You Must Remember This

You Must Remember This is a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. It’s the brainchild and passion project of Karina Longworth (founder of Cinematical.com, former film critic for LA Weekly), who writes, narrates, records and edits each episode. It is a heavily-researched work of creative nonfiction: navigating through conflicting reports, mythology, and institutionalized spin, Karina tries to sort out what really happened behind the films, stars and scandals of the 20th century.

TV & Film
201
67: MGM Stories Part 12: Lana Turner
The legendary "Sweater Girl" was one of MGM’s prized contract players, the epitome of the mid-century sex goddess on-screen and an unlucky-in-love single mom off-screen who would burn through seven husbands and countless affairs. After nearly...
43 min
202
66: MGM Stories Part 11: David O. Selznick Part...
In 1941, Selznick signed a young actress named Phylis, who was then married to actor Robert Walker. Selznick renamed Phylis “Jennifer Jones,” and set to work turning her into a star, helping her to earn an Oscar for her first film under...
43 min
203
65: MGM Stories Part 10: David O. Selznick Part...
In 1930, after putting in time at MGM and RKO, Paramount executive David O. Selznick married Irene Mayer, the daughter of L.B. Mayer. Irene’s father would soon thereafter bring Selznick to MGM to fill in for an ailing Irving Thalberg, but MGM...
30 min
204
64: MGM Stories Part 9: Spencer Tracy
When Spencer Tracy signed with MGM, he was a character actor better known for his problem drinking (and very public extramarital affair with Loretta Young) than for his movie hits. But the studio made him a star, and by the time Katharine Hepburn was...
40 min
205
63: MGM Stories Part 8: Eddie Mannix
The studio fixer who covered up the darker, more scandalous actions of MGM’s biggest names.
40 min
206
62: MGM Stories Part 7: MGM's children: Mickey ...
MGM's children: Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
40 min
207
61: MGM Stories Part 6: Jean Harlow
The archetype of a blonde sex goddess.
41 min
208
60: MGM Stories Part 5: William Haines and Holl...
The rare silent star who made a relatively smooth transition to sound films, William “Billy” Haines was one of the top box office stars of the late 1920s-early 1930s. Beginning in 1926, Haines started living with Jimmie Shields, and the...
37 min
209
59: MGM Stories Part 4: John Gilbert and Greta ...
Hollywood's first great, tragic love affair.
35 min
210
58: MGM Stories Part 3: Buster Keaton’s Biggest...
The indie master of vaudeville sells out.
42 min
211
57: MGM Stories Part 2: Marion Davies, William ...
The real couple behind Hollywood's greatest film.
36 min
212
56: MGM Stories Part 1: Louis B. Mayer vs. Irvi...
The rise of the most powerful man in Hollywood.
39 min
213
55: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 12: The Ma...
The trials of the Manson family became a kind of public theater which a number of current and future filmmakers found themselves caught up in. Joan Didion bought a dress for a Manson girl to wear to court, Dennis Hopper visited Manson in prison, and a...
52 min
214
54: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 11: Death ...
After the murders, Manson moved his family to the depths of the California desert. There, even before they were finally apprehended by the law, their utopia started to fall apart. Hollywood was in the process of being changed by Dennis Hopper's Easy...
43 min
215
53: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 10: Roman ...
Roman Polanski was in London the night his pregnant wife was murdered in their home. He returned to Los Angeles, devastated, to find himself wanted for questioning in a crime which the LAPD, initially, had no idea how to solve.
41 min
216
52: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 9: August ...
Over the course of a single weekend, half a dozen hippies massacred seven people. This episode includes disturbing details about very violent crimes.
47 min
217
51: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 8: Sharon ...
While trying to launch her own acting career, Sharon Tate fell in love with, and eventually married, Roman Polanski, the hotshot Polish filmmaker who had his first massive American hit in the summer of 1968, Rosemary’s Baby.
29 min
218
50: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 7: Sharon ...
In the first of two episodes about the Manson Family’s most famous victim, we’ll trace actress Sharon Tate’s early years, her romance with celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, and the on-set affair that changed the course of...
30 min
219
49: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 6: Kenneth...
The first person to go to jail for a Charles Manson-associated murder was Bobby Beausoleil, a charismatic would-be rock star who had put in time as a muse to Kenneth Anger -- child actor-turned-occultist experimental filmmaker and author.
47 min
220
48: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 5: Doris D...
Charles Manson became convinced his best chance at rock stardom was impressing Terry Melcher, a record executive who had made stars out of The Byrds, who was also Doris Day's son and Candice Bergen's boyfriend.
43 min
221
47: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 4: Spahn R...
After wearing out his welcome at Dennis Wilson’s house, Manson moves his family to Spahn Ranch, a dilapidated Western movie set where the cult starts preparing for Helter Skelter, Manson's made-up apocalypse inspired by The Beatles.
38 min
222
46: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 3: The Bea...
In this episode we’ll talk about Charlie Manson’s arrival in Los Angeles, discuss Dennis Wilson’s life and the role he played in enabling Manson’s rock n’ roll delusions, and explain how The Beach Boys came to record a...
45 min
223
45: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 2: How Man...
Today we're tracing Charles Manson's life from his birth to a teenage con artist, through multiple stints in reform schools and prisons, and finally to San Francisco circa 1967, where Manson began to try out his guru act on the local hippie kids.
34 min
224
44: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 1: What We...
This season, You Must Remember This will explore the murders committed in the summer of 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. Today, we’ll talk about what was going on in the show business capital that made Manson seem like a relatively normal guy.
35 min
225
43: Star Wars Episode XVI: Van Johnson
Van Johnson was MGM’s big, all-american heartthrob during World War II, an one of the most reliably bankable stars in Hollywood, on and off, for over a decade. Off-screen, he was an introvert with a mysterious personal life.
42 min