The Reel Reich พอดคาสต์

This week on the Reel Reich, we are launching into Outer Space and visiting the dark side of the moon. We watched the cult classic B-movie, Iron Sky, which couldn't possibly have any history behind it, right? Wrong! We get into the real history of early German science fiction, the scientists and stargazers of the rowdy rocketeers, and the possibili…

We're back! And this week on The Reel Reich, we are gently clearing the dust away from the history behind the movie, The Monuments Men. We discuss the Allied creation of a special department of art nerds tasked with recovering the art stolen by the Nazis and protecting historic cultural monuments from the destruction of battle. We recount their jou…

We're still here! We haven't gone anywhere, we just took a couple weeks of much needed holiday time. But we're back next week with more stories -ever heard of the Monuments Men? Here's a 5-minute rant where we wish you a happy new year with our sweet mellow voices and we chat about our plans for the podcast. Stay tuned! Support the show…

It's hard to be a pacifist in today's world, but it was deadly to be one under the Third Reich. On this episode of the Reel Reich, we will be telling the story of Franz Jägerstätter, an incredibly brave man who chose to make the ultimate sacrifice rather than compromise his beliefs. His life and martyrdom inspired the film A Hidden Life by Terrence…

I'm sure you know all about Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman or Greta Garbo, stars of the silver screen, but have you heard of Kristina Söderbaum? On today's episode of the Reel Reich, we are discussing the "Marilyn Monroe" of Nazi Germany. We'll look at her career and complicity in the National Socialist film propaganda machine as well as the cont…

In Part 1 of this week's episode we follow The Avengers, a group of Lithuanian teenagers battling the Nazis from the ghettos and the forests. We discuss Anders' Army, the Soviet-assembled fighting squad that never was, and begin the story of the Jewish Brigade, the real-life Inglorious Basterds who signed up to fight Nazis and were soon swallowed b…

Welcome to Part 2 of this week's episode of the Reel Reich. If you haven't listened to Part 1, this will make very little sense to you, so go listen to that first. On Part 2 of our Inglorious Basterds episode, we are discussing the truth behind Tarantino's WWII revenge fantasy. After visiting underground partisans, army bears and the headquarters o…

Things are a little different and, dare we say, spooky this week on the Reel Reich. Instead of working from a film specifically about the Third Reich, we are drawing inspiration directly from the life of a legend. Underneath the piercing, mesmerizing gaze of the eternal and original Dracula, we delve into the real journey of Bela Lugosi, his vampyr…

On this episode of The Reel Reich, we are inspired by a scene in The Book Thief where they depict one of the most infamous events in the early years of Nazi rule: the book burnings. The Book Thief is a beautiful coming of age novel and film about the freedom, joy of life and humanity that we find both in the most horrible of situations and in the p…

This week on The Reel Reich we are discussing our love of Mel Brook's The Producers (1967). We delve into how this movie reflected the tumultuous political climate of 1960s America and how the public at different points in history perceives humor when it comes to Nazis and the Holocaust. We will also discuss musical theater and political pageantry …

The year is 1972. Jerry Lewis, entertainer and comedian, receives an unconventional screenplay titled 'The Day The Clown Cried'. The premise: a washed-up clown ends up in a Nazi camp and redeems himself through comedy. Lewis accepted the role and took on the first-ever attempt at a Holocaust slapstick. The film is still, to this day, unreleased. Jo…

Of all the podcasts in all the world, you had to listen to this one. This week, we're discussing the real history behind the timeless classic that is Casablanca. We'll reveal how many of the actors were victims of the very circumstances they were portraying and how the actual city of Casablanca played host to characters even more outrageous than th…

Imagine you are given the ability to time travel. What do you do with this awesome power? Obviously you go back in time to 1889 to kill Hitler, thus preventing WWII and saving millions of lives. OR WOULD YOU? And even if you did, would the outcome of history change for the better? On today's episode of the Reel Reich, we are attempting to answer on…

On Part 1 of this episode, we talk about the real trial of a Nazi spy ring discovered in New York that inspired the film Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939). The Rumrich spy trial shocked Americans by proving that suspicions of a Fifth Column, sent from Germany to subvert American democracy, were not as farfetched as people had believed. So, were ther…

On part 2 of this episode, we try to answer a simple question: In the 1930s, was fascism a foreign threat for the United States, or was it a national phenomenon? Were fascist ideas an import or were they homegrown? In a narrative that links The Birth of a Nation, the Ku Klux Klan and the isolationist movement 'America First', we trace the history o…

Today's episode is truly a foray into the unknown. An obscure Mexican wrestling film, back in 1969 -it was a weird year, wasn't it?- decided to cast John Carradine as a Nazi war criminal that plans to take over the world. And here is the catch: he is the head clown at a circus. Through a twisted landscape of both swastikas and ferris wheels, we set…

Did you know a bunch of Norwegians on skis saved the world? It might sound like an overstatement, but the Norwegian resistance thwarted the Nazi plans to develop an atomic bomb. That relatively unknown episode of World War II, as well as the first English-language film to portray it, "The Heroes of Telemark", are the subject of today's episode. Do …

Did you know a bunch of Norwegians on skis saved the world? It might sound like an overstatement, but the Norwegian resistance thwarted the Nazi plans to develop an atomic bomb. That relatively unknown episode of World War II, as well as the first English-language film to portray it, "The Heroes of Telemark", are the subject of today's episode. Do …

This is Part 2 of our Hitler Youth episode. Join us in this journey to explore the experiences of millions of children in Nazi Germany, from the early enthusiasm to the tragedy of the war years. Given the current events in the United States, we wanted to lend our support to the Black Lives Matter movement and all anti-racist movements across the gl…

Ever wonder about how the Nazi boy scouts got their start? Join us as we explore some of the themes raised by the movie Jojo Rabbit and examine the history of the Hitler Youth. We discuss the intentions and driving forces behind a machine whose gears transformed innocent children into "political soldiers". Given the current events in the United Sta…

"Nazis? I hate these guys!" is just one of the many great lines from the Indiana Jones saga. But hey, did any of you wonder: what is a Nazi doing in the South American jungle? Were the Nazis actually involved in expeditions and relic hunting all around the world? Was any of them a Wizard? Well, I'm not telling you. I guess you will have to listen t…

If you listened to Part 1 of this episode, you know the Nazis were looking for the lost continent of Atlantis and there was also a wizard in there somewhere, honestly, it was pretty wild. But you've seen nothing yet. In Part 2, we'll meet a real-life German Indiana Jones and his indefatigable companion Bug Man. And the travel all the way to Tibet! …

Hey there! This here is just a cheeky episode Zero to tell you who we are and what the podcast will be about. Do you like movies? Do you go to the movies just for the popcorn like we do? Are you a history buff? Do you enjoy poking fun at history? If so, hop on! We'll show you a world of movie goons, bad German accents, one-liners and most important…