All Episodes

Avatar | the mythological origins of the Na'vi world

Christmas Double Feature | Hallmark Movies & Die Hard

Pinnochio | how the wooden boy is more than Disney

A Christmas Carol | what Dickens did for the holiday

Wednesday (The Addams Family) | how the spooky family got its start

Black Panther | the origins of T’Challa and Wakanda

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | becoming the musical parody guy

All Quiet on the Western Front | how a WW1 story becomes about WW2

Cabinet of Curiosities | a spooky selection of horror history

Game of Thrones | how George RR Martin made it big

Halloween | why the film franchise frequently fractures

The Lord of the Rings (part 3) | the influence of the adaptations

The Lord of the Rings (part 2) | how the films got the green light

The Lord of the Rings (part 1) | why Tolkien wrote the tales

Bad Education (HOT SUMMER Replay) | the biggest theft from the best school

Steven Spielberg (Best-of Episode) | the life of a director

Bluey | the genius behind the Australian preschool show

Laal Singh Chaddha | it’s Forrest Gump, but for India

Predator (part 2) | how Prey presents the Comanche Nation

Predator (part 1) | the haphazard origins of the greatest hunter

Nope | the weird life of the guy who invented movies

Where the Crawdads Sing | on murder, the past, and author Delia Owens

The Princess Bride (Best-of Episode) | the inconceivable master adapter

Minions | how they came to influence EVERYTHING

Elvis | the real origins of the King

Spiderhead | the short story mastery of George Saunders

Stranger Things | the real-life conspiracy behind the show (Montauk!)

Jurassic Park | how dinos became a modern craze

Top Gun | when the Pentagon helps with motion pictures

Multiverse | why this modern media trend is exploding

The Staircase | when documentarians become characters

Halo | on the masterminds behind Master Chief

The Godfather | how Mario Puzo made up the mafia

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | who is the real Nicholas Cage

Pachinko | what can't be forgotten in Korean history

Sonic the Hedgehog | how the blue blur got his start

Death on the Nile | the puzzling history of the whodunit

CODA | what you don’t know about sign language

Joker (Best-of Episode) | how one villain has multiple origins

Batman (part 2) | why there’s so many different Batmen

Batman (part 1) | the mystery behind the World’s Greatest Detective

Squid Game | the hidden cultural layers behind the hit show

Texas Chainsaw Massacre | why you don’t know this film’s true story

Pam & Tommy | the crime story behind the scandal

Rom Coms | are they dead…again?

The Righteous Gemstones and Tammy Faye | the surprising origins of televangelism

Nightmare Alley | why remake a forgotten noir from the 1940’s?

Scream | why the slasher didn’t die off

Euphoria | the unknown origins of the dark teen drama

Don’t Look Up | what everybody gets wrong about satire

Best of 2021 | the finest moments of ILLITERATE this year

The Matrix | why are we getting plugged back in?

Being the Ricardos | why everyone loved Lucy

The Power of the Dog | on what makes a cowboy

The Beatles: Get Back | how their music-making process went missing

Ghostbusters | why there are aren’t that many movies

Clifford the Big Red Dog | how to create a children’s classic

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | why we love cats

You | how romance stories can be horror stories

Dune | why this unadaptable sci-fi story endures

My Hero Academia | how to bring optimism back to superheroes

James Bond (part 2) | why 007 can’t stop changing

James Bond (part 1) | inventing the world’s greatest spy

Marvel's What If…? & Star Wars: Visions | why the universe keeps expanding

Cry Macho | getting back in the saddle with Westerns

Impeachment: American Crime Story | on vanquishing the cost of shame

Only Murders in the Building | the tantalizing allure of true crime

Candyman | the history of the honey hook killer

Shrek (pt 2) | the agony and the Shrekstasy

UFO | the first footage confirmed by the Pentagon

Shrek (pt 1) | how an ogre became a hero

The Green Knight | decoding the mysterious King Arthur tale

Zola | the first movie ever written on twitter

Space Jam | dunking commercials and cartoons into a global phenomenon

Sweet Tooth | how to survive in a hopeful apocalypse

Fear Street | how Goosebumps author R.L. Stine keeps writing

Nollywood | the unbelievable empire of Nigerian films

The Fast & the Furious | how street racing became a superstar saga

In the Heights | making Lin-Manuel Miranda’s movie musical

The Conjuring | why our paranormal gets investigated

Cruella | the truth behind the 101 Dalmatians thief

Army of the Dead | where zombies really begin

The Woman in the Window | how to be a best-selling (lying) author

Shadow and Bone | on Slavic fantasy and the Grishaverse

From the Vault: Motherless Brooklyn | detectives, Tourette’s, & 20 year projects

Mortal Kombat | how to make a video game movie

The Princess Bride | the inconceivable master adapter

Promising Young Woman | on female revenge thrillers

Concrete Cowboy | the heritage of America’s Black cowboys

Godzilla vs. Kong | what the massive monsters really mean

Justice League | and the forgotten creator of superhero teams

Minari | how a Korean American family pursued the American Dream

Moxie & Mean Girls | women in punk rock and TV comedy

Nomadland | the hidden story of unsettled Americans

The United States vs Billie Holiday | the start of the Civil Rights Movement

Judas and the Black Messiah | Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party

One Night In Miami | Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Malcolm X, and Jim Brown

Shaft | on blaxploitation and Gordon Parks

Bridgerton | why the Regency era is so ROMANTIC

Weddings | the history, the celebration, and episode 100!