Series on the modern world (and how we got here)

[David]

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.

[Sicks Bux]

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

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

[David]

Yep, HyperNormalisation is great! I had been wondering what he would make of the last four years since that came out.

[Sicks Bux]

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.

[Sicks Bux]

Just finished the series. Amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in world politics and history.

[think positive]

is it long? I’ll put it on forhubby! Sounds like his thing.

[Sicks Bux]

It's a six part mini-series. Each episode goes for a bit over an hour But the final episode is nearly two hours.

[David]

[David]

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

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

[David]

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/15 ... 5730195456