Biopic: A Podcast Story

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our 13th edition of Irrelevant Host Banter, with a flashback to mid-2024 with Episode 25: Ray and Episode 26: Liz & Dick.  These are some outtakes that were cut for running time, and/or because we were digressive or repetitive. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening. Includes material cut from: Episode 25: Ray Episode 26: Liz & Dick Highlights include: Rena fuming about other podcast hosts boring her by talking about what they are wearing or drinking. Another dead brother. The time that Sara and Rena saw the Cats movie together: “Do you remember like halfway through that when we realized when I was like, their ears are moving. Like the horror was like the horror washed over you so slowly.” David Eigenberg appreciation. Speculating on the budget for Liz & Dick. Love for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Relief that Lawrence Olivier did not win an Oscar for Othello. And much more, of course. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.   Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our 12th edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time, and/or because we were digressive or repetitive. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening. Includes material cut from: Episode 23: The Pride of The Yankees Episode 24: Saint Joan Highlights include: Unimpressive Greatest Generation-era honeymoons More fascination with the Gehrig family’s premature aging. More on Henry VI’s “Love Day.” Rena’s classmates emotionally wounding her by laughing at the sentimental bits in Casablanca. Sara’s Saul Bass appreciation. Sara’s Thelma Schoonmaker appreciation. And much more, of course!  Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our 11th edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time, and/or because we were digressive or repetitive. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening. Includes material cut from: Episode 21: Gandhi Episode 22: The Duchess Highlights include: Blade Runner Rutger Hauer monologue appreciation. More fun tidbits about rotten boroughs. Rena’s loathing for antimaterialism. Why corsets are less barbaric than going to the gym. Kevin Costner being a big man-ho in the 90s. And much more, of course!  Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

We recorded around three hours of material for “Episode 20: Reagan” back in August of 2024. That movie was torture to endure and we wound up cutting about half of what we recorded. We assert that the right to free assembly allows us, the much-loathed coastal media types, the right to seek hope, comfort, and the mutual salving of wounds among the like-minded. So, this bonus episode is not for everybody. If you are broken-hearted about the horrible thing that happened in Washington, DC on Monday, January 20 of 2025, and you would rather not be told “F— your feelings, pronoun person,” here is nearly 50 minutes of us hating on Ronald Reagan and the Reagan biopic that came out in 2024 and stars Dennis Quaid. We hope that you feel better. You are not alone. Including: Unwanted comeuppance for unrepentant libs via gender-neutral bathroom. An ox with a cold. How we narrowly escaped being owned by some finance bros who hollered, “Vote Trump!” at the end of the movie and appeared to actually enjoy this irredeemable tripe bucket of a movie. Salacious, Kitty Kelly-imparted gossip about the oral talents of the former Nancy Davis, aside from her acting. Trying to remember where our child selves were when the Berlin Wall fell. Did we mention just how thoroughly we hated the Reagan biopic? Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our ninth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening. This bonus episode consists of material cut from Episode 19: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. Subjects include: Non-lucrative possibilities for the publishing industry. The Lost Cause sucks and we are not here for it. Buster Keaton’s awful childhood. Boring white dudebros. Sara’s realization that she has D.W. Griffith confused with W.C. Fields. A sarcastic discussion about how much we are not looking forward to seeing the Dennis Quaid-starring Reagan. And, as always, much more. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our eighth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening. Includes material cut from: Episode 17: Get on Up! Episode 18: Gotti Highlights include: Sara is surprised to learn that Dan Ackyroyd’s eyes don’t match. A discussion of what it means if you don’t notice people’s eye color. Grieving for the decline of wedding gowns with a sleeve. James Brown corpse capers that didn’t make it into Episode 17: Get on Up!, even though we normally never miss a corpse caper. More deconstruction of bad Get On Up! Reviews from IMDB. At least Gotti was free on one of the streaming services that we subscribe to. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our seventh edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. If this is your first time listening to us, we recommend that you listen to one of our regular episodes instead. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. Includes material cut from: Episode 16: Cleopatra Episode 17: Get on Up! Highlights include: Clarifying Carroll O’Connor’s age. More revolting Ptolemaic incest talk. Appreciation for Craig Robinson and the fine art of yelling at the screen during movies. Numerous shout-outs to Andrew Hickey’s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs. Sara’s shrine to Jason Mantzoukas. Rena mushing out at her foster cat, again. And more, of course! Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our sixth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. Includes material cut from: Episode 15: Prefontaine Episode 4: Respect Episode 5: The Conqueror  Highlights include: Rena and Sara debate what number constitutes “several.” The "Second Opinion" for Prefontaine that didn't make it into the episode. Sara’s reaction to an abbreviated Beauty and the Beast performance at Disney World. And more, of course! Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

We had a lot to say about Race, so much that our fifth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter is entirely composed of material that we cut from Episode 14: Race.   Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs, mostly about Race.   Highlights include: The sentimental way that Rena commemorates D-Day every year. Spoilers for Jordan Peele's Nope. Sara marvels at the wonders of the postal service. The Lion King's visual references to Triumph of the Will haunt Berlin's Museum Island. Sara and Rena discuss possible future films and how to prioritize them. And more, of course! Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Trigger Warning: Contains mentions of the Holocaust. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com  

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our fourth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time.   Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs.   Includes material cut from: • Episode 12: Becket • Episode 13: Frida   Highlights include: Rena's rant about her unintended visit to Casa Trotsky. An extended cut of portions of our "Would You Hook Up With this World Leader?" quiz. Further discussion of Harvey Weinstein's repulsiveness. More about the history of forks in Europe. A definition of negging for listeners over sixty. The "Second Opinion" for Frida that didn't make it into the episode. Sara's vehement reactions to unprofessional, drunken behavior by Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton on the set of Becket. And more, of course! Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com  

We have a bonus episode: our third edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. Includes material cut from: • Episode 10: Cobb • Episode 11: Evita   Highlights include: • The extended take of our reactions to Eva Peron’s corpse. • Extra criticisms of Robert Wuhl’s performance in Cobb. • A look at insider trading laws and the history of Coca-Cola in cans. • Lots more!   Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Just in time for 4th of July weekend 2024, we have a bonus episode: our second edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes from the episodes that we released in June of 2024 that were cut for running time. Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. Includes material cut from: Episode 6: Milk Episode 7: Bessie Episode 8: Rocketman Episode 9: Gia Highlights include: Rena hates surprises. An intense, literalist deconstruction of the lyrics to "Rocket Man". Our sadness that racism did not end in 2008. The time that Elton John bought a dinosaur from Ringo Starr. Attention-seeking foster cats. Lots more! Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Visual Aids: https://imgur.com/user/BiopicAPodcastStory Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Rena and Sara prefer that our podcast be at least half an hour shorter than the movies that we talk about. Rena generally dislikes listening to other podcast hosts banter about their personal lives, so she's happy to cut all of that out. But we needed to learn some new audio skills, so she spliced together a bunch of random irrelevant host banter and a few things that were cut for running time. The clips in this episode were taken from the following episodes: Introduction: Who Are We and What Are We Doing? Episode 1: The Doors Episode 3: Caligula Topics include: The excellence of Teresa Anne Savoy's hair in Caligula. Sara's insights regarding the role of dinosaurs in American history. A trip to Père Lachaise. Were both Andrew and James Garfield assassinated by Charles Guiteau? Listener feedback. Rena's least favorite biopic. Plus much, much more. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Imgur: https://imgur.com/user/BiopicAPodcastStory Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com  

2026 sure looks like it’s going to be a year with movies in it. Rena and Sara break down what we know is coming—Michael, Jimmy, Young George Washington, Madden—and what we know will never come (give up the ghost, “Devil the White City directed by Martin Scorsese” shippers), and where the biopic stands as we leave the hellscape of 2025 and enter the hellscape of 2026.  We don’t have all the answers, as we ask, what, exactly, is a KJ Apa and what is he doing here? How many new houses will the executive producers of Michael build on their altar of lies and bullshit? When you can write a verse of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” containing the insane number of producers on a project, does that mean that movie is going to be bad? Does Nicolas Cage in Madden look more like a sleep paralysis demon or Cabbage Patch Kid? What is more sinister: the presence of David Mamet or John Travolta on your film set? This is far from complete (there’s a biopic of Stallone made by the Farrelly Brothers due out this year, people), so there’s more to mock as the year goes on. Buckle up, we’re in for another year.  Sources used in the episode include… https://www.salon.com/2021/12/30/its-a-wonderful-life-harmful-message-sacrifice/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/hollywood-winners-losers-2025-best-worst-movies-tv/lost-prestige-biopics/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/04/21/remake   Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Emergency bonus episode! Michael, the oft-delayed musical biopic about the life and times of troubled genius and smooth (never convicted, often tried) alleged criminal Michael Jackson has a teaser trailer and an April 2026 release date. We risked 1990s-era Pokemon-inspired seizures as we watched the trailer over and over in an attempt to parse the psychotically edited clip parade for insights about what we can expect from this movie. What we’re confident predicting: the absolutely unbiased team of MJ estate executors producing the film will give us a film in which young boys will be the villains trying to take down one of the 20th century’s most iconic and important artists; Johnnie Cochran may not make it to the final cut because the filmmakers didn’t read MJ’s 1993 settlement agreement; screenwriter John Logan’s need for a GoFundMe (call us, John!), and that the musical sequences will probably be electrifying.  Also discussed: the economics of MJ and why it was easier to let him do whatever the hell he wanted; prosthetics; The Jacksons: An American Dream; how Rena was old enough to rent a car when she first saw the Thriller video; and the unexpected parallels between the Michael teaser trailer and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. And so much more.  Sources used in the episode include… https://variety.com/2025/film/news/michael-jackson-biopic-trailer-first-footage-1236168488/#recipient_hashed=b9997f00edcb0ce488b46f6883f897b1143a3ff8c2a571e2e26872f0fcba0958&recipient_salt=4d7867d3eca22b71fde0dba3b278c22145f502c20e757e3f49a26898273008a5&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=644726_11-06-2025&utm_term=6337474?utm_medium=&utm_source=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_id=    With additional thanks to Pajiba As promised, here's the video of Smokey Robinson and George Michael singing "Careless Whisper." Noted: Bill Cosby does the intro, sorry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZflvN5mkrxQ Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

First shots have been fired in the Oscarbation Wars of 2025 / 2026, and those shots are coming to you from Bruce Springsteen, in Brokendreamsville, New Jersey, in a biopic that will certainly cover territory that we’ve already seen many times this year in our emergency breakdown of the Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere trailer.  Will this movie have enough self-serious white men over-explaining the significance of the album Nebraska to satisfy Hollywood's annual quota of self-serious white men over-explaining things? Did the hotel room in which Bruce Springsteen recorded the album serve as a murder room for one of the many serial killers who haunted America in the 1970s because of the excessive use of lead paint? Are we going to see an actor’s interpretation of record executive John Hammond for the fourth time since we’ve launched this show?  Most important: how important is that hole in the floor that Jeremy Strong talks about in this trailer going to be to the plot of this film?  Come for the rage and the coverage of everything from former New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s unrequited passion for Bruce to how Gaby Hoffman’s Jersey hausfrau turn makes us feel old, stay for Sara’s truly vexing true-or-false quiz about Bruce Springsteen.  This movie comes out on October 24 and you bet we’d prefer not to see it.  Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is directed by Scott Cooper and stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Graham as Douglas “Dutch” Springsteen, Paul Walter Hauser as Mike Batlan, Marc Maron as Chuck Plotkin, Gaby Hoffman as Adele Springsteen, David Krumholtz as Al Teller, the magnificent Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau, some bottle blonde actress as a woman who is probably not Patti Scialfa or Julianne from Sisters as “The Girl 🙄,” and soon-to-be-breakout-star Cormac Fingeret as “Man Riding in Truck with Man Yelling ‘Bruce, You Suck!” The trailer’s here: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2147076121/?ref_=tt_vids_vi_1    Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Reagan is finally here and boy does it look mighty bad. Rena and Sara try to make sense of the Reagan trailer, a film that has been waiting for its moment since filming in 2020, and speculate on its contents, whether its director is an auteur, and the putty and prosthetics budget. We play a game called “Desperate or Canceled.” This film will star Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan, Mena Suvari as Jane Wyman, Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan, Dan Lauria as Tip O'Neill, king of accent work Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Kevin Dillon, Scott Stapp, and maybe Kevin Sorbo.  We peel back the infinite layers of Jon Voight's unconvincing de-aging makeup on our journey through development hell and production purgatory, in search of empty cowboys. Along the way, we meet an unholy daisy chain of banally-named production companies, make bets on the still-unconfirmed running time, explore the choices made while filming during COVID, and identify the bad guys and the absentees. Spoiler warning: We might spoil everything? We’ll know more when the film comes out on August 30.  Visual Aids: https://imgur.com/gallery/reagan-trailer-emergency-episode-of-biopic-podcast-story-tvdbwrk Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory  Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

 Do you like the movie Psycho? Have you ever thought yourself, I wonder what it was like to make that movie, and I hope that Ed Gein’s spirit was there to guide Alfred Hitchcock’s creative process?  Look. No. Further.  While 2012’s Hitchcock suffers from not being as good or interesting as the film it documents the making of, it’s still a mostly engaging ride through the creepy genius Alfred Hitchcock’s approach - and a look at the woman who served as his equally genius partner in creativity, Alma Reville. However, according to Sara, this is actually a movie about Lew Wasserman, a man she was once told, with conviction, that she looked like.  We’re greeted by a record number of returning champions as we discuss: why do we, as a society, love Vertigo so much? Why on earth did Vera Miles want to pick up her own dry cleaning? What more fun than a place of business run by a man who likes pranks and spying on his female actors? How did we get so lucky to see Danny Huston two weeks in a row? Sources used in the episode include… The You Must Remember This episode on Hitchcock. Sara unfortunately could not find the paper she  wrote in 8th grade about Hitchcock but is sure it was insightful.  Rena skimmed parts of several books about Hitchcock including the one by Stephen Rebello that the movie Hitchcock was based on. She also wrote two papers for her college film class. Rena rewatched Psycho. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com  

Have you ever thought to yourself: “You know what my life is missing? A movie that looks sympathetically on the legal rights of the traitorous crew of Confederates who devised and executed the plan to kill Abraham Lincoln because they were butthurt over losing the war they started and thus, their rights to own people.” Look no further: We’ve got the movie for you, 2011’s The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford and starring a veritable cavalcade of great actors who spend the film more or less throwing up their hands and saying, “A lawyer is duty bound to zealously represent their client.”  Maybe it’s just the fun times of 2026, but O.G. Karen, Mary Surratt—played by Robin Wright—and the suspension of her habeas corpus rights at the end of a contentious civil war and immediately following her role in an assassination didn’t hit the right notes for us. THANKS OBAMA.  Nevertheless, we’re joined again by the delightful Stephen Root. Some other questions: Is Sara a member of the Bar because of her participation in high school Mock Trial? Should these alleged murderers be able to have their mothers hand-deliver their meals while they’re in jail? Has our love of humanity been pushed too far by this movie? Where have you been all of our lives, Kevin Kline? The Conspirator was directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy as Frederick Aiken, Robin Wright as Mary Surratt, Kevin Kline as Edwin Stanton, Evan Rachel Wood as Anna Surratt, Tom Wilkinson as Reverdy Johnson, Justin Long as Nicholas Baker, Danny Huston as Joseph Holt, James Badge Dale as William Hamilton, Colm Meaney as General Hunter, Alexis Bledel as Sarah Weston, Johnny Simmons as John Surratt, Toby Kebbell as John Wilkes Booth, Jonathan Groff as Louis Weichmann, Stephen Root as John Lloyd, John Cullum as Justice Wylie, Norman Reedus as Lewis Payne, John Michael Weatherly as George Atzerodt, Marcus Hester as David Herold, Chris Bauer as Major Smith, and Shea Whigham as Captain Cottingham.   Sources used in the episode include…   American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies  by Michael W. Kauffman   The Assassin's Accomplice : Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln by Kate Clifford Larson   Hanged! Mary Surratt and the Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln.  by Sarah Miller   Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L Swanson   Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q    Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

It's a very Oppenheimer holiday season 2025! Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus about the work of one of America’s most brilliant scientists, and his leadership in creating our first weapon of mass destruction, is a GD masterpiece, and we love it.   Enjoy the end of the year with this feel-good tale of that time we built and used nukes and it was never, ever a problem ever again. If those feels aren’t good enough, enjoy the throughline in which we watch  Oppenheimer’s patriotism and service to America in one of its darkest hours get desecrated by a bitchy, self-centered former shoe salesman/"Admiral" who labors under the illusion that Oppenheimer talked shit about him to Einstein one time. Also discussed: How do all of these scientists know each other? Would J. Edgar Hoover have a file on this podcast, were he still alive today? Are we ever going to sit in the chairs in a hotel room again? Are we going to spend every Christmas with Rami Malek?  This episode is a long one, however, it would have been longer if we kept in the parts where we re-litigate the foreign and domestic policy choices made by U.S. leadership in 1945, something we’re both deeply qualified to do and that we know our audience would just LOVE. Oppenheimer was directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Alden Ehrenreich as Senate Aide, Scott Grimes as Counsel, Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, Macon Blair as Lloyd Garrison, Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr, Tom Conti as Albert Einstein, David Krumholtz as Isidor Rabi, Matthias Schweighöfer as Werner Heisenberg, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Alex Wolff as Luis Alvarez, Josh Zuckerman as Rossi Lomanitz, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Jefferson Hall as Haakon Chevalier, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Tom Jenkins as Richard Tolman, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, Louise Lombard as Ruth Tolman, David Dastmalchian as William Borden, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Dane DeHaan as Kenneth Nichols, Olli Haaskivi as Edward Condon, Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Gustaf Skarsgård as Hans Bethe, James Urbaniak as Kurt Gödel, Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Rami Malek as David Hill, Máté Haumann as Leo Szilard, Olivia Thirlby as Lilli Hornig, Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, Gary Oldman as Harry Truman, and Hap Lawrence as Lyndon Johnson. Sources Podcasts: Star Talk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, episode on Oppenheimer.   Books: American Prometheus, by Kai Bird.   Magazines   Vanity Fair Jean Tatlock: The Tragic Story of Robert Oppenheimer’s “Truest Love” by Katey Rich https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/oppenheimer-true-story-jean-tatlock https://www.fourthwallcontent.com/blog/colour-as-a-storytelling-device-in-films https://filmustage.com/blog/the-power-of-color-in-film-learn-from-10-cinematic-examples/ Congressional Records https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=wsorGFIlEawC&pg=GBS.PA766&hl=en https://www.congress.gov/86/crecb/1959/05/20/GPO-CRECB-1959-pt7-1-1.pdf   FBI Files https://vault.fbi.gov/rosenberg-case/robert-j.-oppenheimer https://vault.fbi.gov/Katherine%20Oppenheimer/Katherine%20Oppenheimer%20Part%2001%20%28Final%29/view   Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com