A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
India Naftali reports from the Jaffa port, where the Indian Embassy in Israel and Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality have organized a special Holi-Purim festival to celebrate both holidays.
Early Tuesday morning, the moon will go red and we will witness a total lunar eclipse.
At around 3 a.m. on March 3, we will see March’s full moon pass through Earth’s shadow, turning it a copper color for 58 spell-binding minutes.
Shannon Schmoll, the director of Abram’s Planetarium at Michigan State University, joined Local 4 Live to talk more about the eclipse.
It might be clear enough to see the Moon early this morning. I'll probably be asleep, but if I'm up, I'll look.
In this moving short documentary, a journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.
This is an expanded version of The Lost Class, a PSA about gun violence nominated for Outstanding Commercial at the 2022 Emmy Awards, showing all the empty chairs of students lost to gun violence who would have graduated from high school had they lived. That worked because of the sheer numbers, 3,044, but it wasn't about the individual victims; fellow Emmy nominee Teenage Dream did that for the survivors. All the Empty Rooms personalizes the issue for those who never came home.
Since the video has no description, I'm sharing the one from IMDB: "Israeli peace activists hold silent vigils in Tel Aviv, displaying photos of Gaza's young victims. Despite facing public backlash, their wordless demonstrations powerfully highlight war's human cost." This is another side of 'We Will Dance Again' leads Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards. That was about the Israeli victims of the October 7th attack on the Nova Music Festival. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, something I didn't acknowledge until now. Being interrupted by a hostile commenter trolling the entry will do that. This is about some Israelis' reaction to their government's response.
"Before I send them in, I look in their eyes. I say to them, 'you’re safe now.'"
#TheDevilsBusy offers an intimate look inside a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, where Tracii leads security to ensure safety and care amid protests and restrictions.
'Perfectly A Strangeness' by Alison McAlpine official trailer, 2026 Oscar® Nominated in the best Documentary Short Film category.
Synopsis: In the dazzling incandescence of an unknown desert, three donkeys discover an abandoned astronomical observatory and the universe. A sensorial, cinematic exploration of what a story can be.
This has the most science content of any of the nominees except for possibly The Devil Is Busy, which has some health content amongst the social commentary. Just the same, I doubt I'll recommend it to my students. Sometimes, blogging as professional development doesn't yield positive results.
As I wrote above, the nominees are in the same order in the Gold Derby odds as they are in the alphabet. What are the odds of that happening? All the Empty Rooms has the first place votes of 70.0% of experts, 66.7% of editors, and 81.0% of users. Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud sits in second among all three groups as the choice of 20.0% of experts, 33.3% of editors, and 12.7% of users. No experts picked either Children No More: Were and Are Gone or The Devil Is Busy, the selections of 2.6% and 2.0% of users, respectively. Instead, the remaining expert is currently voting for Perfectly a Strangeness along with 1.7% of users. The film school students might like this last one, but everyone in the Motion Picture Academy votes for the winner, and I think they'll vote for one of the top two choices. Remember, electorates matter.
Again, that's a wrap for today's awards show coverage. Stay tuned for two brief entries worth sharing next month sandwiching this year's unveiling of the Doomsday Clock on Wednesday.
The new P+ Original documentary We Will Dance Again delves into the October 7th terror attack at the Nova Music Festival, a celebration meant for music, life and love that turned into a horrific scene of violence.
We Will Dance Again is told through the eyes of more than a dozen survivors, many of whom recorded their experiences on their cell phones as the massacre unfolded. It is a painful story of unfathomable tragedy, and also of bravery, sacrifice and heroism. Viewer Discretion Advised.
This serves as a terrifying reminder of how the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began, as a terror attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians enjoying themselves.
We Will Dance Again has two nominations for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary and Outstanding Editing - Documentary and is my pick to win this category. The remaining nominees, 64 Days: The Insurrection Playbook, Bread & Roses, Print it Black, and "A Year of War: Israelis and Palestinians" on FRONTLINE, have just this one nomination. It's time for their trailers, starting with 64 Days: The Insurrection Playbook by Saboteur Media.
JANUARY 6TH.
YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE STORY.
YOU DON'T.
FROM EMMY AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER NICK QUESTED
64 DAYS: THE INSURRECTION PLAYBOOK
...
Through never-before-seen footage, exclusive access to the proud boys, eyewitness reports, unreported emails, videos, social media posts, interviews with politicians on both sides of the aisle, and unprecedented access to the investigators supporting the January 6 Committee, 64 DAYS chronicles the most important period of our modern republic—the 64 democracy-bending days between the election and the devastating January 6th insurrection.
Four-and-one-half years ago, I wasn't completely convinced this was a coup. It didn't take me long to change my mind. Watching this should convince my readers, if they aren't already.
In the shadow of Kabul’s fall, three women fight to reclaim their lives. Bread & Roses is now streaming on Apple TV+ https://apple.co/BreadandRoses_
Bread & Roses directed by Sahra Mani and produced by Jennifer Lawrence and Malala Yousafzai, captures the spirit of Afghan women in their relentless quest for autonomy. A moving portrayal of strength amid struggle, this acclaimed Cannes Film Festival documentary shines a light on their resilience.
This trailer is very popular, with 172,905 views and 115 comments. That might count for something, but the YouTube viewers are not the award voters. As I write nearly every time I examine awards shows, electorates matter. Just the same, this is my pick to upset We Will Dance Again.
After the Robb Elementary school shooting in Texas, local Uvalde Leader-News journalists are left to report on the fallout - and on one of their staff members. Reporter Kimberly Rubio rises to national prominence as an advocate for gun reform after her ten-year-old daughter, Lexi, is killed in the shooting. Through the journalists' reporting, we witness the social fabric of this small Texas town unravel as Kimberly and other victims' families search for accountability from law enforcement and local leaders. The documentary also shines a light on the critical role of community journalism, at a time when local newspapers are folding rapidly across the country. Print It Black trailer is after the news report.
Cast: Kimberly Mata Rubio, Pete Luna, Craig Garnett, Meghann Garcia, Melissa Federspill, Julye Keeble, Norma Ybarra, Felix Rubio, Dustin Burrows, James Volz, Hal Harrell, Shelia Jackson Lee, Nicole Ogburn, Beto O'Rourke, Pete Arrendondo, John Quinones, Maria Elena Salinas, Mireye Villarreal
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt32265065/
This is about both guns and local journalism. If the TV journalists are like the entertainment professionals who vote for the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards, who will vote for a good nominee about themselves if all else is equal, then they might vote for this. I'm not sure they're like that and that all else is equal. This trailer doesn't help; it looks homemade. I'm sure ABC News, which made the documentary, would have done a better job.
FRONTLINE documents harrowing accounts from those who experienced the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the ongoing war in Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians directly impacted by the conflict talk about death, despair and the continuing trauma.
This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate/
I like closing circles and this nominee does just that, looping back to We Will Dance Again with a more balanced perspective.
I conclude with We Will Dance Again's other nomination.
Apollo 13: Survival has the most nominations for Outstanding Editing - Documentary with four, followed by Death without Mercy, Blink, and We Will Dance Again, all with two, and Citizen Nation with just this one. It also has an editing nomination at the BAFTA Film Awards, so it definitely has a strong case to win. Besides, it's an archival documentary, so editing is going to be its strong suit.
I expect to return to this category twice before I make a call, once for We Will Dance Again and the other Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary and again for Blink and Citizen Nation when I finish this category and Outstanding Promotional Announcement - Documentary.
I can see how editing of all the survivors' videos made We Will Dance Again what it is. That written, I suspect Blink's editing might be even stronger. I plan on covering the remaining nominees for this category and Outstanding Promotional Announcement - Documentary on Wednesday. In the meantime, stay tuned for my examination of Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy and the other nominees for Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary tomorrow.
Previous posts about the 46th News & Doc Emmy Awards
I told my readers to "Stay tuned as I resume my coverage of the News & Doc Emmy Awards" at the end of PBS NewsHour explains 'How Meta's blockbuster antitrust trial could have major implications for big tech' — a Throwback Thursday special, and I'm following through with the nominees for Outstanding Investigative Documentary, which include two of the nominees for Best Documentary. From most to least nominated, they are The Grab with four nominations, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders with three, Fault Lines episode "The Night Won't End" with two, and two Frontline episodes, "A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela" and "South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning," both with one. I'm sharing their trailers in that order, beginning with The Grab - Official Trailer | Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Opening June 14 by Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing.
Quietly and seemingly out of sight, governments, private investors and mercenaries are working to seize food and water resources at the expense of entire populations. These groups are establishing themselves as the new OPEC, where the future world powers will be those who control not oil, but food. And it's all beginning to bubble to the surface in real time. Global food prices have hit an all-time high, threatening chaos and violence. Meanwhile China, Russia, the UAE and Wall Street are just a few of the players strategizing within this shocking, shifting geopolitical landscape.
THE GRAB is a global thriller combining hard-hitting journalism from The Center for Investigative Reporting with the compelling character-driven storytelling of director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, taking you around the globe to reveal one of the world’s biggest and least known threats.
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
This documentary fits the overall theme of this blog and is one I can recommend to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development. It's also a chance for Gabriela Cowperthwaite to earn the recognition she deserved but didn't get for Blackfish. I hope she, along with the film's producers, researchers, and trailer creators, get it.
Here's the English translation of the Italian video description.
Investigators have no doubts about the death of Danny Casolaro: for them, the journalist found in the bathtub of a hotel room committed suicide. But the reporter's family and colleagues believe it could have been murder. The motive? The investigation he was conducting into a conspiracy he called "Octopus," a secret organization linked to the theft of government spy software, a series of unsolved murders and some of the biggest political scandals of the 20th century. Years later, researcher Christian Hansen tries to reveal the secrets of Casolaro's death, along with the story that cost him his life. Stardust Frames, Duplass Brothers Productions and director Zachary Treitz present this four-part docuseries that tells the mystery that has lasted for decades.
Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel. United States weapons transfers - from 2,000-pound bombs to artillery shells and tanks - have been a crucial part of the Israeli military campaign. Fault Lines worked with journalists in Gaza to profile three families as they try to survive the war. Together with Airwars, Fault Lines also investigated an air strike on December 11 in north Gaza in which more than 100 people from the same family were killed. Numerous attacks on civilians - including that on Hind Rajab and her relatives in late January - have raised international concern and questions over continuing US support. Fault Lines partnered with Forensic Architecture and Earshot to investigate that attack. From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war.
With the Venezuelan news outlet Armando.info, FRONTLINE investigates the shadowy figure at the heart of a corruption scandal spanning from Venezuela to the U.S. "A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela" premieres Tues., May 14, 2024.
FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigate allegations of fraud and abuse in South Korea’s historic foreign adoption boom.
In a normal year, a Frontline episode would have a better chance of winning; 2024 wasn't a normal year. Also, most of these nominees show that the line between investigative documentaries and crime and justice documentaries is very fine, just like between science and nature documentaries.
For the first time in this series, I'm examining the nominees for Best Documentary. I've been holding off because the category has nine nominees this year. The Grab leads with four nominations, followed by American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders and Mammals with three each, Hollywood Black, The Sixth, and The Truth vs. Alex Jones, all with two, and The Commandant's Shadow, Queendom, and The Sing Sing Chronicles with just this one. The Grab and American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders are facing off for Outstanding Investigative Documentary, The Sixth leads the nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary, The Truth vs. Alex Jones is contending with Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal for Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary, and Mammals leads the rest of the field without a subject area nomination. That's four more opportunities to examine the nominees, after which I'll make my call.
Right now, I have The Grab in first, but I'm not making a final call until I write about the rest of the nominees. I'm planning on examining Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary in the next installment because I have personal and professional interests in both The Truth vs. Alex Jones and Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal, the latter of which I can also recommend to my students. Again, welcome to blogging as professional development.
Follow over the jump for the craft categories in which the nominees for Outstanding Investigative Documentary earned nominations.
How Did Holi and Purim Become One Festival in Tel Aviv? An Indo-Israeli Cultural Marvel!
That explained more about the Israel-India relationship than the video I featured two years ago, including the two countries working together in space. That's something I didn't know before watching it, so I learned something new. It's always a good day when I learn something new.
Hananya had a partner in the video I featured two years ago, his wife India. She's the host of i24News English explaining Israel's CRAZIEST Festival (Purim).
Israel’s CRAZIEST festival is going on right now...It is called Purim. Come and see what this day of fun and celebration looks like here in the Holy Land.
There are bad ideas, there are really bad ideas, and then there's Trump's idea about the U.S. taking over the Gaza Strip. As Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, "Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions," so off to the late night talk show hosts I go for the ridicule Hoover Cleveland's dangerously stupid idea deserves. Watch Stephen Colbert's monologue on the subject, Trump’s Gaza Plan: Atrocity Or Distraction? | CIA, FBI Purges Underway | A Strange Uncle Returns.
President Trump showed no humanity when suggesting the U.S. should forcibly relocate every resident of Gaza, the CIA and FBI are purging their ranks at the behest of the Trump administration, and a fast food brand is bringing back a problematic mascot that probably should have stayed retired.
I hope it's a distraction. As Stephen pointed out, there's plenty to distract from.
This harebrained scheme, apologies to rabbits and hares, makes me have to modify the "sights set closer to home part." The Gaza Strip is not close to home for Americans. I'm surprised the Israelis are tolerating the idea.
Desi Lydic tackles Trump's proposal to take over Gaza and push all the Palestinians out to build a resort. Plus, Republicans try to spin the president's plan, and Jordan Klepper gets in on the brainstorming sesh.
Desi is right, this idea is stupid, crazy, and evil. Fortunately, it's probably going nowhere — probably. One never knows with Hoover Cleveland. After all, I thought the idea of Greenland becoming a U.S. territory died during his last administration. Nope. It's back, baby, and bigger than ever!
Parents of college students (Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner) are interviewed about student protests and arrests on college campuses.
Israel-Gaza? Not funny. The protests becoming vehicles for antisemitism? Not funny, as I pointed out last December. Cops and counter-protesters breaking up the protests? Still not funny. Parents freaking out about their children protesting? Surprisingly funny. I'm with Kenan Thompson's character on this. It's enough to make me glad my children all graduated from college at least a decade ago.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like President Biden saying Japan is xenophobic.
I anticipated that SNL would open with the Trump's hush money trial. It didn't even make the top story on Weekend Update. Instead, the cast and writers decided that Kristi Noem writing that she shot her dog deserved more attention. As a dog owner I can both see why and be disturbed by both the news and their choice. They continued mining this vein in Weekend Update: Kristi Noem's Other Dog Defends His Owner.
Kristi Noem's other dog (Marcello Hernández) stops by Weekend Update to defend his owner.
The talking dog buttons made a great prop! And, yes, I agree she wrote about the incident because she thought Trump would like it.
Noem, as played by Heidi Gardner, even made a cameo in Dua Lipa Monologue.
First-time host Dua Lipa celebrates her new album Radical Optimism by taking some questions from the audience and introducing her new choreographer.
Even Lipa and her radical optimism couldn't find a bright side for Noem.
Follow over the jump for more highlights from last night's SNL.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has kept the Doomsday Clock set to 90 seconds to midnight for the second straight year, largely attributed to the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war and the threat of artificial intelligence. The clock is a symbolic indication of humanity’s perceived proximity to human-caused catastrophe.
The Doomsday Clock was reset at 90 seconds to midnight, still the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight, reflecting the continued state of unprecedented danger the world faces. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, stewards of the Doomsday Clock, emphasized in their announcement that the Clock could be turned back, but governments and people needed to take urgent action.
A variety of global threats cast menacing shadows over the 2024 Clock deliberations, including: the Russia-Ukraine war and deterioration of nuclear arms reduction agreements; the Climate Crisis and 2023’s official designation as the hottest year on record; the increased sophistication of genetic engineering technologies; and the dramatic advance of generative AI which could magnify disinformation and corrupt the global information environment making it harder to solve the larger existential challenges.
Bill Nye, who participated in the 2024 Doomsday Clock announcement, said: “For decades, scientists have been warning us of the dangers facing humankind. We could be facing catastrophe unless we better manage the technologies we’ve created. It’s time to act.”
I think Nye is a good addition to the panel and helps draw attention to the event and the issues it raises. It helps that he's gotten into the apocalypse space with The End is Nye, which won the EMA Award for Reality Television. This reminds me that the EMA Awards are tomorrow, so they're up next. Stay tuned.
The Jewish Festival of Purim and the Indian Festival of Holi have an amazing connection!
As I first wrote eight years ago, "I don't celebrate Purim anywhere else but on this blog, but I'm all in favor of fun holidays and this one certainly qualifies." So does Holi. Happy Purim and happy Holi! Now stay tuned for International Women's Day.
Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square (Netflix) Oslo (HBO) Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime) Sylvie's Love (Prime Video) Uncle Frank (Prime Video)
The leading nominee is "Oslo," an adaptation of a Tony-winning play about the Oslo Peace Accords and one of only two nominees with another nomination. Watch Oslo: Official Trailer | HBO.
Adapted from the Tony Award-winning play of the same name, Oslo follows the secret back-channel talks, unlikely friendships, and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis and Palestinians, plus one Norwegian couple, that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Oslo stars Ruth Wilson as Mona Juul, a Norwegian foreign minister, and Andrew Scott as Terje Rod-Larsen, a Norwegian sociologist and Mona’s husband. The film is written by Tony-winning writer of the stage play J.T. Rogers and will be directed by Barlett Sher (Tony winner for South Pacific).
Emmy nominee Bartlett Sher ('Oslo' director, producer) on bringing the legendary peace negotiations to the screen. The Tony winner chats with Gold Derby's Sam Eckmann about the HBO TV movie.
Bartlett Sher described both the genesis of the play and the process of adapting the play into a movie. I found his explanation of the differences of using space in the two media particularly interesting.
Now the second nominated category for "Oslo."
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Jeff Russo for Fargo (Episode: "East/West") (FX)
Jeff Russo and Zoë Keating for Oslo (HBO)
Carlos Rafael Rivera for The Queen's Gambit (Episode: "End Game") (Netflix)
Nicholas Britell for The Underground Railroad (Episode: "Chapter 2: South Carolina") (Prime Video)
Christophe Beck for WandaVision (Episode: "Previously On") (Disney+)
"That may actually be the longest piece of music I've ever written," reveals composer Jeff Russo about the nearly 12-minute track that he composed for the season four premiere of FX's Fargo. Set in Kansas City in 1950, the fourth installment of the anthology series used Russo's "opus" to tell the backstory of 50 years of mob family warfare, and Russo drew on the city's "jazz and blues flare" to situate the audience in the show's particular time and place. Watch Russo's full chat with Gold Derby's David Buchanan.
Russo certainly has the track record to win the award along with two chances to win, but he has stiff competition in 2019 Emmy winner Nicholas Britell, 2018 Emmy winner Carlos Rafael Rivera, and 1998 Emmy winner Christophe Beck. While I was personally impressed with Rivera's music for "The Queen's Gambit," I have a feeling that the groundswell will be for "WandaVision," a show about television that isn't about show business, but about the viewer experience. As I reiterate whenever I write about awards shows, electorates matter, and the Emmy electorate loves a good story about itself. "WandaVision" isn't really that, but it's close enough and I think that, all things being equal and they are with all nominated scores having an Emmy winner as one of its composers, that will influence the members of the Television Academy to vote for it, including in this category.
Follow over the jump for my discussion of the nominees I consider to be serious contenders for Emmys.
(Reuters) - Divided by mistrust and mutual recriminations, the Russian and Ukrainian leaders will hold rare talks on Tuesday that offer only a slim hope of progress towards ending five months of separatist war in Ukraine.
Since Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko last met on June 6 in France, Ukraine has turned the tide of the conflict and largely encircled pro-Russian rebels holding out in two cities in the east of the former Soviet republic.
But the diplomatic crisis has only deepened, especially since the downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held territory last month with the loss of 298 lives.
This was the most read story on Reuters last night. My Ukrainian and Russian readers can make of it what they will. And, yes, I have lots of readers from both countries. Ukraine and Russia are top two non-U.S. sources of readers for the blog this month, and Russia is the largest foreign portion of the audience in the history of the blog; Ukraine is in eighth, and will pass France for seventh at current rates in a few months.
Follow over the jump for the stories about war, death, and destruction from Iraq, Gaza, Congo, and elsewhere that made headlines last night.
