Reel Twisty: Setting Stories Straight

Tasha and Matt, Film and True Story Enthusiasts

Investigating the real tales that "based on true stories" are about.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago ·  Video

    The Black Dahlia Part 2: Elizabeth Short’s Final Days in 1940’s Reel Twisty Los Angeles

    Send us Fan Mail We’re digging back into Elizabeth Short’s stay in California before her horrible death. Track her last days with us as we unravel the identities of Elizabeth Short and The Black Dahlia and compare both to their representation in the 2006 neo-noir film, The Black Dahlia.    Research Resources: William J. Mann, Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood The Black Dahlia “LA’s First Freeways,” PSB SoCal “The Black Dahlia of Leimert Park,” PBS SoCal “…Elizabeth Short’s Friend Reveals Rare Childhood Insight…,” Oxygen “On the History of Disease-Concepts,” Adrian Wilson “Pleurisy,” Columbia Doctors | NHS “Outmoded Diseases,” Jennie Dusheck “The Worst Thing About the Black Dahlia Case,” The Atlantic “William J. Mann on Black Dahlia,” A Little History “The Saga of the Sign,” The Hollywood Sign Trust “The Hollywood Sign Once Had a White Dot,” The Hollywood Reporter “Keep the White Spot White,” The Homestead Museum A Brief History of the Black Dahlia, Novel Suspects The Black Dahlia Murder, FBI Archives Black Dahlia, FBI Police Bulletin – Short, FBI Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short), FBI Vault “An LAPD Seeking Information Bulletin on Elizabeth Short,” FBI Archives The Black Dahlia in Hollywood Black Dahlia, Britannica “Filmmakers Say They Cracked the Infamous Black Dahlia Case…,” People “We Know How the Black Dahlia Died, But How Did She Live?” The Hollywood Reporter “Filmmakers Claim They Solved Grisly Black Dahlia Murder Case…,” TV Insider “He’s Challenging Decades of Victim-Blaming…,” LA Times Elizabeth Short, Crime & Investigation The Black Dahlia, BBC Short, Elizabeth (1925-1947), Encyclopedia.com Black Dahlia, Biography Case File: Elizabeth Short, A&E TV “Investigative Team Says They Know Who Killed the Black Dahlia,” NewsNation “Black Dahlia Investigators Claim They Found Blood Evidence…,” Los Angeles Magazine Matthew M. Gordon, Jr., Hero Cards Maj Mathew Martin Gordon Jr., Find a Grave

    The Black Dahlia Part 2: Elizabeth Short’s Final Days in 1940’s Reel Twisty Los Angeles
  2. Sep 10 ·  Video

    The Black Dahlia Part 1: Elizabeth Short’s Arrival in 1940’s Reel Twisty Los Angeles

    Send us Fan Mail It may be California’s most notorious unsolved murder, but remarkably, there are only a handful of Hollywood depictions of the 1947 death of Elizabeth Short. Why? Because the filmmakers got her story so right? Hardly.   Elizabeth Short spent less than six months in California before losing her life in one of America’s most gruesome killings. But it wasn’t the only thing she lost. Her name, her history, her autonomy – after all she experienced in death, the public stripped her of the rest.    Revisit 2006’s The Black Dahlia with us as we unravel the identities of Elizabeth Short and The Black Dahlia – and how their stories have become so intrinsically intertwined.      Research Resources: William J. Mann, Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood The Black Dahlia “LA’s First Freeways,” PSB SoCal “The Black Dahlia of Leimert Park,” PBS SoCal “…Elizabeth Short’s Friend Reveals Rare Childhood Insight…,” Oxygen “On the History of Disease-Concepts,” Adrian Wilson “Pleurisy,” Columbia Doctors | NHS “Outmoded Diseases,” Jennie Dusheck “The Worst Thing About the Black Dahlia Case,” The Atlantic “William J. Mann on Black Dahlia,” A Little History “The Saga of the Sign,” The Hollywood Sign Trust “The Hollywood Sign Once Had a White Dot,” The Hollywood Reporter “Keep the White Spot White,” The Homestead Museum A Brief History of the Black Dahlia, Novel Suspects The Black Dahlia Murder, FBI Archives Black Dahlia, FBI Police Bulletin – Short, FBI Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short), FBI Vault “An LAPD Seeking Information Bulletin on Elizabeth Short,” FBI Archives The Black Dahlia in Hollywood Black Dahlia, Britannica “Filmmakers Say They Cracked the Infamous Black Dahlia Case…,” People “We Know How the Black Dahlia Died, But How Did She Live?” The Hollywood Reporter “Filmmakers Claim They Solved Grisly Black Dahlia Murder Case…,” TV Insider “He’s Challenging Decades of Victim-Blaming…,” LA Times Elizabeth Short, Crime & Investigation The Black Dahlia, BBC Short, Elizabeth (1925-1947), Encyclopedia.com Black Dahlia, Biography Case File: Elizabeth Short, A&E TV “Investigative Team Says They Know Who Killed the Black Dahlia,” NewsNation “Black Dahlia Investigators Claim They Found Blood Evidence…,” Los Angeles Magazine Matthew M. Gordon, Jr., Hero Cards Maj Mathew Martin Gordon Jr., Find a Grave

    The Black Dahlia Part 1: Elizabeth Short’s Arrival in 1940’s Reel Twisty Los Angeles
  3. Aug 25 ·  Video

    The Social Network Part 2: The Reel Twisty Story of thefacebook.com, Accidental Billionaires, and Butt-Hurt Frat Bros. Allegedly.

    Send us Fan Mail On Feb. 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg and friends released thefacebook.com to their Harvard classmates. In a week, they had nearly 5k members. By early April, they’d launched at ten more universities, and those students were just as addicted as Harvard’s. Mark was a hero Wizkid, Eduardo Saverin had made the smartest investment of his life, and they had groupies. So how’d Mark end up with two separate lawsuits – one from his alleged best friend and business partner? In 2010, The Social Network depicted the meteoric rise and tabloid-busting drama of it all. Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich, it was an instant hit and swept awards season. But was it the truth? Or 85% exaggeration and 15% perjury? This is Part 2 of the allegedly mostly true story of how Facebook became the biggest social media platform in the world and made a bunch of frat bros tech-bro-billionaires. Allegedly. Research Resources Part 2 (See Part 1 for Rest of List): “Mark Zuckerberg’s Brutal Prank On Sequoia,” Business Insider “Facebook Creator to Debut Wirehog,” The Harvard Crimson “Wirehog, Zuckerberg’s Side Project That Almost Killed Facebook,” TechCrunch “Zuckerberg Programs New Website,” The Harvard Crimson “Facebook’s First President Sean Parker Left Company After a Scandal,” Business Insider “How Sean Parker Bounced Back...,” Business Insider “With a Little Help From His Friends,” Vanity Fair “Power Play...,” VentureBeat “Sean Parker: Agent of Disruption,” Forbes “Mark E. Zuckerberg ’06: The Whiz Behind Thefacebook.com,” The Harvard Crimson “Ten Years After Facebook, Divya Narendra Continues to Innovate,” Forbes “ConnectU Faces Skeptical Judges in Facebook Appeal,” Phys.Org “Our CEO Divya Narendra on Building SumZero in the Midst of the Credit Crisis,” SumZero Headlines “There’s a Lot You Don’t Know About Divya Narendra,” The Harvard Crimson: Fifteen Minutes “Judge Ends Facebook’s Feud With ConnectU,” The New York TImes “ConnectU’s ‘Secret’ $65 Million Settlement With Facebook,” The New York Times “The Social Network,” Aaron Sorkin “Facebook’s Settlement With Winklevosses Upheld,” CSB News “Winklevoss Twins Addicted to Facebook and Litigation,” Forbes “Not Over: Winklevoss Twins File New Suit Against Facebook,” NPR “Winklevoss Twins May Reap $300 Million From Facebook IPO,” NPR “Larry Summers Has Some Choice Words for Winklevoss Twins,” NPR “Judge Dismisses Winklevoss Case Against Facebook,” Los Angeles Times “Court Tells Winklevoss Twins to Quit Their Facebook Whining,” WIRED “Gemini IPO 2025...,” The OPC Ledger “Columbia Pictures Wins ‘Social Network’ Lawsuit...,” The Hollywood Reporter “Alleged Facebook Co-Creator Appeals...,” Deadline “Facebook ‘Co-Creator’ Continues Legal Action...,” The Guardian “Facebook Settles With Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard Classmate,” Business Insider “Who Founded Facebook? A New Claim Emerges,” The New York Times “’Social Network’ Lawsuit...,” Huffpost “Facebook Executive to Join Benchmark,” The New York Times “Matt Cohler Helped Build Facebook...,” Bryan County News “A Circle of Tech...,” The New York Times “The Ruthless Betrayal...,” Medium “Mark Zuckerberg On His Co-Founder...,” Litigationandtrial.com “Eduardo Saverin’s Net Worth Publicly Revealed...,” Forbes “Six College Students Create Job-Search Site,” Yale Daily News “Students Launch Job Search Site,” The Harvard Crimson “Facebook Founder Launches Job Networking Site ‘Joboozle,’” The Diamondback “Unfriend...,” CNET “When Facebook Was Young...,” VatorNews “The First 20 Facebook Employees...?” Business Insider “Report: Facebook to Launch Job Board,” PCMag “Stability AI Lands a Lifeline...,” TechCrunch “AI Image-Generator Startup Stability AI Looks for Reshoot...,” The Seattle Times “Sean Parker,” Forbes “Eduardo Saverin,” Forbes “Mark Zuckerberg,” Forbes “The Incredible Life and Career of Sean Parker,” Medium “Former Facebook President Sean Parker...,” CNBC

    The Social Network Part 2: The Reel Twisty Story of thefacebook.com, Accidental Billionaires, and Butt-Hurt Frat Bros. Allegedly.
  4. Aug 18 ·  Video

    The Social Network: The Reel Twisty Story of thefacebook.com, Accidental Billionaires, and Butt-Hurt Frat Bros. Allegedly.

    Send us Fan Mail On Oct. 21, 2010, The Social Network opened in 2,771 theaters across the U.S. It was clear that everyone wanted to know the juicy goss surrounding the meteoric rise of the social media network and the tabloid-busting drama (that movie trailer playing Radiohead’s Creep definitely didn’t hurt). The film made $22.4 million in its opening weekend alone, hitting number one at the box office and staying there for two consecutive weeks, and grossed $225 million worldwide against its $40 million production costs.    Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich, it was an instant hit and swept awards season. But was it really the truth?   Come along with us as we grimace through a bunch of co-eds' walks of shame to finally land on a mostly true account of how Facebook, today’s biggest social media platform with 3.07 billion active users every month (per Investopedia.com), got its start. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering – #2 and #3 in social media? Instagram and WhatsApp with 3 billion monthly active users of their own and also part of Meta, Facebook’s parent company.) Zuck is running the damn thing. Learn how he got there. Allegedly.   Research Resources: Investopedia 2026 Box Office Mojo The Accidental Billionaires The Four Facebook: The Inside Story Zucked Move Fast and Break Things “The Education of Mark Zuckerberg,” The Atlantic “About Facebook,” The Atlantic “What We Wrote About Facebook 12 Years Ago,” The Atlantic “One Way The Social Network Got Facebook Right,” The Atlantic “The Social Network: The Thrilling Facebook Creation Myth,” The Atlantic “I Was Right About Mark Zuckerberg,” The Atlantic 35 Interesting and Like-Worthy Facts About The Social Network “In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg Broke Into a Facebook User’s Private Email Account,” Business Insider “How Mark Zuckerberg Hacked Into Rival ConnectU In 2004,” Business Insider “At Last – the Full Story of How Facebook Was Founded,” Business Insider “Exclusive: How Mark Zuckerberg Booted His Co-Founder Out of the Company,” Business Insider “The (True?) Story Behind Facebook’s Founding,” Time “Inventing Facebook,” New York Magazine “Truth and the Art of The Social Network,” The Atlantic “Facebook Fakery: The Alternate Reality of Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network,” Slate

    The Social Network: The Reel Twisty Story of thefacebook.com, Accidental Billionaires, and Butt-Hurt Frat Bros. Allegedly.
  5. Jul 28 ·  Video

    A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Reel Twisty Story of the Southeast Asian and Dab Tsog

    Send us Fan Mail A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered in 1984, but for the Hmong people, the real-life terror had begun years before with the entrance of America into the Vietnam War and the CIA’s recruitment of Hmong soldiers into their “secret war.”   What began as a fight against communism is still all these years later a very real terror for an entire people – with or without the face of a nightmare spirit taking their breath while they slept. Join us as we dive into the real-life story that inspired Wes Craven and created a 42-year legacy for New Line Cinema.  If you or someone you know is looking for resources to help a Southeast Asian facing deportation, please contact the Asian Law Caucus. Research Resources: The Making of: Nightmare On Elm Street In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic 80s Horror Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy   Iran-Contra Affair - Definition, Timeline, President | HISTORY 1980s: Fashion, Movies & Politics | HISTORY Crack epidemic in the United States | Law | Research Starters | EBSCO Research Cocaine: Drug Epidemic of the ‘80’s | Springer Nature Link Crack epidemic | US History, Causes & Effects | Britannica The Contras, Cocaine, and U.S. Covert Operations CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy Special Reports - Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories And The Cia In Central America | Drug Wars | FRONTLINE | PBS CIA-RDP90-00965R000707110001-8.pdf Iran-Contra Affair, Ronald Reagan, Cold War, Nicaragua, covert operations, arms sales, political scandal, 1980s U.S. politics The Iran-Contra Affair | American Experience | Official Site | PBS Iran-Contra Affair | Definition, History, Oliver North, Importance, & Facts | Britannica Iran-Contra affair | Military History and Science | Research Starters | EBSCO Research Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs History of AIDS - Epidemic, Timeline & HIV | HISTORY ‘Dogged by Death’: The True Story Behind the Bizarre Syndrome That Inspired ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Sleep paralysis : night-mares, nocebos, and the mind-body connection : Adler, Shelley R., 1963- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive NIGHTMARES SUSPECTED IN BED DEATHS OF 18 LAOTIANS - The New York Times Wes Craven : the man and his nightmares : Wooley, John : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive TimesMachine: December 5, 1981 - NYTimes.com STRANGE ILLNESS HAS KILLED 38 ASIAN REFUGEES - The New York Times Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome in Central China (Hubei): A 16-Year Retrospective Study of Autopsy Cases - PMC Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome: The Hundred Years' Enigma | Journal of the American Heart Association Hmong History – Hmong American Center Human rights abuse in Laos: An analysis of the Hmong - Platform for Peace and Humanity Ten things to know about ICE deportations and Hmong Minnesotans Citizenship For Refugees And Asylees: How To Apply Green Card for Refugees | USCIS Resources for Southeast Asian Refugees Facing Deportation | Asian Law Caucus Keeping Count | Who are Hmong Americans? What's Happening in Minnesota Explained - Stop AAPI Hate Action Trump’s Immigration Policies are Terrorizing Asian Communities, CAPAC and Minnesota Leaders Warn | Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) How did Hmong people find their way to Wisconsin? The answer has roots in America's Secret War Sleep paralysis and folklore - Ann M Cox, 2015 New Data Shows Where ICE Has Been Most Active This Year - The New York Times Wes Craven : the man and his nightmares : Wooley, John : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

    A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Reel Twisty Story of the Southeast Asian and Dab Tsog

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Investigating the real tales that "based on true stories" are about.