Tag: American history
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Challenger: The Final Flight (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Challenger: The Final Flight: Government bureaucracy led to a tragedy? You don’t say. Quick synopsis: The story of NASA’s 1986 Challenger disaster. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The disaster occurred because of large rubber O-rings. The morning of the launch, the manufacturer of the solid rocket booster needed to be…
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American Murder: The Family Next Door (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Murder: For once, the neighbor knew it. Quick synopsis: The murder of Shanann Watts and her daughters by Chris Watts. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The next-door neighbor pretty much immediately knew Watts did it. It is one of the first things he eludes to when alone with police.…
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Blood & Ivy by Paul Collins
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Blood & Ivy: Murrrrrderrrrrr at Haaaaaaavaaaaad. Quick synopsis: The story of a murdered Harvard alum in 1849. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Most people don’t realize this, but surgeons often had a very hard time practicing their craft. Dead bodies for study were hard to come across and aspiring doctors…
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The Dream Season 1: Podcast Review
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Dream: Prepare for a different perspective of a lot of people in your Facebook feed. Quick synopsis: A look into what multi-level marketing (MLM) is and why it can literally ruin people’s lives. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: You have seen MLMs all over the place. Most likely, you’ve…
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High Score (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for High Score: One word – Nerdgasm. Quick synopsis: A documentary which illuminates us all on how video games came to be. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The aliens in Space Invaders are actually sea creatures set to pixilation. Go look. I’ll wait. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Nintendo wasn’t a…
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Under a Flaming Sky by Daniel James Brown
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Under a Flaming Sky: Well I’m certainly going to be nice to Forest Rangers after reading this. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1894 firestorm in Hinckley, Minnesota which burned 350,000 acres in 5 hours and killed over 400 people. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Think it’s safe to jump…
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God, War, and Providence by James Warren
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for God, War, and Providence: Massholes. Quick synopsis: A look at how Roger Williams and Rhode Island came to be and also how the other colonies (especially Massachusetts, they come off looking really bad) screwed over their Indian neighbors and tried to destroy Rhode Island. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When…
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The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ghosts of Eden Park: Prohibition was so stupid. Quick synopsis: The story of George Remus, a famous bootlegger who became famous for something else afterwards. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: George Remus was the “king of the bootleggers” and at one point owned one seventh of the bonded liquor…
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Brilliant Beacons by Eric Jay Dolin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brilliant Beacons: I have nothing snarky for this one. Lighthouses are awesome. Quick synopsis: A comprehensive history of the American lighthouse. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A Fresnel lens can be seen 20 miles out to sea. It may not seem like very far to you, but if you are…