Historical Friction

Alice Procter, Abigail Fine, Helen Victoria Murray

Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Also sometimes bad wigs. Created by Alice Procter with Abigail Fine and Helen Victoria Murray.

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21 episodes
Avg 1 hr 7 min
English

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Saturday · 1 hr 19 min
Nosferatu (2024)
It's Spooky Season! This is the time for moody weather, gothic seashores, and creepy vampires! You know what includes all of those things? Dracu -- I mean, Nosferatu! In today's episode, Alice, Helen, and Abigail discuss Nosferatu (2024), directed by favorite of the podcast, Robert Eggers (e.g. Bobby Egg), starring Bill Skarsgard as Count Orlok, Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, and Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter. This episode also features an extensive look-in at Eggers' inspiration, the German Expressionist classic silent film (and complete Dracula rip-off), Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922), directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Max Schrek as Count Orlok. Both films feature a ton of live rats! So join us for a discussion on filmmaking and adaptation, 19th-century mental healthcare, vampires and their cultural uses over time, and twenty-first century dating and situationships. Also, contract law! Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
April 24 · 1 hr 34 min
The Terror (2018)
Bundle up, it's time to head to the frozen tundra! And be sure to double-check your canned goods before going or you may not like your nutritional options! In today's episode, Alice, Helen, and Abigail discuss the first season of AMC's The Terror (2018) (an adaptation of the Dan Simmons' supernatural horror novel of the same name), which takes as its focus the lost Franklin Expedition to the Arctic (1845-1848). Starring Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, Ciaran Hinds, Paul Ready, Nive Nielson, Ian Hart, and Adam Nagaitis, The Terror tells the tale of the 129 men who perished on the expedition's search for the Northwest Passage. As the historical record shows, starvation, scurvy, and even cannibalism have their roles to play, but in this version, so does a violent Inuit spirit known as the Tuunbaq. So join us for a wide-ranging discussion on Arctic exploration, maritime customs, cultural and naval understandings of cannibalism, Inuit mythology, and why we, as a species, seem so fascinated with historical disaster mysteries. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
February 20 · 1 hr 38 min
'Wuthering Heights' (2026)
Our Heights have been Wuthered! Have yours? In today's episode, Alice, Helen, and Abigail discuss the brand new Wuthering Heights film directed by Emerald Fennell, starring Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Shazad Latif, Hong Chau, and Alison Oliver, based on Emily Brontë's classic 1847 novel. From eggs to skin wallpaper, from sexy Joseph (?) to Bridgerton-esque carriage sex, from casting controversies to discourse surrounding creative adaptation, from obvious corset metaphors to obvious necklace metaphors, this film... was something, that's for sure. Was it a surface-level flop? Or a brilliant commentary on our own surface-level society? So join us, and get your Heights Wuthered! NB: if you're familiar with both the book and film, this episode is largely plot summary until the 20 minute mark, so you can start our analysis there. This episode contains explicit-ish sexual content, discussion of child and marital abuse, and mention of pregnancy loss. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Dec 22, 2025 · 56 min
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A Yuletide treat! This year, we at Historical Friction have plenty of cheeses for you meeces, as Alice, Helen, and Abigail finally discuss The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). Directed by Brian Henson, this film stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, a few other humans, and the entire Muppet cast! From how the Muppets alter the original Dickens text, to what they so brilliantly add in, from ectoplasmic spiritualism to embodied cognition and Muppet lore, this episode has a little something to fill everyone's stocking! This movie was such a childhood and Dickensian touchstone for all three of us that we're sure we'll be revisting it and referencing it on many holiday episodes Yet To Come (but that's in the future, like December 2026). Happy holidays everyone, from us here at Historical Friction! Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Dec 13, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
Welcome to Historical Friction, Festive Edition! In today's episode, Alice, Helen, and Abigail discuss the 2017 Charles Dickens biopic The Man Who Invented Christmas, directed by Bharat Nalluri, based on a non-fiction book of the same title by Les Standiford. The film follows Charles Dickens during the roughly six weeks in the autumn and winter of 1843 as he composed the now classic novella "A Christmas Carol." It stars Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens, with Christopher Plummer as the Scrooge in Dickens' mind, Jonathan Pryce as Dickens' father, Morfydd Clark as Catherine Dickens, Simon Callow as the artist John Leech, Miriam Margoyles as Dickens' housekeeper, Anna Murphy as the housemaid Tara, and a whole host of other fun cameos! But how does this film hold up in terms of Victorian material, visual, and print cultures, and as a depiction of the actual Charles Dickens? And what does it mean to invent Christmas? WHAT ACTUALLY IS CHRISTMAS? Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Nov 22, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
Historical Resurrection! Frankenstein (2025)
It's alive!!! Our podcast, that is. After more than three years, we here at Historical Friction have decided to re-start the show! And what better way to kick it off than with a discussion of Guillermo del Toro's take on Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"? Our unintential hiatus came about due to drastic life changes for all four of us (largely positive ones!), and Sara has bowed out as a regular contributor (though she's still in the group chat and may make an occasional guest appearance). But Alice, Helen, and Abigail are back, and can't wait to start podcasting again on a more regular schedule! Thanks for sticking with us, and if you're just joining, welcome! Due to the topic at hand, this episode contains discussions of death, corpses, and brief mentions of maternal death and infant/child mortality. Also, Abigail had to use her back-up voice note recording, so please excuse her audio on this episode. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find us on Instagram at @historical_friction, on Bluesky at @historicalfriction, or email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com. Bluesky: Alice - @aaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Instagram: Alice - @aliceaprocter, Abigail - @onceuponafine, Helen - @helenvmurray Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Aug 18, 2022 · 56 min
Treasure Planet (2002)
It's part three of Treasure Island adaptations this Pirate Season! In this episode, Helen gets body slammed onto the analyst's couch, as she introduces Abigail and Sara to her childhood fave, Disney's Treasure Planet (2002). In this ambitiously animated vision of a futuristic 18th century, the familiar characters of Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver and the rest are re-imagined as aliens, cyborgs and solar surfers. We talk Disney conspiracies, transitional animation styles of the early 2000s, transhumanist funny robots, and the questionable addition of The Goo Goo Dolls. Can an adaptation be considered 'historical' when it's set in outer space? Let's talk about it! Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find the podcast on Twitter at @HistoryFriction Abigail is on Twitter at @onceuponafine, Helen at @HelenVMurray and Sara at @tinyredbook Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Aug 10, 2022 · 1 hr 5 min
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
We're still in Pirate Season here, and this week Alice, Helen, Sara, and Abigail discuss Muppet Treasure Island (1996). Technically it's based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but with some significant deviations (including a weirdly racist pig tribe, and musical interludes of varying quality). Join us as we try to convince Sara that the Muppets are good, actually, even if this film is not. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find the podcast on Twitter at @HistoryFriction Find Alice at @aaprocter, Abigail at @onceuponafine, Helen at @HelenVMurray and Sara at @tinyredbook Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Aug 3, 2022 · 54 min
Treasure Island (1950)
Arrrr me mateys! Pirate Season is in full swing here at Historical Friction, and today Alice, Helen, Sara, and Abigail discuss Walt Disney's Treasure Island (1950), based on the Robert Louis Stevenson 19th-century novel of the same name. The conversation ranges from behind-the-scenes factoids on the Disney film, to the novel's influence on pirates in popular culture, from Disney's influence on the Hollywood pirate, to navigation tools used by 18th-century sailors. Sources used in today's episode include Colin Woodward's book The Republic of Pirates, and Ryan Sweet's chapter 'Pirates and Prosthetics: Manly Messages for Managing Limb Loss in Victorian and Edwardian Adventure Narratives' in the book The Victorian Male Body, edited by Joanne Ella Parsons and Ruth Heholt. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find the podcast on Twitter at @HistoryFriction Find Alice at @aaprocter, Abigail at @onceuponafine, Helen at @HelenVMurray and Sara at @tinyredbook Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Jul 27, 2022 · 48 min
The Pirate (1948)
Welcome to Historical Friction: Pirate Season! We're kicking off a series of episodes on pirates in literature and film with The Pirate (1948), a fabulously campy movie musical starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Today, Abigail and special guest Dr. Lisa Duffy discuss Golden Age pirates, Hollywood pirates, mid-century Hollywood musicals, Gene Kelly's short shorts, and where this film fits into all of these categories. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find Lisa on Twitter at @_LisaWithAnS and Abigail at @onceuponafine Find the podcast on Twitter @HistoryFriction Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Jul 20, 2022 · 1 hr 3 min
Persuasion (2022)
All agony, no hope. We here at Historical Friction decided that Netflix's new adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' was a Historical Emergency, so in this week's episode Alice, Abigail, and Helen watch this film so you don't have to -- or at least, so you have people to commiserate with over it. From jam mustaches to multiple hangovers to almost-outdoor peeing to the whaling industry, we've got you and all of your grievances about this adaptation covered. We didn't even get into the costuming in this episode, there was just too much. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find Alice on Twitter at @aaprocter, Helen at @helenvmurray, and Abigail @onceuponafine Find the podcast on Twitter @historyfriction Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Jul 14, 2022 · 1 hr
The Vikings (1958)
This week, we've got anachronistic leather daddies, siege-based penetration imagery, big old snake holes, and Tony Curtis in tiny hotpants - it's got to be a Viking episode! Sara sat down with Dr Roderick Dale to discuss The Vikings (1958), a film with some loud feelings about the Middle Ages. The film loosely adapts the sagas of King Ragnar Lodbrok (Ernest Borgnine) and his rivalrous sons Einar (Kirk Douglas) and Eric (Tony Curtis), as they invade the Kingdom of Northumbria and battle for creepy masculine ownership of the Welsh Princess Morgana (Janet Leigh). Sara and Roderick talk about how the film glamourizes the Sagas - what is surprisingly accurate to the archaeology, and what is way off base? They also discuss the film's trivialisation of sexual assault, cinema's weirdly colourless, beige vision of the medieval period, and throw in a good amount of 1950s Hollywood gossip. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find Sara on Twitter at @tinyredbook, and Roderick at @Berserkjablogg. Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
Jul 7, 2022 · 1 hr 3 min
Inferno (2016)
Nobody asked for this! Bad Film Expert and friend of the show Dr Melissa L Gustin came back, and we watched the third Dan Brown film, Inferno. This time there's maybe going to be a plague caused by a eugenicist tech bro, kind of inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy? And Robert Langdon the "Symbologist" has to stop it? It's not good. We also got mad about the geography of Florence, museum security, and the many, many wasted opportunities in this film. Nature is very much not healing. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Find Melissa on Twitter @hosmeriana, and Alice @aaprocter Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction
Jun 30, 2022 · 1 hr
The 13th Warrior (1999)
This week, Abigail, Helen and Sara are your favourite exposition crones, as we take a wild ride through The 13th Warrior (1999) - a film that probably would have made a better amusement park ride. Based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel, The Eaters of the Dead, 13th Warrior tells the story of Arab ambassador, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (Antonio Banderas) who joins forces with a band of Viking warriors to defeat an ancient, mysterious evil. As part of our ongoing series on Viking adaptations, we talk about Beowulf and its legacy, 90s 'post-racial' weirdness, cultural appropriation, and how exactly the Venus of Willendorf fits into all this. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Follow the podcast on Twitter, at @HistoryFriction. Abigail is on Twitter at @onceuponafine, Helen is at @HelenVMurray and Sara is at @tinyredbook Support the podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historicalfriction Email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com
Jun 22, 2022 · 1 hr 7 min
Affinity (2008)
In this week's episode, Alice and Helen discuss 2008 film Affinity, an adaptation of the Sarah Waters novel of the same name from 1999. Affinity is an atmospheric tale of Victorian crime and spiritualism, in which Margaret Prior (Anna Madeley), a wealthy 'lady visitor' to Millbank Prison becomes fascinated by inmate Selina Dawes (Zoe Tapper), a disgraced spiritual medium. In this installment of our Murder Girls series, we talk about historical fiction's fascination with queer women criminals, modern depictions of unjust historical prison systems, the problems of adapting huge Neo-Victorian novels, the material underpinnings of the spiritualist movement - and whether the metaphysical realm belongs to the girls and the gays. Mentioned in this episode: Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon Millbank Prison Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Follow the podcast on Twitter at @HistoryFriction. Alice is on Twitter at @aaprocter and Helen at @HelenVMurray. Support the podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historicalfriction Email us at historicalfrictionpodcast@gmail.com
May 25, 2022 · 59 min
Enola Holmes (2020)
In today's episode Alice, Abigail, Helen, and Sara discuss the 2020 Netflix film 'Enola Holmes,' starring Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill. The film follows the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, Enola, as she traipses through London looking for her missing mother and attempting to save the life of a naïve marquis. We examine how the film reflects our contemporary ideas of Victorian culture -- for better or for worse -- and we have an especial focus on fashion, traditional gender roles, and the ways this film questions and plays with gender. This episode is a loose companion piece to last week's episode on 'A Study in Terror,' but the two episodes are standalone and can be listened to in any order. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Follow the podcast on Twitter at @HistoryFriction Support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction
May 19, 2022 · 56 min
Ripper Watch: A Study In Terror (1965)
This week Alice, Helen, Sara and Abigail all got together for our third Ripper Watch episode, a recurring feature discussing the representation of the Whitechapel Murders and "Jack the Ripper" in pop culture. We watched A Study In Terror, a truly unhinged Sherlock Holmes x Jack the Ripper mishmash, featuring baby Judi Dench's beehive and Barbara Windsor. If nothing else you should listen to this episode for Abigail's cockney voice. This episode discusses murder, assault, and violence against women. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction
May 11, 2022 · 1 hr 4 min
History Emergency: The Met Gala 2022
After watching coverage from the Met Gala last week, Alice, Abigail, Sara, and Helen convened an emergency podcast session to discuss the three-alarm historical fashion fire on display on the Met Gala red carpet. They discuss their personal favourite and least favourite looks and, of course, weigh in on the Kim Kardashian/Marilyn Monroe dress controversy. This year's Met Gala was held on May 2, 2022, and had the theme 'Gilded Glamour.' Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction Follow the show on Twitter at @historyfriction
May 5, 2022 · 1 hr 3 min
The Favourite (2018)
This week, Abigail, Alice, and Helen watched Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite (2018), a gorgeous period piece set circa 1711 that explores the relationship between Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Masham. We talk about adaptation, visual coherence, and the way that playing with anachronism while having a strong sense of tone is maybe the best way to make a movie set in the past. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction Follow the show on Twitter at @historyfriction Follow Alice on Twitter at @aaprocter Follow Abigail on Twitter @onceuponafine Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenVMurray
S3 · E5
Apr 27, 2022 · 1 hr 31 min
Bridgerton (2020 and 2022)
It's time! We finally surrendered! Here is a giant episode about Bridgerton! Alice, Abigail, Helen and Sara got together to try and understand the world's straightest show. We discussed teen girl friendships, bees, sibling dynamics, and how Shonda Rhimes invented human cloning. Historical Friction is a podcast about storytelling, pop culture, the past, and why we reenact it. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/historicalfriction Follow the show on Twitter @historyfriction

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