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. 60 - Behind the MASTERPIECE: A Season Preview with Susanne Simpson
Our annual PBS MASTERPIECE! preview with Executive Producer and Head of Scripted Content SUSANNE SIMPSON. Susanne spotlights two historical dramas from the new season premiering in 2025: WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT, based on the final Wolf Hall novel by Hilary Mantel; and MISS AUSTEN, based on the novel by Gill Hornby, premiering for the 250th anniversary year of author Jane Austen’s birth.
Ep. 57 - In Conversation with Rishi Nair, the New Vicar of GRANTCHESTER
Episode 57 features a conversation with actor Rishi Nair who portrays Alphy Kottaram the new vicar in the PBS MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! GRANTCHESTER.
Ep. 41 - WORLD ON FIRE Sparks a New MASTERPIECE Season
Another exciting new season for PBS MASTERPIECE! Executive producer SUSANNE SIMPSON returns to the podcast to talk about the 2nd season of the World War II drama WORLD ON FIRE and other historical dramas new and continuing in 2023-24 on the award-winning PBS drama series.
Ep. 38 - Sanditon Sisterhood’s Victory for Fandom
The Sanditon Sisterhood #SaveSanditon campaign helped renew SANDITON for 2 additional seasons after it was canceled in its 1st season by ITV in the UK before its U.S. premiere on PBS MASTERPIECE in 2020. The How did they do it? We talk with Juliet Creese and Moni Sengupta, part of the Sanditon Sisterhood Strategy Group about their experiences, the friendships that came out of the fandom campaign, and if fans got the Jane Austen ending they were hoping for?
Ep. 35 - Pearl Mackie Reimagines Honour in TOM JONES
In Ep. 35 we’re talking with actress Pearl Mackie about the PBS MASTERPIECE mini series TOM JONES. Pearl Mackie plays Honour Newton, the worldly-wise trusted lady’s maid of Sophia Western (Sophie Wilde) in a 4-part reimagining of Henry Fielding’s comic novel, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, published in 1749.
Ep. 33 - SANDITON Wrap Up! (Part 2) Georgiana Lambe and “Mother Energy”
The Boston Sisters welcome back SHARON D. JOHNSON, script and story consultant for MASTERPIECE and SANDITON. In part 2 of a 2-part conversation, we focus on Georgiana Lambe, her search for her mother, and the relationships she’s made in Sanditon to protect her inheritance, reputation and find true love. SANDITON is based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel.
Ep. 32 - SANDITON Wrap Up! (Part 1) Marriage, Love, and Friendship
The Boston Sisters welcome back SHARON D. JOHNSON, script and story consultant for MASTERPIECE and SANDITON. In part 1 of a 2-part conversation, we focus on the themes of Marriage, Love, and Friendship between new and familiar characters over the past 3 seasons of SANDITON series based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel.
Ep. 27 - Ben Vanstone: ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Episode 27 features a conversation with BEN VANSTONE, showrunner and writer for ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL about the making of the series currently in its 3rd season on the PBS drama series MASTERPIECE. ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL is the recent adaptation of the books written by veterinarian James Alfred Wight (who wrote under the pen name James Herriot) about a trio of veterinarian surgeons in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s.
Ep. 22 - Women of MYSTERY!: MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE
An exciting new season for PBS MASTERPIECE and MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! Executive producer SUSANNE SIMPSON returns to the podcast to talk about the 2nd season of MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE in addition to other exciting women detective mysteries and a preview of what’s coming in 2022 and 2023 on the award-winning PBS drama series.
Ep. 18 - ENDEAVOUR’s Hidden Grief
In season 8, of the PBS MASTERPIECE Mystery! series ENDEAVOUR, the year is 1971. We see the impact of events from season 7 where Endeavour Morse suffered a major loss that sets off a grieving process triggering self-doubt, alcohol abuse, and a cynic’s perspective that puts him at odds with his mentor, Fred Thursday. Preacher, teacher, counselor and activist Rev. Dr. Rob Hardies joins us for a conversation about the challenges of becoming an adult through Endeavour Morse's experiences. ENDEAVOUR is the prequel to the INSPECTOR MORSE television series inspired by characters in Colin Dexter’s detective novels.
Ep. 13- SANDITON Regency Fiction and Racial History
Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters (ep. 3) Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of the PBS drama series, MASTERPIECE, shares how this 50-year phenom is changing to bring more diversity to the stories, casts, and creative production of historical dramas, fiction adaptations, and mystery series set in the past with UK partners.
Ep. 11 - SANDITON’s Crystal Clarke: Becoming Georgiana Lambe
Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters (ep. 3) Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of the PBS drama series, MASTERPIECE, shares how this 50-year phenom is changing to bring more diversity to the stories, casts, and creative production of historical dramas, fiction adaptations, and mystery series set in the past with UK partners.
Ep. 3 - PBS MASTERPIECE: Conversation with Executive Producer Susanne Simpson
Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters (ep. 3) Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of the PBS drama series, MASTERPIECE, shares how this 50-year phenom is changing to bring more diversity to the stories, casts, and creative production of historical dramas, fiction adaptations, and mystery series set in the past with UK partners.
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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.