Things to Consume Your Time & Attention

A few things I’ve been enjoying recently:

The Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick

The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary from PBS. It’s available to stream for free on the PBS website/app, but only if you live in the US. For those of us fortunate enough not to live in the Greatest Country on Earth™, there are some hoops to jump through to watch it.

The easiest set of hoops I’ve found is to use the free built-in VPN in the Opera web browser. You can easily select the US as your VPN zone and enjoy the web as our freedom-loving friends see it.

The documentary is exhaustive and is propelled by remarkable interviews with participants from Both Sides™ of the war. It will leave you wondering how it could have ever been allowed to happen, and terrified that it will happen again.

How F*cked Up Is Your Management?How F*cked Up Is Your Management by Jonathan & Melissa Nightingale

Jonathan & Melissa Nightingale have gathered some of their best writing from their excellent blog, The Co-Pour. They discuss and share what they’ve learned about the mechanics and humanity of working with people in a business. It’s short, easy to read, has a profane title, and a fine domain name: hfuiym.com.

Hidden America with Jonah Ray

Hidden America with Jonah RayI came to know Johan Ray though his co-hosting of the Nerdist podcast. He plays the host of a fake travel show, Hidden America with Jonah Ray, which is generally a spoof of low-budget cable travel shows, but occasionally drifts into absurd horror.

Watching it from outside the US is frustrating. It’s a great show – but it’s barely worth jumping through the hoops required. Like The Vietnam War doc, you’ll need the Opera VPN to watch from outside of the US, then you need to create an account on the VRV site, and even then the show is peppered with ads that randomly interrupt playback. As I said, barely worth it – but still worth it.

If you’re not sure you want to jump through all of those hoops, the first episode (Boston) is on YouTube as is a short trailer.

 

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