We've all seen movies that claim to be 'based on a true story', but have you ever wondered how accurate they are? That's what we'll find out as we compare Hollywood with history.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 04/07/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
Discover shows related to Based on a True Story, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (BOATS EP. 354) — Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, we're walking into Casablanca on this episode to answer: How historically accurate is the movie?
Where to watch Casablanca now
Helping us separate fact from fiction is Bob LeMent from Static Radio.
Listen to Bob's show at StaticRadio.com
Did you enjoy this episode?
Unlock ad-free episodes
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/354
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Miracle with Lou Vairo
Episode 353
Tuesday, October 15, 2024 • Duration 01:33:30
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (BOATS EP. 353) — During the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the United States sent shockwaves around the world as they upset the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union team in a game that would go on to be called the "Miracle on Ice." That story is told in the 2004 Disney movie we'll be talking about today.
Where to watch Miracle now
To help us separate fact from fiction, we'll be talking to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame coach Lou Vairo. Most relevant to our discussion today among Lou's long list of achievements was as a scout for the U.S. Men's Ice Hockey Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics which is depicted in the movie. So, he was there for a lot of the events depicted in the movie and will share a lot of behind the scenes of the true story.
Get Lou's new autobiography
Also mentioned in this episode
Lou Vairo's bio at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
Did you enjoy this episode?
Unlock ad-free episodes
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/353
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: Napoleon, Thirteen Days, The Patriot, The Last Duel
Episode 352
Monday, October 14, 2024 • Duration 01:00:57
BOATS THIS WEEK (OCT 14-20, 2024) — This Wednesday is the anniversary of Marie Antoinette's execution in 1793 that we saw inn the opening sequence of Ridley Scott's Napoleon (2023). After that, we'll travel exactly 169 years from 1793 to 1962, because Wednesday is also depicted in Thirteen Days (2000) as it's showing the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For our final historical event from the movies this week, we'll hop to October 19th, 1781 as it's shown in The Patriot (2000) to see how it shows the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
After learning about this week's birthdays from historical figures in the movies, we'll wrap up this episode by comparing history with another of Ridley Scott's movies, The Last Duel, which released in the U.S. on October 15th, 2021. Finally, we'll get a little behind the scenes update about BOATS This Week episodes for the remainder of 2024.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Events from this week in history
Wednesday: Napoleon (2023) | BOATS Napoleon Miniseries
Wednesday: Thirteen Days (2000)
Saturday: The Patriot (2000) | BOATS #60
Birthdays from this week in history
Monday: Dwight D. Eisenhower in The Longest Day (1962)
Wednesday: Oscar Wilde in Wilde (1997)
Sunday: Mickey Mantle in 61* (2001)
Historical movies releasing this week in history
Tuesday: The Last Duel (2021)
Mentioned in this episode
JFK's October 22nd, 1962 speech
Cuban Missile Crisis timeline
Eric Jager's book that they based The Last Duel on
Eric Jager's article
Modern-day photos of Saint-Martin-des-Champs
Did you enjoy this episode?
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/352
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: Che!, Eight Men Out, 1492, Captain Phillips
Episode 351
Monday, October 7, 2024 • Duration 47:44
BOATS THIS WEEK (OCT 7-13, 2024) — 57 years ago tomorrow, Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia just before his execution. Then, two years later, Omar Sharif portrayed him in the movie version of Che's story that we'll compare to the true story of this week's event. Then, we'll shift to Eight Men Out because as baseball season comes to a close, one of the darkest moments in Major League Baseball history happened this week back in 1919.
This Saturday marks the anniversary of Christopher Columbus making landfall, which was shown in the movie 1492: Conquest of Paradise. For this week's historical movie release, the Tom Hanks movie Captain Phillips was released 11 years ago this Friday.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Events from this week in history
Tuesday: Che! | BOATS #115
Wednesday: Eight Men Out | BOATS #132
Saturday: 1492: Conquest of Paradise | BOATS #186
Birthdays from this week in history
Wednesday: Eugene Bullard in Red Tails
Friday: Eleanor Roosevelt in The First Lady
Sunday: Jane Grey in Becoming Elizabeth
Historical movies releasing this week in history
Friday: Captain Phillips | BOATS #28
Mentioned in this episode
Meet Félix Rodríguez, The CIA Operative Who Captured Che Guevara And May Have Tortured A DEA Agent by Marco Margaritoff
Infamous America's and the Black Sox Scandal
A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty
Did you enjoy this episode?
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/351
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: Alexander, 61*, Black Hawk Down, The Social Network
Episode 350
Monday, September 30, 2024 • Duration 48:22
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEP 30-OCT 6, 2024) — Thousands of years ago this week, Alexander the Great fought his final decisive battle against Darius III so we'll start our journey by comparing the true story of Gaugamela with the battle in 2004's Colin Farrell movie. Then we'll hop onto the baseball field because tomorrow, October 1st, 1961, is when Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's MLB home run record. We'll learn about the Billy Crystal-directed movie called 61* (we'll learn about the * in the movie's title in the episode).
For our third event from this week in history according to the movies, we'll learn about the Battle of Mogadishu—or, as it's commonly called, the Black Hawk Down Incident. That happened on Thursday this week, October 3rd, 1993. Then, after a few historical birthdays from this week in history, we'll wrap up today's episode by comparing history with 2010's The Social Network.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Events from this week in history
Monday: Alexander | BOATS #157
Tuesday: 61*
Thursday: Black Hawk Down | BOATS #105
Birthdays from this week in history
Wednesday: Paul von Hindenburg in Hitler: Rise of Evil
Wednesday: Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi
Saturday: Ray Kroc in The Founder
Historical movies releasing this week in history
Tuesday: The Social Network
Mentioned in this episode
Steven Bertoni's article on Sean Parker
Wall Street Journal article on Peter Thiel and Facebook's political ads
Baseball this week: See "The Whammer" in The Natural
Baseball this week: Say Hey, Willy Mays!
Did you enjoy this episode?
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/350
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: Turn, A Bridge Too Far, The Godfather Part III, Remember the Titans
Episode 349
Monday, September 23, 2024 • Duration 40:11
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEP 23-29, 2024) — AMC's Turn: Washington's Spies shows us how Benedict Arnold's treason was discovered back on September 24th, 1780. The next day, on Wednesday this week, marks the anniversary of Operation Market Garden coming to a close, which we see in the classic film A Bridge Too Far. And then The Godfather, Part III has a key plot point surrounding a very real event that happened on September 26th, 1978: The death of Pope John Paul I.
This week's movie premiere to compare with history is the 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans, which has its 24-year anniversary this Sunday.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Events from this week in history
Tuesday: Turn: Washington's Spies | BOATS #139
Wednesday: A Bridge Too Far
Thursday: The Godfather, Part III
Birthdays from this week in history
Wednesday: Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty | BOATS #156
Thursday: T.S. Eliot in Tom & Viv
Friday: Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici in Medici
Historical movies releasing this week in history
Sunday: Remember the Titans
Mentioned in this episode
Turn: Washington's Spies: The "Treason House" where Arnold and Andre met this week in history
Did you enjoy this episode?
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/349
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: Frida, Chaplin, Tolkien, Goodfellas
Episode 348
Monday, September 16, 2024 • Duration 36:29
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEP 16-22, 2024) — Tuesday is the 99th anniversary of the bus accident that changed Frido Kahlo's life, and we'll learn more about the way the movie Frida shows it happening. After that we'll jump to the movie with Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin for his being kicked out of the U.S., which happened 72 years ago on Thursday this week. Then we'll learn a bit about the start of an adventure that ended this week in history when The Hobbit was published on September 21st, 1937.
Finally, Wednesday is the release anniversary of a classic Martin Scorsese gangster movie releasing, so we'll wrap up this week by learning more about the true story of Goodfellas.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Events from this week in history
Tuesday: Frida
Thursday: Chaplin | BOATS #283
Saturday: Tolkien | BOATS #141
Birthdays from this week in history
Wednesday: Greta Garbo in The Silent Lovers
Friday: Maxwell Perkins in Genius
Friday: "Red" Auerbach in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
Historical movies releasing this week in history
Wednesday: Goodfellas
Mentioned in this episode
Scott Eyman's book Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided
BBC documentary with Tolkien
Did you enjoy this episode?
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/348
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We Were Soldiers with Joshua Donohue
Episode 347
Saturday, September 14, 2024 • Duration 01:47:50
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (BOATS EP. 347) — Travel back to the 1960s during the Vietnam War while historian Joshua Donohue unpacks the real events behind the 2002 film We Were Soldiers. From the crucial role of helicopter pilots in the heat of battle, to the heart-pounding "Broken Arrow" moment, discover what Hollywood got right and where it took creative liberties depicting the Battle of Ia Drang in We Were Soldiers.
Where to watch We Were Soldiers now
Where to start learning more of the true story
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young
Josh's article: Heroic Fight for Wake Island
Also mentioned in this episode
Wikipedia's map of the battle
Records about Ia Drang at the Library of Congress
Did you enjoy this episode?
Unlock ad-free episodes
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/347
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Week: 300: Rise of an Empire, United 93, A Star-Spangled Story, The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Episode 346
Monday, September 9, 2024 • Duration 49:53
BOATS THIS WEEK (SEP 9-15, 2024) — Tuesday this week marks the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, which we see in the movie 300: Rise of an Empire. Then, of course, we'll be looking at this week's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks from the movie United 93. For our third historical event, we'll learn about A Star-Spangled Story and how an event from this week in history inspired the U.S. national anthem. We'll also learn about the true story behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which released exactly 19 years ago today.
Did you enjoy this episode? Support the next one!
Events from this week in history
Tuesday: 300: Rise of an Empire
Wednesday: United 93 | BOATS #113
Saturday: A Star-Spangled Story
Birthdays from this week in history
Thursday: Henry Hudson in The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson
Friday: Daniel Defoe in Robinson Crusoe
Sunday: Marco Polo in Marco Polo
Historical movies released this week in history
Friday: The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Also mentioned in this episode
300: Rise of an Empire: Based on a True Story episode #5 about 300
300: Rise of an Empire: Photos from the battlefield at Marathon as it looks today
300: Rise of an Empire: Map of the Battle of Marathon
300: Rise of an Empire: More about the Battle of Marathon's affect on democracy today
The Exorcism of Emily Rose: The Windsor Star 1978 article interviewing the priests
The Exorcism of Emily Rose: National Catholic Register article about the 1998 revised rite of exorcism
Unlock ad-free episodes
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/346
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today: The Great Fire and the Extinguishment of the Great Fire of London
Episode 345
Thursday, September 5, 2024 • Duration 22:08
BOATS TODAY (SEPT 5, 2024) — After four days of fighting the flames, the Great Fire of London was finally extinguished on this day in 1666 so today we'll learn more about how the events from exactly 358 years ago today were shown in the TV miniseries called The Great Fire.
Until next time, here's where you can continue the story.
Watch it now: Find where The Great Fire is streaming
Did you enjoy this episode?
Get the BOATS email newsletter
Leave a comment
Support our sponsors
Unlock ad-free episodes
Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/345
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
