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Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters
— a podcast where we talk about historical drama series and films. Biopics, Adaptations, and Costume Dramas—stories that give us a window to the past, and a mirror of the present. Makers, writers and other guests join us in the conversation about what’s new in historical drama and what’s worth watching. Hosted by real-life sisters Michon and Taquiena Boston who binge on historical drama.
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Michon is a writer (New York Times, Washington Post Magazine, Washington CityPaper) and media impact producer who works with documentary and narrative films to raise awareness and inspire action on the critical concerns of our times. She is also a cultural historian, and walking tour guide who brings the history of DC’s jazz age and literary history to life. Michon is the author of “Iola’s Letter: The Memphis Crusade of Ida B. Wells,” a play about the anti-lynching newspaper woman and activist, Ida B. Wells. She is writing a play inspired by “The Three Musketeers” author Alexandre Dumas’s food writings. While a student at Oberlin College she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to research the history of Black women who attended Oberlin in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Meet The Boston Sisters
Michon and Taquiena Boston are real-life sisters who grew up surrounded by history in Washington, DC, where their parents introduced them to movies and took them to museums as entertainment.
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Taquiena Boston, a culture change strategist and coach, has earned theater degrees from Howard University and the University of Michigan. In addition to streaming and binge watching historical drama, Taquiena enjoys travel -- especially by train -- museums, fashion, reading food history and cookbooks, and cooking. Her interests and adventures are influenced by watching films about history and historical dramas, including a train ride she made from Paris to Venice on the refurbished Orient Express. She saved for the trip as a special birthday gift after seeing the film, “Murder on the Orient Express.”
Ep. 66 - THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT - Hidden Figures of World War II
In episode 66, The Boston Sisters (Michon and Taquiena) dive into the Tyler Perry film THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT with Brenda L. Moore, associate professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo and author of “To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African American WACS Stationed Overseas During World War II.” Both the book and film tell the story of the only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas in World War Two and their extraordinary mission.
Ep. 62 - August Wilson’s Enduring Legacy in THE PIANO LESSON
Episode 62 features a conversation with Constanza Romero, widow of American playwright August Wilson and executive producer for THE PIANO LESSON based on Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by Malcolm Washington and featuring John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Ep. 59 - It’s a Monumental Time for SHIRLEY
SHIRLEY, featuring Oscar winner Regina King as New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, tells the story of the first Black congresswoman and political icon and her trailblazing 1972 run for president of the United States. Our guest is Dr. Zinga A. Fraser, a foremost expert on Shirley Chisholm, Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism, and the historical consultant for the Netflix feature SHIRLEY.
Ep. 51 - Interpreting a Legend - Bob Marley: ONE LOVE Director Reinaldo Marcus Green
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green talks about making BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the Jamaican Reggae icon Bob Marley and Lashana Lynch as his wife, Rita Marley. BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE celebrates the life and music of Bob Marley who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. The film chronicles the reggae icon’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.
Ep. 47 - RUSTIN: Unveiling Untold Stories, Reclaiming Hidden History
In Episode 47 we talk about the biopic RUSTIN with Robert Raben, founder of the March On Washington Film Festival and The Raben Group, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm in Washington, DC. Featuring Academy Award™ nominated actor Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, the film RUSTIN shines a long overdue spotlight on the extraordinary man who, alongside giants like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine a different world, and inspired a movement for freedom.
Ep. 43 - Separate and Elite Society in THE GILDED AGE
Carla L. Peterson is back! The author of the 2011 book “Black Gotham” that inspired the Scott family in HBO’s THE GILDED AGE joins us for a conversation on “taste” as a value reflected in the lives of 19th century Black middle class communities in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We also talk about the separate and elite lives of 19th century New York “old money,” “new money,” and the Black elite and how they’re interpreted for the 2nd season of THE GILDED AGE.
Ep. 36 - CHEVALIER
Professor of French and French Studies Julian Ledford brings to life the historical Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-George who is dramatized in the film CHEVALIER with Kelvin Harrison Junior in the title role.
Ep. 28 - BLACK GOTHAM in THE GILDED AGE
A conversation with Carla L. Peterson, author of the 2011 book “Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in 19th Century New York City.” Professor Peterson’s book served as a resource for the creation of the characters, story, and the Black community in HBO’s THE GILDED AGE.
Ep. 25 - BELLE by Request
In episode 25 The Boston Sisters feature Amma Asante’s film BELLE by listener request, and a conversation with London-based figurative painter Glory Samjolly, founder of the social media platform Black Aristocrat Art. Glory brings her insights on depictions of Black women and men of the aristocracy in historical European art.
Ep. 21 - Searching for Healing in THE WOMAN KING
We take a deep dive into THE WOMAN KING with depth psychologist, media scholar, and writer Sharon D. Johnson, Ph.D. THE WOMAN KING, is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Ep. 8 - JULIE DASH: Women of the Movement and Other Untold Stories
Filmmaker and award-winning director, Julie Dash directed two episodes in the recent ABC limited series WOMEN OF THE MOVEMENT about Mamie Till Mobley’s attempts to get justice for the brutal murder of her 14-year old son Emmett Till in the Jim Crow South of 1955.
We will talk with Julie Dash about her film and television work in historical drama, including WOMEN OF THE MOVEMENT; the influence of Black women writers and cultural workers in her creative work; and the impact of bringing untold stories from history to the screen, particularly how we believe and remember history.
Ep. 7 - CHADWICK BOSEMAN: History x Purpose = Destiny
The artistic journey of Chadwick Boseman, best known for the iconic role T’Challah/Black Panther in the Marvel Universe films. The Boston Sisters talk with professor Vera J. Katz and classmate, director/playwright Psalmayene 24 about Boseman’s formation as a directing student at Howard University, his work creating hip hop theater with Howard classmates, and finally how his performance as Levee Green in the film adaptation of the August Wilson play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom brings Chadwick Boseman’s artistic journey full circle.
Ep. 2 - “Passing”
Emily Bernard (American literature scholar and author) dives into PASSING, the Rebecca Hall (Netflix) film based on the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, and talks about how the characters Clare Kendra’s and Irene Redfield’s struggles for identity and belonging mirror tensions about race, class, and sex that continue today. PASSING features Ruth Negga (as Clare Kendra), Tessa Thompson (Irene Redfield). Available on Netflix.
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Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters is brought to you by the Michon Boston Group Ltd. The views and opinions expressed on Historical Drama with the Boston Sisters are those of the speakers and do not represent the positions or views of the Michon Boston Group, its clients, or affiliates.