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Reel History

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by Shows What You Know

4.9(83 reviews)

56 episodes

Updated Weekly

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FairBased on show quality, social media presence, reviews, charts, and more

Quality54

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Engagement92

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Podcast Overview

Welcome to Reel History! On this podcast we talk about historical movies and television shows, anything that claims to be based on a true story, and we check – how bad did they mess it up? What was life actually like during that time period? That’s why we’re here – to separate the real history from the Reel History! Hosted by two Irish history buffs and a Swede who doesn’t know anything about history. Part of the Shows What You Know podcast network. Follow us @Reel_History and don’t forget to rate and review on Apple Podcasts!

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Publishing Since

11/25/2019

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🇺🇸 Charts #3

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Apple 142

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Beta

FairBased on show quality, social media presence, reviews, charts, and more

Quality54

Social0

YouTube0

Engagement92

Learn more

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excellent

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1h 3m

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Every 39 days

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Recent Episodes

April 30, 2026

Vive la Révolution (1789) | Marie Antoinette (2006) 2/2

(This is part two of a double episode – listen to part one <a href="https://showswhatyouknow.com/marie-antoinette-1/">here.</a> We also just released our Guillotine Special bonus episode at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/156959529?pr=true">patreon.com/reelhistorypodcast</a> Join for as little as 2.5 EUR and get access to dozens of bonus eps!) The powdered parties are over, the pastry crumbs swept aside, and the gates of Versailles are about to be kicked in. Join us for the explosive second half of our Marie Antoinette double bill as we leave the perfumed salons of the palace and step into the hungry, furious, rapidly radicalising France that Sofia Coppola’s film mostly keeps beyond the frame. If episode one was all silk slippers and scandal sheets, episode two is bread riots and bayonets! Having charted Marie Antoinette’s rise from teenage archduchess to the most notorious woman in France, we now turn to the crisis consuming the kingdom itself. Why did one of Europe’s richest and most powerful states collapse into bankruptcy, paralysis and revolt? How did the ancien régime of privilege and feudal dues stagger into the constitutional age? We’ll trace the great turning points of the Revolution, including the famous Women’s March on Versailles that dragged the royal family from their gilded isolation and into the uneasy captivity of Paris. From there, we follow two years of humiliation, suspicion and dwindling authority before the fateful attempted escape to Varennes — a bungled flight that shattered what little trust remained between crown and country. As Europe’s monarchies close ranks and revolutionary France lurches into war, the stakes grow bloodier still. In the middle of it all stands Marie Antoinette: widowed, demonised and facing the same merciless machinery that consumed so many others. Was she a vain symbol of a rotten system, a stubborn political actor who helped doom the monarchy, or a tragic scapegoat caught in forces far beyond her control? Join us as we sort fact from legend one last time and follow Marie Antoinette from the Hall of Mirrors to the guillotine. Sources ‘Marie Antoinette -The Journey” – Antonia Fraser ‘The Ancien Régime and the Revolution’ – Alexis De Tocqueville ‘Citizens – A chronicle of the French Revolution’ – Simon Schama ‘The History of Modern France’ – Jonathan Fenby

April 16, 2026

Versailles Vibes (1770) | Marie Antoinette (2006) 1/2

(This is part one of a two-part episode. Join <a href="https://www.patreon.com/reelhistorypodcast">patreon.com/reelhistorypodcast</a> to support the show and access part two immediately!) Powder your wig, lace-up your corset and try not to lose your head as we cordially invite you to dine at Versailles and feast on Sofia Coppola ‘Marie Antoinette’ (2006)! Kirsten Dunst mesmerises as the divisive Habsburg who took 18th century France by storm when her marriage (in 1770) to the future Louis XVI sealed an alliance between erstwhile continental rivals, Austria and France. Over two roller-coaster episodes, we seek to do justice to this highly contentious character and fashion icon who continues to split opinion to this day. Did Marie Antoinette really deserve her reputation as a perverted, oblivious Austrian toff whose lavish lifestyle earned her the nickname ‘Madame Déficit’? Or was she simply a concerned mother who fell victim to fevered, dehumanising propaganda which made her a convenient scapegoat for all the ills of pre-revolutionary France? Join us in this first episode as we sort fact from fiction and chart her descent from carefree, youthful princess to care-worn, scandal-ridden bête noire by the eve of the storming of the Bastille (1789). Mark will kick us off with a potted history of the Habsburg royal dynasty whose spider web of influence (and distinctive jaw!) dominated Europe for centuries. Then, we will learn how the 14 year old Marie Antoinette adjusted to life under the coercive control of the French court which resembled a Disneyland for the nobility dominated by Madame Etiquette. We will see how the overwhelming pressure to produce an heir and a daily life ruled by stifling tediousness would lead Marie Antoinette to seek solace in distraction and possibly the comfort of friends like Swedish stud-muffin Count Axel Von Fersen! However, this would only sow the seeds of her unpopularity, as such secretiveness would provide ample fodder for the propagandists of Paris who churned out endless outrageous allegations against her. Likewise, we will see how her apparent penchant for gambling, cakes and shoes would make it only to easy for others to portray her as a spendthrift. Such a reputation for selfish obliviousness would only be further compounded by her cosplaying as a peasant in her idyllic ‘Queen’s hamlet’ while millions suffered severe poverty outside the gates of her gilded cage. All this disastrous PR would then be crowned off by the Shakespearean farce of the ‘Diamond Necklace Affair’ (1785). These factors all combined to ensure that Marie Antoinette was derogatorily known as ‘L’Autrichienne’ by the time the blades of the first guillotines were being sharpened. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Join us next time as we explore the absolute state of France and follow the momentous revolutionary events that would become intertwined with Marie Antoinette’s life and ultimate death. Sources ‘Marie Antoinette -The Journey” – Antonia Fraser ‘The Ancien Régime and the Revolution’ – Alexis De Tocqueville ‘Citizens – A chronicle of the French Revolution’ – Simon Schama ‘The History of Modern France’ – Jonathan Fenby

January 14, 2026

House of Guinness (2025) | Brewing Rebellion (1868)

Come with us down the pub. This is our longest episode ever – which probably isn’t surprising given that we live in Ireland, the subject matter is close to home, and, yes, a few pints of Guinness helped lubricate proceedings. In this episode of Reel History, we use Netflix’s House of Guinness as a jumping-off point to talk about something much bigger: Ireland in the long shadow of empire. Creator Steven Knight – the man behind Peaky Blinders and, of course, Who Wants to be a Millionare, I guess? – has put together a Victorian era melodrama that almost works as a standalone miniseries, even if it ends on a frustrating cliffhanger that’s clearly hoping for a second season that may never come. We break down what the show gets right, what it gets wrong, and where it becomes aggressively ahistorical. House of Guinness prioritises sex, scandal, and drama over historical clarity – and that’s a valid creative choice! However, it doesn’t always feel like a choice, and at times the series falls short. For example, the rebellious “Fenians” are central to the story but hardly explained. Why are they so angry? Why are they willing to risk everything for independence? The show largely declines to answer, stripping away centuries of context and leaving viewers with the impression that Irish nationalism emerged out of nowhere. So we step in to fill the gap! To understand 1868, we rewind and talk land theft, penal laws, cultural erasure, and a society systematically dismantled over centuries. We explain why the effects of British rule in Ireland aren’t “ancient history,” but rather still present today, and of course we have to touch on the Great Famine – or rather, the fact that there was no famine (in the way it’s usually presented). We unpack how starvation was weaponised as a policy and Ireland continued to export food under armed guard while its population died. When House of Guinness gestures vaguely toward “the poor” without reckoning with why that poverty exists, it muddies the central conflict it’s trying to dramatise. But we also chat about more cheerful topics, like beer! Starting with the first (of many) Arthur Guinness, the empire built by Benjamin Guinness, and the four heirs wrestling with money, power, and loyalty in a country on the brink of rebellion. We trace the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the currents of resistance beneath polite society, and follow those threads forward toward 1916. Jaysus, we’ve quite a bit to get through, don’t we? And no wonder, because this is a conversation about how Irish history is framed, caricatured, or avoided on screen, and why that still matters. If you want to focus on drama instead of history, fair enough – but if you’re going to set a story in colonial Ireland, you need to understand the fire you’re brewing beneath the stout. Pull up a stool. Wait for your pint to settle. And let’s talk about Ireland.

56 total episodes available

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Frequently asked questions

Have a different question and can't find the answer you're looking for? Reach out to our support team by sending us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

What is Reel History?: Welcome to Reel History! On this podcast we talk about historical movies and television shows, anything that claims to be based on a true story, and we check – how bad did they mess it up? What was life actually like during that time period? That’s why we’re here – to separate the real history from the Reel History!

Hosted by two Irish history buffs and a Swede who doesn’t know anything about history. Part of the Shows What You Know podcast network. Follow us @Reel_History and don’t forget to rate and review on Apple Podcasts!
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates weekly.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 8 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Information about guest appearances is not available.

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