Graph, Ski, Menshevik, Origin, Stellar
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Can You Read Graphs? Because I Can't
Sabrina | YouTube | 11th November 2020
Five ways graphs lie: poor design, dubious data, insufficient data, concealing uncertainty, and suggesting misleading patterns. We've all fallen for one of these at some point, especially given how prevalent graphs are in the current news cycle. "I consider myself a pretty fact-based person," yet "I was so able to quickly warp my sense of reality fit a narrative I believed in" (8m 14s)
12,000 KM
Erik Nylander | Vimeo | 6th November 2020
Attempting to be eco-friendly, a group of Swedish skiers and snowboarders travel by train and boat from Stockholm, through Russia, to Japan, all in search of "deep powder." Copious vodka-drinking, spelunking, Japanese fire festivals, and karaoke dancing ensue. Exhilarating mini-doc for those in lockdown who want to travel the world (and ski the Siberian mountainside) vicariously (28m 05s)
Why Did The Mensheviks Lose To The Bolsheviks?
History Matters | YouTube | 10th November 2020
Brief history lesson on the fall of the Mensheviks, the moderate socialist party that "lost" during the Russian Revolution. "Many people now turned to the Bolsheviks and things got even more tense...It was time for revolution #2. As you'll know, this one saw the Bolsheviks placed in complete control – providing you ignore the long and incredibly brutal civil war that followed" (3m 40s)
The Origins Of Auteur Theory
Filmmaker IQ | YouTube | 10th March 2015
Auteur theory, championed by André Bazin and Andrew Sarris, contended that a film is "a reflection of the personal creative vision of the director" – or, as Truffaut put it, "there are no good and bad films, only good and bad directors." Pauline Kael vehemently disagreed, placing emphasis on the film over the filmmaker. A crash course in early French cinema helps explain the roots of this theory (17m 37s)
Hypnotic Video Of The Week
Stan Brakhage's mind-melting tour through the cosmos. Recommended pairing with this song
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