Historical Friction

It's part three of Treasure Island adaptations this Pirate Season! In this episode, Helen gets body slammed onto the analyst's couch, as she introduces Abigail and Sara to her childhood fave, Disney's Treasure Planet (2002). In this ambitiously animated vision of a futuristic 18th century, the familiar characters of Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver and the rest are re-imagined as aliens, cyborgs and solar surfers. We talk Disney conspiracies, transitional animation styles of the early 2000s, transhumanist funny robots, and the questionable addition of The Goo Goo Dolls. Can an adaptation be considered 'historical' when it's set in outer space? Let's talk about it!

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. 

We're still in Pirate Season here, and this week Alice, Helen, Sara, and Abigail discuss Muppet Treasure Island (1996). Technically it's based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but with some significant deviations (including a weirdly racist pig tribe, and musical interludes of varying quality). Join us as we try to convince Sara that the Muppets are good, actually, even if this film is not. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

Arrrr me mateys! Pirate Season is in full swing here at Historical Friction, and today Alice, Helen, Sara, and Abigail discuss Walt Disney's Treasure Island (1950), based on the Robert Louis Stevenson 19th-century novel of the same name. The conversation ranges from behind-the-scenes factoids on the Disney film, to the novel's influence on pirates in popular culture, from Disney's influence on the Hollywood pirate, to navigation tools used by 18th-century sailors. Sources used in today's episode include Colin Woodward's book The Republic of Pirates, and Ryan Sweet's chapter 'Pirates and Prosthetics: Manly Messages for Managing Limb Loss in Victorian and Edwardian Adventure Narratives' in the book The Victorian Male Body, edited by Joanne Ella Parsons and Ruth Heholt. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

Welcome to Historical Friction: Pirate Season! We're kicking off a series of episodes on pirates in literature and film with The Pirate (1948), a fabulously campy movie musical starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Today, Abigail and special guest Dr. Lisa Duffy discuss Golden Age pirates, Hollywood pirates, mid-century Hollywood musicals, Gene Kelly's short shorts, and where this film fits into all of these categories. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

All agony, no hope. We here at Historical Friction decided that Netflix's new adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' was a Historical Emergency, so in this week's episode Alice, Abigail, and Helen watch this film so you don't have to -- or at least, so you have people to commiserate with over it. From jam mustaches to multiple hangovers to almost-outdoor peeing to the whaling industry, we've got you and all of your grievances about this adaptation covered. We didn't even get into the costuming in this episode, there was just too much.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week, we've got anachronistic leather daddies, siege-based penetration imagery, big old snake holes, and Tony Curtis in tiny hotpants - it's got to be a Viking episode!
Sara sat down with Dr Roderick Dale to discuss The Vikings (1958), a film with some loud feelings about the Middle Ages. The film loosely adapts the sagas of King Ragnar Lodbrok (Ernest Borgnine) and his rivalrous sons Einar (Kirk Douglas) and Eric (Tony Curtis), as they invade the Kingdom of Northumbria and battle for creepy masculine ownership of the Welsh Princess Morgana (Janet Leigh). Sara and Roderick talk about how the film glamourizes the Sagas - what is surprisingly accurate to the archaeology, and what is way off base? They also discuss the film's trivialisation of sexual assault, cinema's weirdly colourless, beige vision of the medieval period, and throw in a good amount of 1950s Hollywood gossip.

Nobody asked for this! Bad Film Expert and friend of the show Dr Melissa L Gustin came back, and we watched the third Dan Brown film, Inferno. This time there's maybe going to be a plague caused by a eugenicist tech bro, kind of inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy? And Robert Langdon the "Symbologist" has to stop it? It's not good. We also got mad about the geography of Florence, museum security, and the many, many wasted opportunities in this film. Nature is very much not healing.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. 

In today's episode Alice, Abigail, Helen, and Sara discuss the 2020 Netflix film 'Enola Holmes,' starring Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill. The film follows the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, Enola, as she traipses through London looking for her missing mother and attempting to save the life of a naïve marquis. We examine how the film reflects our contemporary ideas of Victorian culture -- for better or for worse -- and we have an especial focus on fashion, traditional gender roles, and the ways this film questions and plays with gender. This episode is a loose companion piece to last week's episode on 'A Study in Terror,' but the two episodes are standalone and can be listened to in any order. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week Alice, Helen, Sara and Abigail all got together for our third Ripper Watch episode, a recurring feature discussing the representation of the Whitechapel Murders and "Jack the Ripper" in pop culture. We watched A Study In Terror, a truly unhinged Sherlock Holmes x Jack the Ripper mishmash, featuring baby Judi Dench's beehive and Barbara Windsor. If nothing else you should listen to this episode for Abigail's cockney voice.

This episode discusses murder, assault, and violence against women.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

After watching coverage from the Met Gala last week, Alice, Abigail, Sara, and Helen convened an emergency podcast session to discuss the three-alarm historical fashion fire on display on the Met Gala red carpet. They discuss their personal favourite and least favourite looks and, of course, weigh in on the Kim Kardashian/Marilyn Monroe dress controversy. This year's Met Gala was held on May 2, 2022, and had the theme 'Gilded Glamour.' 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week, Abigail, Alice, and Helen watched Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite (2018), a gorgeous period piece set circa 1711 that explores the relationship between Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Masham. We talk about adaptation, visual coherence, and the way that playing with anachronism while having a strong sense of tone is maybe the best way to make a movie set in the past.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. 

It's time! We finally surrendered! Here is a giant episode about Bridgerton! Alice, Abigail, Helen and Sara got together to try and understand the world's straightest show. We discussed teen girl friendships, bees, sibling dynamics, and how Shonda Rhimes invented human cloning. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week, Alice and returning guest Nicole Cochrane watched That Hamilton Woman, a weird Second World War propaganda film dressed up as romantic biography of Emma Hamilton. We talked about trying to make Nelson sexy, Stalin (?!), and the Maligned Women of the (17)90s. Vivien Leigh is so pretty.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week Helen and Abigail watched Sophia Coppola's biopic, Marie Antoinette (2006) starring Kirsten Dunst as the ill-fated queen of France. This is the first episode in what will hopefully become a mini-series of examining media that portrays historical queens or princesses, often -- and sometimes problematically -- through the lens of twenty-first century feminism. In today's episode we discuss costuming, the soundtrack, and anachronism, the zeitgeist of 2006, our contemporary so-called cancel culture, Instagram influencers, and the ethics of humanizing absolute monarchs. 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

This week Alice, Helen, Sara and Abigail all got together for our second Ripper Watch episode, a recurring feature discussing the representation of the Whitechapel Murders and "Jack the Ripper" in pop culture. We watched From Hell (2001), and also discussed the (much better) graphic novel it's based on. Topics include Freemasons, the history of lobotomies, laudanum, grapes, and the 1701 Act of Settlement.

This episode discusses murder, sexual assault, drug use and violence against women.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

It's December, which means we are once again subjecting you to a time travel Christmas romance. It's a tradition now! Sara was joined by Dr Eleanor Janega to watch The Knight Before Christmas. What is hawking? What is mead? Can knights drive? What is Ohio? 

This is our last episode of 2021! Thanks for listening, we'll see you in a few weeks.

We read a book! Alice and Sara discussed Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer, queen of historical romance. We talked about enemies to lovers, Spanish roads, English tourists and whatever the hell 'stocks broidered with gold quirks about the ankles' are. Special thanks this week to George Procter for providing voice acting! 

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

Something different! This week Alice, Helen, Sara and Abigail all got together. This episode is an introduction to a recurring feature discussing the representation of the Whitechapel Murders and "Jack the Ripper" in pop culture, through puns, commemorative coins, horrible street art and weird cross stitch. We also watched Patricia Cornwell's 2002 Stalking The Ripper documentary, and talked about the idea of "Ripperology". 

This episode discusses murder, and violence against women.

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it.

Another spooky, vibes-heavy film to see us out of October! Eleanor Affleck and I watched The Witch, or the V V Itch, and loved it. Topics include the representation of witch hunting, colonial panic, wood chopping as a coping mechanism, the taste of butter, and 33% inaccurate windows. This is an extremely detailed film that's extremely in love with its source material, but we also discussed the absence of Wampanoag communities and the problem of drawing heavily on white settler colonial anxiety as a historical source. 

This film contains violence, including against children, and we mention it in the episode.

This week's show is the second in our double feature of plague movies! Sara and I watched Black Death, a bad film about torture and misogyny that is very much Not Bergman. We talked about funeral rites, fourteenth century timekeeping, and why it's a bad idea to give your trashy dude movie a specific date and location.

This week's show is the first in a double feature of plague movies - Sara and I watched The Seventh Seal, and talked about how it represents religion, art and mortality. This is a fairly serious episode, but next week's is unhinged. 

Partway through you might notice Sara's audio change - we had some slight tech problems and had to use our backup recording, so please be gentle with us like we're a bowl full of fresh milk.

It's hard when the Pope is your dad, and your actual dad is the Pope. Melissa came back to reclaim her title of "Worst Film Watched For The Podcast". These films are terrible but they're also cultural landmarks, responsible for a lot of art historians and a key part of modern conspiracy culture. We discussed holy grails, the Vatican "Secret" Archives, what symbologists even do, and cancelling the Papacy. 

Dangerous Beauty (1998), also released as A Destiny Of Her Own or The Honest Courtesan, is a fun and frothy romance about Veronica Franco, a poet and sex worker in 16th century Venice. Yes, we talked about the banana scene, but we also discussed the history of sex and religion in Venice, the Inquisition, and how far the film industry has come (and still has to go) in representing diversity in the past. It was a delight to have Professor Catherine Fletcher on to talk about this film with me, and put it in its proper context.

Look, this show is absurd. It's the French Revolution with zombies and literally nothing makes sense. It was cancelled after one season and that's definitely for the best, but it was still kind of fun to watch. Claire and I talked about royalty, fantasy and weird nationalism in a show that has absolutely no subtlety.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you know the drill. This week Lizzie Rogers and I watched Lost in Austen (2009) and talked about lipgloss, Mr Darcy, and the Austen Romance Industry. We also dug into what happens when historic houses become fictional sites, and tried to understand just what it is about Pride and Prejudice that people can't get enough of.

For this episode, we're doing something a little different and discussing the heavily fictionalised past as represented through fairytales. Focusing on Ever After (1998), Abigail Fine and I talked about 90s Hollywood girl power, gender roles, and some of the nastier tropes these films use.

WE'RE BACK, BABY.

After accidentally plugging The Dig twice last season, I finally watched it! It's fine! In this episode, Hannah Taylor and I discussed the representation of women in archaeology, why "Anglo-Saxon" is nonsense, and trying to make digging cool.

A couple of suggested readings on the use of "Anglo-Saxon" and "dark ages": 

For the last episode of 2020*, we watched A Timeless Christmas, one of this year's Hallmark holiday films. The film is about a museum director who is somehow simultaneously a docent falling in love with the man she wrote her PhD on, a 1900s industrialist accidentally time travelling to the present day. It was irredeemably bad. Madeline and I got angry about collections handling, romance tropes,  museum budgets, and secret drawers. 

*I'm taking December off to research and record, so the show will be back in January. See you then!

Continuing an accidental series of episodes about archaeology, this week's episode covers three films - The Mummy, originally made in 1932, and its 1999 and 2017 remakes. Dr Nicole Cochrane and I talked about pith helmets, the racialization of Egypt, "lost world" fiction, and colonial nostalgia.

Explosions! Swords! Horse girls! Melissa made me watch Pompeii (2014). We talked about the swords-and-sandals genre, the specific place of Pompeii in popular imagination, volcanos and Kit Harrington's hair. I do not recommend this movie. Please make more sexy trashy films about archaeologists.

For this episode, Helen Victoria Murray and I revisited Desperate Romantics (2009), the show that made a generation of teens (or maybe just us) fall in love with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. We discussed the differences between Victorian fame and 2000s celebrity, the relationship between aesthetics and accuracy in artists' biographies, and all the ways in which William Morris deserves better. 

In this episode, we talked about gender and sexuality in three recent stage productions of Twelfth Night, and what happens when you look for queer history in a play from the 1600s. 

Hi! It's a trailer! Welcome! Episodes release weekly on Mondays, so the first real episode is up on 2 November.