Three Indie Podcasts About Classic Hollywood

Classic Hollywood was not simply a place and time where movies were made. It was where the magic happened, on and off the screen. Classic Hollywood wasn’t just about the classic movies being made — Citizen Kane, King Kong, Arsenic And Old Lace, It Happened One Night, Casablanca. The movie stars — backed by the studios and their P.R. machine — were depicted as larger than life, living lives of pampered luxury, extravagance, and, at times, even debauchery.

Three of the best podcasts that depict that time, those movies, and those movie stars are From Beneath The Hollywood Sign, Stars Of The Golden Age, and You Must Remember This.

In this article, we’ll cover these three podcasts, all of which have two attributes in common. First, they are superb historians of Classic Hollywood, and second, they all started as indie podcasts, which we know is often the source of most creativity within the podcasting industry.

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You Must Remember This

You Must Remember This is the podcast dedicated to exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. The podcast was created and is written, produced, and narrated by Karina Longworth, and launched as a passion project in April 2014.

Longworth was one of the first indie podcasters to receive wide exposure and attract a large audience. Longworth’s striking, breathless delivery and flair for dramatic writing and social criticism won her a large following.

The show has been a 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Winner, TV & Film, and

Best Podcast of 2020 & 2021: ​Esquire, MASHABLE, TIME,​ ​Rolling Stone​, ​Teen Vogue​,​ ​IndieWire​, ​Vulture.

My favorite season was titled Dead Blondes, which explored Hollywood and the larger culture’s fascination with blonde women as perfect angels, perfect sex objects, and perfect victims. From Jean Harlow to Veronica Lake, Marilyn Monroe to Dorothy Stratten, this season told the stories of eleven actresses who died unusual, untimely, or otherwise notable deaths which, in various ways, have outshone these actresses’ careers and lives. ​

While distributed by networks like Panoply, Longworth maintains autonomy to create self-contained seasons on diverse, researched topics. Essentially, it’s an independent voice supported by larger networks, making it a highly respected model for independent podcasting.

You Must Remember This remains a shining example of how indie podcasts can become successful and break into the zeitgeist.

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From Beneath The Hollywood Sign

One of the best independent podcasts to cover the Golden Era of Old Hollywood is From Beneath The Hollywood Sign, a superb entertainment podcast that features splendid film analysis and criticism, riveting bio of movie stars, and carefully researched narratives.

Here are co-hosts and creators Steve Cubine and Nan McNamara describing their show: “If you want Tyrone Power instead of Tom Hardy, Jennifer Jones instead of Jennifer Lawrence, or Robert Mitchum rather than Robert Pattinson, then From Beneath The Hollywood Sign is the gin joint for you.” For classic Hollywood fans, they will recognize that “gin joint” references a famous line from the movie Casablanca.

Each week, writer and producer Steve Cubine and actress and writer Nan McNamara explore, discuss, and dissect the magical, mysterious, amusing, and sometimes bizarre tales of Old Hollywood.

In fact, in November, From Beneath The Hollywood Sign was named one of the Top 100 Hollywood Podcasts by Feedspot.

From Beneath The Hollywood Sign has excellent production values, with co-hosts who synchronize like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, whose 10 Hollywood films showcased their chemistry and elegant, innovative dance style, just as Steve and Nan exhibit their discerning podcasting hosting style.

It’s evident that Steve Cubine and Nan McNamara possess loads of talent in front of the camera and mic, as well as other creative roles. The duo is one of the best co-hosting teams in podcasting.

The research done is exhaustive, and the narrative formed by the team to present in episodes is sonically captivating. Moreover, the podcast also focuses on classic actors you may not have heard of, as well as the well-known stars, and is not afraid to relate tragic tales of those who fell victim to the brutalism that was an ineffable part of Old Hollywood.

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Stars Of The Golden Age

Here’s her elevator pitch for Stars of the Golden Age “It’s a show that highlights the lives of legends from film, music, and the birth of television during Hollywood’s Golden Age and the few years surrounding it. I will dive into the early lives that led to stardom for some of the biggest names in Hollywood’s golden age… and I’ll shine the light on some lesser-known names as well.”

Carlson began the podcast in June 2024 and started strong, with an episode on actress Vivian Leigh of Gone with The Wind fame, who suffered from mental illness for much of her life. Since then, she has maintained a consistent release schedule, and her show is technically solid, featuring superior sound quality. Moreover, Carlson is an outstanding narrator. She doesn’t rush, adds pauses, so the listener can reflect, and inserts just enough of her views and experiences to be interesting without being disruptive.

To be clear, Carlson focuses more on the star’s personal life than their acting career. Therefore, it’s not a movie review podcast.

My favorite episodes so far are about movie stars I knew little about. For example, the April 8th show on Robert Mitchum, who was decidedly one of the unlikeliest people to become a movie star.

Carlson tells us: “Actor Robert Mitchum graced movie and television screens from the 1940s into the 1990s. He had such a cool and unique presence, and just wait until you hear about the wild life he led! Robert Mitchum was no ordinary man. His story is quite a wild tale.”

She wasn’t kidding. Brawls, arrests, pot smoking (remember, this is the 1950s), multiple affairs, and carousing were trademark Mitchum habits.

During Women’s History Month, Carlson shared the tales of three trailblazing women — Mary Pickford, Ida Lupino, and Lucille Ball.

Creator /host Erin Carlson doesn’t viciously attack these movie stars. Nor does she attempt to vilify them. Instead, in a tone I can only describe as “Midwestern Earnest,” Erin narrates the life stories of movie stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood with an invigorating sense of wonder and admiration. Listening to her show, you’ll quickly learn that many of those stars had brutal, often violent, childhoods.

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The generation that lived and remembered movies before there was TV is rapidly disappearing. With movie theaters struggling financially and fewer movies being released to theaters, moviegoing is no longer one of the primary leisure activities of Americans. Everything from video games, streaming TV, and social media has disrupted that dominance from long ago.

But in the 30s and 40s, movies were the dominant form of entertainment. The 1939 film, Gone With The Wind, earned $390-$400 million in old dollars in its initial release. Adjusted for inflation, it is the highest-grossing film of all time, with $3.4 to $3.5 billion in receipts. Take that, Avatar and Titanic! These three superb indie podcasts return you to the golden age of movies and movie stars.