Cover art for When They Were Making It (WTWMI), the popular film history podcast by writer and film historian Patrick Rankin.

About the show

Classic Hollywood was one of the most concentrated bursts of human creativity, ambition, and contradiction in modern history. In the space of a few decades, a handful of studios in a patch of Southern California invented an art form, built an industry, and produced some of the most enduring stories ever put on screen.

When They Were Making It goes behind those stories — into the rehearsal rooms, the contract disputes, the on-set crises, and the private lives that shaped what ended up in the frame. Each episode covers a single figure or film, in depth, without shortcuts.

When They Were Making It is a single-host narrative documentary podcast — no interviews, no panel discussions — with original music composed for the series. Subjects range from Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn to Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, and the making of films like Casablanca, Sunset Boulevard, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Every episode takes its subject seriously — no lionizing or dismissing — the full human story, without myths or shortcuts.

Patrick Rankin, writer, film historian, and host of When They Were Making It (WTWMI), the popular classic film history podcast.

About the host

Patrick Rankin is the creator, writer, producer, and host of When They Were Making It.

He holds a Master's degree from Sciences Po Paris, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Toronto, and has a background in television and film production.

He has spent over a decade researching and writing about the golden age of Hollywood — its films, its figures, and the forces that shaped both. With When They Were Making It, he brings rigorous research and carefully crafted storytelling to classic Hollywood history.

When They Were Making It is dedicated to the stories behind classic Hollywood's most enduring films and its most extraordinary lives.

A century of Marilyn.

A close-up portrait of a woman with platinum blonde hair styled in vintage waves, wearing red lipstick, a diamond necklace, and looking at the camera with a seductive expression.

June 1, 2026, marks 100 years since Marilyn Monroe was born. To honor her centennial, WTWMI launches with a three-part series tracing her invention, her rise, and the cost of becoming the most famous woman in the world.

Listen to Part One, Part Two, and Part Three now.

A story of strength, ambition, and self-invention — about a girl who shouldn't have had a chance, and the woman she gave everything to become.

WTWMI — listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.