documentaries-i-like

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Put This On: Denim

Today I bring you a new "web series about dressing like a grownup" presented by Jesse Thorn of The Sound of Young America (a public radio show that's generally awesome) and Adam Lisagor of the hilarious podcast You Look Nice Today (A Journal of Emotional Hygiene). Anyway, Put This On is all about clothing -- what to buy, how to care for clothes, how to combine clothes, how to do grownup things (like wear ties, match your belt to your shoes, dress properly for an occasion, and so on) that you may not have... READ ON

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"The Botany of Desire" Documentary, TONIGHT at 8pm on PBS

Update: the entire documentary is now available online for free! A new PBS* documentary, The Botany of Desire, premieres Wednesday night (tonight!) at 8pm on PBS stations throughout the US. It's based on the popular Michael Pollan book of the same name, and I urge you to carve out two hours (in most markets between 8pm - 10pm) on Wednesday night to watch it. The program is packed with science, history, and beautiful photography. I've seen the film in advance, and I highly recommend it,... READ ON

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Special Frontline Preview: "Obama's War"

Longtime readers will know that I'm a fan of great documentaries, and the PBS series Frontline is among the best televised documentary content in the world. I just got a heads-up that their new season starts on October 13 with an episode called "Obama's War," about the situation in Afghanistan -- sometimes called "the good war" (in comparison to Iraq) or, now, "Obama's War." As a special preview, Frontline producers have released the initial 24 minutes of the documentary, online-only, for a limited... READ ON

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4 Great Documentaries Currently Free on YouTube

So, recently YouTube started showing whole movies for free -- much like Hulu, there are occasional ads interspersed, but they're not too bad. The video quality is better than average for a YouTube video, and of course, it's free, so what do you have to lose? In this roundup, I'll point you to four great documentaries currently live on YouTube...and later in the week I'll focus on a fifth that might just blow your mind. American Movie This 1999 documentary follows Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt... READ ON
  1. FIND THESE T-SHIRTS AND MORE IN THE STORE!

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Documentaries I Like: The Greenmarket: One Farmer's Story

Are you into farmer's markets? I love them primarily because you get fresh, local food -- but it's also great because you can actually interact with the people who grow your food. Below is a brief documentary (under ten minutes) about one farmer, Rick Bishop, who brings his goods to a the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City. It's a nice look at both the farming experience and the farmer's market experience -- and it makes me want to go and buy some produce right now. Warning: starts with an... READ ON

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Documentaries I Like: POSSESSED

POSSESSED is a short documentary (21 minutes) by director Martin Hampton, showing the private lives of compulsive hoarders -- people who collect or save things far beyond reasonable limits. It's available online in its entirety (see below), and it's worth a look both for general interest as a documentary, but also for people who are curious about compulsive hoarding -- hoarding being a topic we flossers seem to blog about quite a bit. The film is not too shocking -- these folks don't seem in imminent... READ ON

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Documentaries I Like: Code Rush

On the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing, many of us are watching historical video and reliving the experience. What was it like to work on a team with a goal that was (forgive the pun) out of this world? The moon landing might have been impossible, or killed the crew, and even if it did work it required everyone working on it to give everything -- for years. The closest I've come to such projects in my daily life is in software development -- with work weeks that expand to fill every hour of... READ ON

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Documentaries I Like: The Fog of War (featuring Robert McNamara)

Robert McNamara died today, at the age of 93. McNamara was US Secretary of Defense through most of the 1960's, overseeing the start of the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, among other major Cold War crises. Back in 2003, documentarian Errol Morris made a film called The Fog of War featuring McNamara, and pretty much only McNamara -- literally sitting in a chair, reviewing the history of various wars, combined with archival video and audio. The Fog of War is truly fascinating. I don't use... READ ON

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Documentaries I Like: David Lynch's Interview Project

David Lynch and his son Austin have just launched a web series called Interview Project. It's a 121-part (!) short-form documentary series, and the first episode went live today -- have a look! The Interview Project interviews were conducted during a 70-day road trip, and feature regular people talking about their lives. Directed by Austin Lynch, the material is both intimate and ordinary -- a powerful combination, if you ask me. Of course, David Lynch's introduction to the project is bizarre and... READ ON

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Documentaries I Like: Cosmos

Update: Cosmos Available Online, Free I'm reposting this article (originally from September 2007) because the entire Cosmos TV series is now streaming at Hulu for free. Enjoy! (Be sure to click the "Watch Hi-Res" button inside the player to get the best quality.) This week's feature is the classic Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan. This thirteen-part series was originally created for PBS in 1980, and is now available (with some updated graphics and sound) on DVD. The series covers a wide... READ ON

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