Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board Forum Index
 The RulesThe Rules FAQFAQ
   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   CalendarCalendar   SearchSearch 
Log inLog in RegisterRegister
 
Series on the modern world (and how we got here)

Users browsing this topic:0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 0 Guests
Registered Users: None

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board Forum Index -> Victoria Park Tavern
 
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:20 pm
Post subject: Series on the modern world (and how we got here)Reply with quote

Really recommend you drop what you’re doing and check out Adam Curtis’s new documentary series Can’t Get You Out of My Head. It takes a historical overview of basically everything that’s led to the current moment: the ascendance of China, the election of Trump, the fallout from the decline of the British Empire, the rise of technology and the surveillance state, conspiracy theory culture and a whole lot of other stuff. I tend to find ordinary documentaries a little boring, but Curtis’s use of archival footage, music and storytelling is really unusual and interesting.

First episode (out of six) is here: https://youtu.be/MHFrhIAj0ME
(you can find the rest on YouTube easily enough)

Would be interested to hear what other people here make of it.

_________________
All watched over by machines of loving grace
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger  
Sicks Bux Sagittarius

Hal 2003-2019


Joined: 30 Jun 2020
Location: Me Island Ome

PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:45 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

I enjoyed his doco HyperNormalisation, so i'll check it out.

HyperNormalisation can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thLgkQBFTPw

_________________
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message  
David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:03 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, HyperNormalisation is great! I had been wondering what he would make of the last four years since that came out.
_________________
All watched over by machines of loving grace
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger  
Sicks Bux Sagittarius

Hal 2003-2019


Joined: 30 Jun 2020
Location: Me Island Ome

PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:19 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

Just watched part one. Fascinating stuff. I never knew Chairman Mao's wife was such a character. I'll watch the rest over the weekend.
_________________
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message  
Sicks Bux Sagittarius

Hal 2003-2019


Joined: 30 Jun 2020
Location: Me Island Ome

PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 3:25 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished the series. Amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in world politics and history.
_________________
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message  
think positive Libra

Side By Side


Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Location: somewhere

PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:11 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

is it long? I’ll put it on forhubby! Sounds like his thing.
_________________
You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either!
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message  
Sicks Bux Sagittarius

Hal 2003-2019


Joined: 30 Jun 2020
Location: Me Island Ome

PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:57 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a six part mini-series. Each episode goes for a bit over an hour But the final episode is nearly two hours.
_________________
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message  
David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:17 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

I just finished it myself – brilliant series, and I learned so much from it. My only real disappointment is that he didn’t spend more time on the Trump era and had to pack so much in to the last 20-30 minutes of the final episode. It was certainly worth the wait once he started talking about the twin conspiracy theories of Russiagate and Qanon and the way social media algorithms worked to foster that kind of "high-arousal" material, but I reckon he could have easily devoted a whole episode to it.

Some highlights:

• Jiang Qing’s rise and fall (x2)
• The Afeni Shakur trial
• The twentieth-century rebirth of the Illuminati conspiracy theory as the ultimate pisstake of conspiracy theories
• The juxtaposition of Jihadists, the 20th century KKK and late British colonialists as parallel groups born from seemingly benign (and entirely made-up) nostalgia for old Britain.
• Chinese social credit as a fulfilment of BF Skinner’s ideas in Walden Two (if there’s a bleaker picture of the future, it’s hard to imagine one)
• That terrifying Google DeepDream sequence!
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger  
David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:19 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

Really good discussion with Curtis about his series here (from 5:00):

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/VhqgvaxzpLc6kvLk8

_________________
All watched over by machines of loving grace
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger  
David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 4:34 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

Curtis's new project looks very interesting: it's a chronicle of Russia from 1985 to 1999, basically covering the end of the Soviet Union through to the rise of Putin. There's a trailer here that gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect:

https://twitter.com/jonronson/status/1577996825730195456

_________________
All watched over by machines of loving grace
Back to top  
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger  
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board Forum Index -> Victoria Park Tavern All times are GMT + 11 Hours

Page 1 of 1   

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum



Privacy Policy

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group