Lane Garrison
Writer / director Ty Roberts and writer / actor Lane Garrison talk with Jim Downs about their feature film 12 Mighty Orphans, playing now in theaters nationwide. They discuss the resonance of the Depression-era story in our current moment, the challenges of making period films, and the stories from Texas history that need to be told on the big screen.
1 Jul 2021
A'Lelia Bundles
Host Jim Downs talks with author A’Lelia Bundles about her great-great-grandmother Madam C.J. Walker’s activism and deep community ties, avoiding tropes and stereotypes in translating Black stories to the screen, and the many, many African-American historical figures who need their own biopics and mini-series.
24 Jun 2021
Dustin Lance Black
Host Jim Downs talks with Academy Award-winning filmmaker and activist Dustin Lance Black. They discuss stories as "chaos bombs," the perils of nostalgia, learning from an older generation of gay activists, and being born to write....or barbecue?
20 Jun 2021
Introducing The History Studio Podcast
Welcome to the History Studio Podcast! Host Jim Downs explains the inspiration for the show.
Inside a recent episode
Manjari Makijany
Published 20 Aug 2021 · Transcript excerpt
[…] But after a lot of research and finding where would be the best place to impact the local kids, we made the skate park in Rajasthan and hundreds of kids flocked to it, learned skate boarding, really took to it naturally. And we were witnessing that impact first hand in front of us. […]
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