Bodyguard, Goth, Execution, Palestine, Leia

I Was A Bodyguard For A Chinese Serial Rapist

Serpentza | YouTube | 17th April 2021

Song Shanmu was his name—a billionaire CEO of a language-training company. His female employees were forced to give up relationships and were fined if they gained any weight. "They had cameras in the dormitories, even in the dormitory bathrooms." Unsurprisingly, Song turned out to be secretly raping all of them. A dark story, but worth hearing, especially from such a direct source (46m 01s)

The Reggae Song That Accidentally Invented Goth Rock

Polyphonic | YouTube | 28th October 2021

How a "post-punk band fronted by a singer with a cold tried their hand at Jamaican dub music and ended up inadvertently inventing goth rock" (in one take!). The reverb-heavy sound popularized in Jamaica drifted across the Atlantic into the studio of an anxious British post-punk band. A unique interactive experience: you must sync up the song and the video (to great effect) (12m 12s)

What Do They Do If You Survive Your Execution?

Qxir | YouTube | 5th November 2021

A true tall tale from Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not. Wenceslao Moguel, a Mexican rebel, was shot nine times by a firing squad. Hours later, he stood up and walked over to a nearby church to receive medical care, before going into hiding until the end of the Mexican Revolution. He died in his 70s or 80s, "vastly outperforming the life expectancy of most execution victims" (5m 14s)

Palestinians: Why Not Negotiate With Israelis?

Corey Gil-Shuster | YouTube | 5th November 2021

Short street interviews with Palestinian citizens about the future of Israel. Some are strongly in favor of negotiation; others find it hard to stomach given the history of the area. "This is a land that belongs to our ancestors and grandfathers—it is hard to share it with strangers." Useful to get straightforward, unbiased reporting like this, notwithstanding its brevity (9m 44s)

Fascinating Video Of The Week

Footage of the auditions for Princess Leia...Carrie Fisher's comes last

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