Historical Friction

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.

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction.

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction, and follow Helen at @HelenVMurray and Abigail at @onceuponafine. You can also email us at [email protected]. 

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.

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction, and us @aaprocter, @HelenVMurray, @tinyredbook and @onceuponafine

We're kicking off 2022 with a discussion of Apple TV+'s musical comedy pastiche, Schmigadoon! If you've ever enjoyed the sweet technicolor candyfloss of a classic Hollywood musical, then Schmigadoon is the show for you. This week Abigail sits down with musical theatre scholar Dr. Lisa Duffy to talk about women and race in mid-century musicals, and what Schmigadoon does right (and wrong) in their loving send-up of the genre.

Lisa can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @_lisawithans or @memoryofallthat. 

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

Email us at [email protected]

Follow Abigail on Twitter or Instagram @onceuponafine

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.

Follow Eleanor on Twitter @GoingMedieval, and listen to her podcast We're Not So Different

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

This week Alice was joined by Dan Hanks, author of Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire, a historical fantasy about a very tired woman getting forced to do archaeology. We talked about Egypt, treasure hunting, pulp, repatriation, punching nazis, and why it's more fun to be creatively anachronistic.

Dan's latest book, Swashbucklers, is out now via Angry Robot. You can find him on twitter @dan_hanks or on his website.

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

Follow Alice on Twitter @aaprocter

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.

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

Follow Sara on Twitter @tinyredbook

Follow Alice on Twitter @aaprocter

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.

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction, and us @aaprocter, @HelenVMurray, @tinyredbook and @onceuponafine

Once again we are drowning in Robert Eggers' vibes - for this episode Helen Victoria Murray discussed The Lighthouse with Celine Brossillon, covering masculine madness, Victorian novels, and tentacles.

And thank you also to the Haunted Shores Research Network for all their help!

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

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.

Find Eleanor on Twitter @elaffleck

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

Follow Alice on Twitter @aaprocter

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.

Find Sara on Twitter @tinyredbook

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

Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction

Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

Follow Alice on Twitter @aaprocter