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Reviews
America's Untold Story (2018)
A History That Truly Needs to be Told
I have studied history and taught it professionally at the university level, but in spite of how much history I have learned, I still regularly stumble upon a story from the past that is important but which I have never heard about, and such is the case with this PBS series that tells the story of Saint Augustine, Florida, the first European settlement in what would later become the United States of America.
Founded in 1565 (some 40 years before the English founded Jamestown, Virginia) the Spanish established a fortress on the northeastern coast of what would become the Colony of Florida to counter French claims in the area. What would ensue over the following centuries before Florida became part of the USA is a rich history that is largely unknown today.
The Joe Rogan Experience: End of the World (2016)
A Wild Ride of Crazy
One evening the great and mighty nation of the United States of America suddenly became the stupidest country in the history of the universe by electing Donald Trump to be President. For many people, this was one of the most depressing nights of their life, for others it was a vindication of their right to be able to cast their vote for the dumbest choice of candidate just because they are citizens. And then for even more others it was just another day, because they chose to simply not vote for any of the above, and stayed home.
Whichever side of the election you found yourself in, the best place to be that night was watching this podcast of Joe Rogan and Friends maintaining a four hour vigil completely stoned and having a riotous marathon of crazy anecdotes, one-liners, and people losing their stuff, while a continuous retinue of invited comedians drop by to hang out and stand witness to this night of insanity.
The ongoing narrative is interrupted occasionally by someone announcing breaking news about the vote count across the country, which is then followed by reactions from the panel, which rapidly then devolves into off-subject forays into a mishmash mileu of conversational topics, accompanied by hilarious laughter and sparky one-liners from the various hosts and guests.
This literally is like attending a party at the end of the world.
East to West (2011)
Having a "Dan Brown" Moment
It would be nice if the accuracy of such a documentary could be relied on, but there are so many mistakes and contradictory statements in this film that even the accurate information becomes suspect.
Just one of many examples is in episode 3, which is giving a history of the Arabs. The narrator says in the beginning that the Arabs were a scattered group of nomadic tribes until Mohammed came along. Then for the next half hour of the episode they describe the various civilizations, kingdoms, cities, and states that the Arabs established before Mohammed came on the scene. It is hard to equate the bustling state of the Nabataeans or the city of Damascus with "nomadic tribes".
It is sad, because the visual scenery and on location settings obviously took a lot of money and time to produce, but the writing is flawed. Producing a historic documentary ought to include making certain that the actual history being told is accurate and consistent.