The Power Of Nightmares/Adam Curtis

I can't remember what the Mitrokhin Archive says about Soviet sponsorship of teroorism, but there was something. Possibly supplied by The Spy Who Came In From The Garden.

A torrent for the episode, if anyone is interested.

In the end, it was strangely calming, rather than depressing. All this will pass.

Tonight's episode was very poignant, and made me sad.

I second that. I downloaded the last two episodes last Saturday and watched them, very powerful. It's sad that there's great documentaries such as this and The White House for Sale airing on UK television, and most people in the US won't get an opportunity to see them.

Also, things that weakened his argument, such as Madrid, were kind of skipped over a bit too lightly.

Kerry seemed shoved in just in case.

Quibbles aside, top-notch television. I may even go for a month without complaining about my licence fee.

It is strange that I had never heard those people swearing as the planes hit the towers.

The cumulative effect was a kind of political version of James Burke's Connections series from the '70s. OK in shaggy dog conspiracy terms but didn't really pinpoint whether it was just the expected cocktail of bilateral incompetence, stubbornness and stupidity which led us to our current pretty pass rather than a Conspiracy as such.

I too totally agree with PJ Miller. I don't recall Madrid being mentioned at all. I couldn't get the idea out of my head that while it's fine to criticise the hysteria created by the neo-cons, (that Disney video!!), you can understand why the likes of Britain have to at least be on their guard against the kind of thing that happened in Madrid - even if we acknowledge the programme's main point that there is no such thing as monstrous Al-Qaeda.

This was the third part, part 1 was all about Afghanistan

great use of music, mind.

a) didnt really explore what Bin Laden's motivations were for trying a new policy of attacking america, going against what other islamic fundamentalist gorups were interested in (eg toppling central asian regimes*).

b) kept on repeating how the neo cons "grand mission" was some titanic battle of good vs evil, that seemed a bit suspect. are these people really solely driven by moral purpose, no matter how extreme or well, silly, that moral purpose is?

c) er i tcant think of another. but i sort of inherently dont believ things on tv when people make somewhat grandiose claims, whether they be blair, bush or some dude intoning opposing views over loads of tiny clips. it was kinda eisenstein-esque, and well, his aim was kinda totally "manipulate the viewer, worry bout factual issues later".

* interesting becasue in 2000 i was in debate with loads of russian politics students, and they savaged us about Chechnya, along the lines of "Russia is under the threat of Attack by a islamic super state, chehcnya will be the first to fall to them". We (ie a few brits) were all like, "WTF? Islamic fundamentalism? whats that? whats the issue here? quit being so paranoid!". a year later, it became a bit clearer what the idea of a threat from islamic fundamentalism might mean.

I think the current election results put this theory pretty firmly to rest, at least w/r/t "unity."

although if you ask me, chechnya is now about "you killed my brother/son, now i kill you" from both sides.

ok but russian paranoia can be viewed in relation to the number of bombings, kidnappings*, and other related incidents that are loosely connected (or are supposed to be) with Chechens**, that have plagued russia especially the south and moscow (hint: dont go there on holiday right now!) for the last 5 years. I nearly got blown up a few years back*** (i was 30 mins too early) so its kinds weird for me.

*yes i know these are not often actually really anything to do with the war, just get rich qucik schemes, but it is an easy thing to associate with other worse crimes if you want to hate on the chechens!

** I think "Chechmes" means "anyone south and east of Kislovodsk" nowadays in russia

*** Okhotny Ryad 1999. Gas explosion or bomb? apartment bombings: FSB or chechens ?!?! ooh the mystery!!!

Also inspired was using the audio from what seemed to be one of the phone calls from one of the planes used on 9/11 over the top of footage of Bush, Blair and Bin Laden in the intros to the programmes. It sounded completely unreal. If, indeed, that is what it was. In fact, that shot of Bin Laden at the start of the three programmes was possibly the best thing about all of it.

http://img114.exs.cx/img114/638/power-of-nightmares.jpg

And that not only did the programme show the amateur footage of the plane crashing into the World Trade Center, but that the 'FUCK! SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?' exclaimations weren't cut out.

(and i'm sure alan knows this by know, but the recurring eno piece was "in dark trees")

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/davis200410211043.asp

michael ledeen is quoted:
"The situation at the CIA in the '70s was very similar to what's happened over Iraq. The CIA was busy saying that the Soviets weren't involved in international terrorism. This at a time when the PLO actually had training camps in the Soviet Union."

The Soviet Union also provided training for certain terrorist
groups on its homeland, as well as spearheaded training in the territory of its Warsaw Pact allies. The Soviets sponsored terrorism
as part of an overall strategy designed to destabilize Western
Europe/NATO by supporting international and Western revolutionary
movements whose insurrectional activities would have helped
expand the communist block and further Soviet aims. In fact, a
former senior officer of Soviet Military Intelligence stated that
"ideological sympathy with the Soviet Union is unnecessary: anyone
who helps destabilize the west is our friend."

"A typical member of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLO) selected
for training behind the Iron Curtain received an orientation brief on
expected conduct while undergoing instruction, as well as ideological
orientation prior to departing for Moscow. Upon arrival he was
greeted by the PLO representative there and arrangements were
made for further travel to the individual's ultimate training
destination."

Nothing on the tech right, but concluded that perhaps the BBC wouldn't have the footage for a program on that in particular given its roots are in the US, and that maybe cuts mean their archive of say 2000 to 2012 wouldn't be as strange and vast.

Alexander McQueen was a very real, intense mofo. I don't know anything about fashion design, but it's hard not to be impressed with him.

LRB did something similar with Roger Penrose in the current issue, coincidentally.

Somewhat amused to find out that Penrose, who is 93, has an older brother. He's 96!

Think it ended too early timeline wise to have the tech stuff in a big way

What no Alan Sugar and Clive Sinclair?

"His name, was Michael Dell"

ZX Spectrum modding scene is still huge

OK not really

Confess I'd forgotten that Clive Sinclair was something of babe magnet.

Alexander McQueen was a very real, intense mofo. I don't know anything about fashion design, but it's hard not to be impressed with him.

Otm

going to start J G Farrell's Empire Trilogy this weekend just for the hell of it. There is a bit from that RTE doc that Fizzles linked that is still haunting my mind. The guy who says when he was a student he saw another student in the bar reading a copy of The Siege Of Krishnapur. And then it came back to him, oh yes, I watched the author of that book drown when i was a child.

I think this one was probably the most consistently funny show he has done

i liked it when the young folks in swindon (i think) were being interviewed and one of them speaks for about a minute on some subject (can't remember what) and then finishes by saying 'also i think the government should legalise cannabis'. wonderful stuff!

tony blair examining a pill of mdma was amusing too

yeah, the spiky haired kid. The look on the other kid's face was priceless.

The bit with the stroppy kid messing about on a dumper, arguing with someone offscreen about whether he can drive it or not, which ends on the single word, "Knobhead". Somehow even funnier because it's all happening in the dark and you can barely see anything.

― Blake the Messenger (Tom D.), Tuesday, 24 June 2025 03:49 (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes, I think that footage was from Bradford and was very much in the character of the city.

― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, 24 June 2025 04:02 (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

it reminded me of a period when I was working on the Windhill estate for a few years. Rough as fuck but never a dull moment.

― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino),

Wyke

https://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/5075/Eyes-of-a-Child

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7486413,-1.7756917,3a,75y,134.29h,80.26t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1swlwjXcrnXCJFnpX6E3ZSlA!2e0!5s20090801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D9.738777815894792%26panoid%3DwlwjXcrnXCJFnpX6E3ZSlA%26yaw%3D134.29004068690386!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYyMy4yIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

That's where my sister's ex-husband is from. I stayed a night above the shop his dad owned on that estate at some point in the 80's. It's quite posh by Bradford standards!

Knobhead is one of the finest words in the language.

did Trevor Horn invent the remix tho?

this was a fantasy

https://i.ibb.co/212TqQMG/Screenshot-2025-07-04-at-08-32-23.png

Looking back again at The Acre in 2009, this car!

A friend bumped into Adam Curtis on a bus - got a selfie and everything, which is hilarious to me - and the big news he managed to get out of him is that the voiceover is BACK for the next project.

YESSSS

dunno why this is so funny but agree that it is

Let's fucking go etc

I tried to get in touch with him before but cannot even find an agent contact.

I watched Century of the Self again last week and I still think it might be his best

fuck yeah (to return of adam curtis voiceover)

it's great because it shows humility and some of the humiliation aspects of the human condition that are universal! First he was chastened by youtube parodies that hurt in some deep way and then he says ah fuck it lets just carry on as I started!

No Context Adam Curtis Intertitles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAnoYLg44QI