All Articles — Page 22
Every story we've published, newest first
The Apprentice (2024) vs. History: How Accurate Is the Trump Biopic?
The Apprentice (2024) accuracy: Ali Abbasi's Trump biopic covers Roy Cohn, the DOJ housing case, and Trump Tower. We score what it gets right and what it distorts.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Yuan Beijing (Khanbaliq), 1280
Khanbaliq is Yuan dynasty Beijing - Kublai Khan's capital and the largest, richest city on earth in 1280. Here is how to survive arriving without a plan.
A Complete Unknown vs. History: How Accurate Is the Bob Dylan Biopic?
A Complete Unknown accuracy check: Mangold's Bob Dylan biopic follows him from 1961 to Newport 1965. We score each scene against the historical record.
The MG42: How Hitler's Buzzsaw Set the Pattern for Every Modern Machine Gun
The MG42 machine gun fired so fast it sounded like tearing canvas. Allied troops called it Hitler's Buzzsaw, and its descendants still arm NATO armies eighty years later.
If Cleopatra Lived Today: The Sovereign Wealth Operator Who Picks Her Own Husbands
If Cleopatra lived today, she'd run a sovereign wealth fund, speak eight languages, and marry strategically. The ancient queen's political playbook maps perfectly onto 2026.
Origins: Where Coffee Was Actually Invented
The origins of coffee trace not to an Ethiopian goatherd but to 15th-century Sufi mystics in Yemen, who first roasted, ground, and brewed the bean into a drink.
The Tupac Shakur Murder and the Keffe D Arrest: 27 Years to a Charge
The Tupac Shakur murder went unsolved for 27 years. On a Las Vegas street in September 1996, he was shot from a white Cadillac. In 2023, Keffe D Davis was charged.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Crusader Jerusalem, 1100
Your guide to Crusader Jerusalem in 1100: what to wear, who not to talk to, and why the Latin garrison is still jumpy nine months after the slaughter of July 1099.
Arsenal: The M1 Garand, the Rifle That Won the War
The M1 Garand, Patton's greatest battle implement ever devised: how John Garand's semiautomatic rifle gave American infantry a decisive firepower edge in World War II.
Conclave vs. History: How Accurate Is the Papal Election Drama?
Edward Berger's Conclave delivers remarkable conclave movie accuracy for its Sistine Chapel rituals and ballot procedures, while dramatizing the politics freely.
The Gilgo Beach Killer and Rex Heuermann: A Cold Case Cracked, A Mystery Still Open
The Gilgo Beach killer went unidentified for thirteen years. Rex Heuermann's 2023 arrest cracked the case open, but several Ocean Parkway murders remain unsolved.
If Julius Caesar Lived Today: The Self-Branded Populist Who'd Cross Every Line
If Julius Caesar lived today, he would build a media empire, co-opt a movement, and walk into the capital with a following no institution could legally stop.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Stalinist Moscow, 1937
A visitor's guide to Stalinist Moscow 1937 at the height of the Great Terror: what to wear, say, and never write down as a foreigner in Stalin's capital.
The Macedonian Sarissa: The Eighteen-Foot Pike That Conquered the World
Philip II's eighteen-foot Macedonian sarissa turned his phalanx into the most feared formation in the ancient world, carrying Alexander the Great to India and back.
If Alcibiades Lived Today: The Geopolitical Fixer Who'd Sell Out Every Side
If Alcibiades lived today, he'd be the geopolitical fixer every rival capital phones: brilliant, unreliable, indispensable. How Athens' ultimate traitor maps onto 2026.
The Julia Wallace Murder: Liverpool's Perfect Crime
The Julia Wallace murder of 1931 remains one of Britain's unsolvable crimes. An insurance agent, a fake address, and a battered wife - no one has ever been proven guilty.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Norman Palermo
Your guide to Norman Palermo in 1170, where Latin knights, Arab viziers, and Greek bishops served the same king in one of the medieval world's most cosmopolitan courts.
Walk the Line vs. History: How Accurate Is the Johnny Cash Movie?
Walk the Line fact check: Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-nominated portrayal of Johnny Cash. We examine the real story of Johnny and June Carter Cash in Mangold's 2005 biopic.
The Mongol Composite Bow: How a Recurve of Horn and Sinew Conquered Eurasia
The Mongol composite bow built history's largest land empire. How a recurve of horn and sinew let horse archers outrange and outlast every medieval rival.
Casino vs. History: How Accurate Is Scorsese's Las Vegas Epic?
Casino movie accuracy is surprisingly high: Scorsese's 1995 epic gets the mob skim, Spilotro's reign of terror, and the Indiana cornfield murders strikingly right.
The Devil's Footprints of Devon: A Single Night of Cloven Tracks Across Southern England
The Devil's Footprints of Devon: on February 9, 1855, cloven hoofprints appeared across rooftops and frozen fields for over 100 miles. No explanation has ever held up.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Fin de Siècle Vienna
Fin de siecle Vienna in 1900: the capital of a doomed empire where Klimt, Freud, and Mahler were quietly inventing the twentieth century over coffee.
The AK-47: How a Soviet Sergeant's Rifle Became the World's Weapon
Mikhail Kalashnikov's 1947 design is the most-produced firearm in history. The story of how the AK-47 escaped Soviet origins and ended up in 80 million hands worldwide.
Spring-Heeled Jack: The Victorian Phantom Who Terrorized London for 70 Years
Spring-Heeled Jack terrorized Britain for 70 years: between 1837 and 1904, hundreds reported a leaping, fire-breathing attacker who was never caught or identified.