A few links to keep you online this weekend:
- http://www.tinkafoo.com/log/docs.html Adam Curtis is a fine film maker who writes, produces, directs and narrates his own documentaries. After finding a copy of his coveted 1992 documentary - Pandora’s Box - I needed to find the episode titles. In stepped Tinkafoo.com which has synopses on every episode of this documentary and many others I also adore. Others present include:
- The Century of the Self - one of my all-time favourite documentaries, recounting the dramatic story of “how the rise of Freud’s individualism led to Edward Bernays’ consumerism.”
- The Power of Nightmares is a great - if not rather introductory and simplified - analysis of the comparisons between Neo-conservatism and Islamism and what this means for the 21st Century world. Its subtitle is ‘The Rise of the Politics of Fear’.
- Others worthy of note and your time include The Mayfair Set and Alain de Botton’s Status Anxiety.
I’m sure you’ll be able to find these documentaries on YouTube (or somewhere else)!
- http://www.thenation.com/special/bigten.html
We all (should) know that the majority of the world’s media holdings are owned by a handful of media conglomerates, but this is a novel way to display the information.
Albeit slightly outdated (1991), Mark Crispin Miller’s article and the corresponding visual shows vividly how in the early 1990s America’s media was majority owned by just ten corporations. However, in the 16 years since its publication not much has changed - but now 90% of America’s media is owned by not ten, but just six of these corporations that have grown tremendously: Disney, Viacom, AOL Time Warner, News Corp., Bertelsmann AG and General Electric.
Wonder why this matters? Read about the Monsanto bovine growth hormone controversy to get an idea.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_l72q9K3Fw
Want a new perspective on life? Then get on the ‘Flight Simulator of Death‘!
Created by Armando Iannucci - the genius behind Alan Partridge, The Day Today and, of course, The Armando Iannucci Show - this clip is taken from his latest foray into satirical comedy: Time Trumpet.
Enjoy!