FRONTLINE: the pbs documentary series not the flea medicine

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1tFDsL_mwBY/maxresdefault.jpg

The first hour is practically political Guns Of August. You know what's going to happen and each time there's an inevitable escalation I'm shouting "ugh no! don't do it!" when it eventually turns to shit. I can't help but notice just how invisible and/or ineffective the Democratic party (as establishment, brand, political force, or whatever you want to define it) is - there's four hours and barely a peep from them.

Great episode, would totally use it in that alternative universe where I'm a sociology professor and teaching a class on demographic failure.

Yeah Divided States was like watching a highlight reel of everything shitty that has happened since 2008, like condensed poisoned soup. Still worth it to be reminded in detail how we got here.

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera),

otm. i just finished the first 2 hours. it is very good so far. it's the frontline standard of quality that we've all come to expect.

i was kind of surprised that i already knew most of the details. i suppose the obama presidency was the first one that i followed very closely from beginning to end. i didn't really become politically conscious until the invasion of iraq, and even then i spent most of the rest of the gwb years burblin' around in the haze of early 20s amoeba goo. but i remember the events covered in the divided states of america quite vividly.

i had sort of forgotten about ben nelson, though. god what a fucking asshole

i had forgotten about henry paulson
the luxury of forgetting is a luxury we no longer have now that there is a rabid moneybeast, a Puritan, and a Nazi in the WH :(

really looking forward to watching divided states. can't believe i've never noticed this thread before, incredible title

"Divided States" was excellent. Anyone watch "Trump's Road To the White House"? Recap of the dire and destructive methods Trump employed to become President.

i couldnt do it

I watched half and stopped. Maybe someday but not yet.

yeah i was hyped for divided states but the opener was all the palin business and i had to can it

Hearing her voice again is a chore of the highest magnitude.

not exactly frontline, but American Experience is doing a few documentaries about right-wing extremism: Oklahoma City this week and Ruby Ridge next

i was just coming here to post - domestic terror ahoy, folks

just finished oklahoma city
the rescue testimonials & survivor stories are heartbreaking, crawling through all of that unstable wreckage must have been such a nightmare
it's still today shocking to see the scale of damage

& fkn McVeigh chaps me so much

on the one hand I don't hate that he was executed bcz jfc

but on the other hand that that smug pos says o yes i was the mastermind & goes out in a blaze of lethally injected glory makes me insane
that sic semper tyrannus shirt has always pissed me off too

ugh sorry

i have been avoiding watching the new one about the guy who eats fish every day and then reports on it.
has anyone seen it? the premise does not seem quite up to frontline standards :-/

yeah i gave that one a wide berth too

Haha fishing, berth, iswydt

unintentional i swear

We're going to have to dock you for that one.

don't they do a lot of episodes about farming though? this seems like the same wheelhouse. or are you just saying they're not given to telling... fish stories?

it seems more like a morgan spurlock pitch than a Frontline story imo

I was saying it seems kind of boring as research topics go. I'm sure it's better than I think it is and the conceit is just a trick to "lure the viewer"
If this were an article, I would not read it.

clickbaity kinda

That's what I meant by lure the viewer. I would not click on this if it weren't Frontline and I feel like it's gotta be better than I think it is. I was hoping someone had watched it/would vouch for it being more than as described above

I will watch it and report back, I love the ocean

This one looks pretty good, Second Chance Kids (about juvenile offenders who receive life sentences)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/second-chance-kids/

Also thank you f. hazel for your service

OK, I have watched the Fish Every Day episode. It is not essential viewing. The focus is more on the state of aquaculture and various fishing methods than the "eat fish for a year" schtick that just kinda frames the narrative a little. It's actually pretty funny how he expects it to maybe improve his health and then they show him talking to various doctors and they're clearly like "WTF? why would you think this would do anything except expose you to too much mercury? there is no real research to back up these mad health claims why didn't you Google a little before eating nothing but fish for a year". But I liked it because it was only a little melancholy and not relentlessly grim like some Frontlines can be.

"Poverty, Politics & Profit" out May 9th.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/poverty-politics-and-profit/

the one about affordable housing is a Frontline classic of investigative journalism
classic Laura Sullivan worship from the camera too
i liked when they went to Costa Rica and talked with Dax
vouchers are bs

also -- housing developer greed story in the USA serving as metaphor for state of the USA in general :(

ALSO i am officially psyched about the upcoming one on MILITIAS/the Bundy situation
the FBI posed as a documentary film crew and got inside scoop!!

definitely feel i can skip "i ate fish every day" now that they are back to their usual programming

whoa was the militia one yesterday? says 5/16 on website. i think i know what i'm watching tonight. did you see the american experience episodes about ruby ridge and timothy mcveigh (two shows, overlapping content)

I just saw a teaser for the militia one that promised insider FBI footage. Have not seen those other eps!!

they're both on netflix

ruby ridge & mcveigh eps were really good

Considering donning a hazmat suit for tonight's BANNON'S WAR

Militia one ("American Patriot") was pretty good, definitely recommend if you are interested in the topic

ALSO the one about affordable housing is a nice complement to this piece about Kushnerville https://www.propublica.org/article/the-beleaguered-tenants-of-kushnerville

i was a bit disappointed in the militia one, more for the lack of historical context etc but overall it was p good

There's a "for mature viewers only" content warning before Bannon's War
Lol/sob

watched the soon-to-be-on-Frontline film 'Abacus' last night; interesting portrait of a family and the incompetence of the feds

http://www.abacusmovie.com/

That sounds cool! looking forward to seeing it.

I'm done with Bannon's War and ready to suggest it as essential viewing for people who are like "how did this happem?!"
It explains (rather soberly, imo) how this happened

oops that is supposed to say *happen

Ben Shapiro is nauseating in this, describing his decision to quit as a result of breitbart's turn away from "journalist integrity"when they began attacking trump's opponents during the primary.

Pffffft

Everything about the whole doc made me want to puke. But it was very clear and explained a lot.

sorry to put a typo in quotes! "journalistic integrity", of course.

You were busy puking it's ok!

*pukey thumbs up*