Thursday, May 15, 2025

'Tsunami: Race Against Time' leads nominees for Outstanding Historical Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Throwback Thursday


I closed 'Apollo 13: Survival' leads nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Wayback Wednesday by telling my readers "Stay tuned for Throwback Thursday, when I plan on continuing my News & Doc Emmy Awards coverage along with another retrospective about entertainment." I resume with the remaining nominees for Outstanding Historical Documentary, beginning with the most nominated program, Tsunami: Race Against Time, which has two nominations including Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Documentary. Watch the nominated Tsunami: Race Against Time | Official Trailer | National Geographic.

Marking 20 years since one of the deadliest natural disasters in history which spanned 14 countries, TSUNAMI: RACE AGAINST TIME provides a 360-degree view into the heart-stopping events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The powerful series, from executive producers Tanya Winston and Danny Horan of multi-award-winning Blast Films and directed by Daniel Bogado, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker of Nat Geo’s “9/11: One Day in America,” features personal accounts from survivors, scientists who raced against time to understand the catastrophic disaster and warn the world, journalists who broke the shocking news, and the fearless rescuers who risked their lives to save others. Told minute by minute through harrowing video and gripping stories of survival and courage – some both seen and heard for the first time – the four-part series offers the most comprehensive and immersive look at the destructive wave as it surged across the ocean, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
I'm not teaching geology this summer, but I'm scheduled to run three sections in the fall, so I plan on recommending this series to my geology students next semester for extra credit. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Returning to the awards, I think it's a good sign that the same people who produced 9/11: One Day in America created Tsunami: Race Against Time and that series won both Outstanding Historical Documentary and Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Documentary. On that basis and it leading in nominations, it's my favorite to win at least Historical Documentary. It helps that The Sixth was removed from this category while retaining its nominations for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary and Best Documentary. I'll get to it in a future installment of this series.

The remaining three nominees have only this nomination, so I'm going through their trailers in alphabetical order beginning with An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th | Official Trailer | HBO.

"The Oklahoma City bombing was a crossroads.”

#AnAmericanBombingHBO: The Road to April 19th explores the surge in anti-government ideals and political violence in the 1980s, leading to the Oklahoma City bombing and continuing today.
Ugh, corn pone fascists. That written, this documentary examines a critical episode in their development.

Next, The women who changed the world while flying it | FLY WITH ME | American Experience | PBS.

At a time when single women were unable to order a drink or eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control, becoming a stewardess offered unheard-of opportunity and adventure. Maligned as feminist sellouts, “stewardesses,” as they were called, knew different: they were on the frontlines of a battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.

Featuring firsthand accounts, personal stories and a rich archive, FLY WITH ME tells a lively, fun and important but neglected history of the women who changed the world while flying it.
I agree with the video description; this looks like serious fun, especially compared to the other nominees, which are serious and scary, if not downright tragic.

Today's final trailer is Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War | Official Trailer | Netflix.

From Luminant Media and director Brian Knappenberger, comes the definitive documentary on the Cold War and its aftermath post the collapse of the Soviet Union leading to the rise of Vladimir Putin. Featuring interviews with prominent politicians, journalists, and the people who lived through history, this series is an exploration of the decades-long conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union framed by current events that reveal the Cold War continues and the world remains on the precipice of nuclear war.
Multi-Oscar-winning Oppenheimer just told the beginning of the story. The rest of the story is still unfolding, 80 years on. Like all the rest of the nominees, it exemplifies the truth of the William Faulkner quote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Because of the subject's continuing relevance, along with its trailer having the most views of any of the nominees, it's my pick to upset Tsunami: Race Against Time.*


Tsunami: Race Against Time is up against very stiff competition in this category, particularly Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story with six nominations, The Grab with four including Best Documentary, and Blink with two. The rest have just this one nomination. I plan on examining this category at least three more times, so I'm holding off on handicapping the nominees until I see all of them.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the most read entries from the back catalog with an emphasis on those with an entertainment theme.

I begin with an entry I covered in My Saturn Awards preferences and predictions vs. the winners for Flashback Friday.

Science fiction speaks to our current anxieties from August 3, 2014 earned ~1,160 default and ~1,940 raw page views between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025, enough to rank third by the first measure and first by the second. It made the top 20 during March 2024, when it ranked first for the month, April 2024, when it ranked fourth, June 2024, when it ranked 21st, December 2024, when it ranked third, January 2025, when it ranked tenth by default and eleventh by raw page views, February 2025, when it tied for 14th by default and 18th by raw page views, and March 2025, ranking first so far. I attribute all of those page views to web search.

I will probably recycle this paragraph when I look at entertainment and the back catalog.
I just did. Since then, it was the top post for both March 2025 and April 2025, its best month ever, and is on track to remain in the top 20 for May 2025. It's currently the most viewed post for the current blogging year, so I'm expecting to cover it in a retrospective next year.

Now for an entry I examined in Ig Nobel Prizes for April Fools Day 2025, a holiday special.

The most read entry about holidays during the just-concluded blogging year was Contribute to Coffee Party USA on National Coffee Ice Cream Day, posted on September 6, 2018, so it's another top performer from the back catalog. It earned 405 default and 966 raw page views between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025 to rank eleventh by the first and fifth overall by the second. Like all entries from the back catalog, I'm attributing its popularity to web search. I also might mention it again in an entry about popular old posts.
Here it is! Like the previous entry, it had a good March 2025, its second best month ever, coming in eighth by default page views and fifth by raw page views.

Next, an entry from the back catalog I included in CityNerd warns 'The New USDOT Is Coming for Your "Woke" Projects,' a driving update on Throwback Thursday.

Traffic accidents down but fatal accidents up in Michigan while drivers overpaid $1 billion for insurance during 2020, a driving update from October 22, 2021 earned 399 default and 433 raw page views to rank 12th by the first measure and 35th overall by the second. It experienced a spike in readership early in December 2024, either from web search or a no-follow link, earning it 391 default and 400 raw page views to rank first by both measures that month. Expect to see this entry again in a retrospective of top posts from the back catalog.
As promised! Now for popular entries from the back catalog I haven't covered yet.


Like all the rest of the back catalog, A conversation with The Archdruid about Objectivism, Satanism, and the GOP from December 30, 2013 probably earned its 678 raw page views during the 2024-2025 blogging year from web search. It ranked ninth during the year. It ended March 2025 in eleventh by default page views and twelfth by raw page views and fifth by default page views and second by raw page views during April 2025, so it's retaining is popularity.


Entertainment for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News from April 23, 2017 earned 664 raw page views during the blogging year with to rank tenth overall. It ended March 2025 as the 13th most read post for the month.


Videos show the tech in Virginia Tech from October 12, 2013 earned 400 raw page views to rank 40th during the blogging year. March 2025 was its best month ever for page views, ending the month in 17tgh by default and 15th by raw page views.

That's a wrap for today's installment of this series. Stay tuned for a Flashback Friday entry covering posts about entertainment and the back catalog that became popular on social media, especially MeWe.

*That's not the most reliable criterion, as it was the basis for my thinking Encounters might win this award last year, even though I was hoping Science Fair would win instead. I got my wish. Science Fair won. Whew!

Previous posts in this series Previous retrospectives about entertainment Previous retrospectives about the back catalog. Previous posts about the 46th News & Doc Emmy Awards
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