148: “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” Minstrels in Hollyw...

Concerned that his movie about a former slave devoting his life to a white child’s emotional needs might be perceived as racist, Walt Disney hired known Communist Maurice Rapf to rewrite Song of the South. Rapf, the son of an MGM exec, was radicalized as a college student, and sh ...  Show more

Song of the South’s most successful re-release came in 1972 at a time when Hollywood was dealing with race by making two very different kinds of movies: Blaxploitation films, which gave black audiences a chance to see black characters triumph against white authority figures; and ...  Show more

One of the all-time great child stars reflects on anchoring six films for Walt Disney (including 'Pollyanna' and 'The Parent Trap'), breaking into grown-up roles and writing her new memoir 'Forever Young.' Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Lear ...  Show more

In this episode Ru and Michelle discuss losing friends on the journey, riding the train, lessons from motown stars, the pressures facing children of famous folk, Whitney Houston, and Walton Goggins.This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, Greats, and Warby Parker. 

We often think of Julie Andrews as the prim nanny from Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, but her personal path may have the greatest resemblance to one of her Broadway roles: Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Andrews grew up in a family strapped fo ...

This episode is brought to you by The Dark Side Of, a Parcast Original. For more episodes like this one, subscribe to The Dark Side Of on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In 1939, 16-year-old Judy Garland began filming the Wizard of Oz. While the film would become a b ...  Show more