#463 - Hidden US History and Civil War pop songs
The Square movie from 2017 has won the Palm D Or at Cannes, along with most of the directors others films, so I watched it and found a spellbinding art cinema meditation on what constitutes art. Though it was maybe an hour too long....
I also somehow partied with Sergey Brin (founder of Google) this weekend at a private gala about the future of AI. He's short in real life, as they always are xD.
Tech
The New Face of Fraud — www.youtube.com
I love this streamer Atrioc for breaking down hard business facts in an approachable and hilarious way, and his video on the fall of FTX was no different.
I'm sad to say I lost all my crypto holdings in this saga. :( Talk about a hard earned wisdom.
Lifehacks
I've been binging the longform Youtuber Knowing Better this week, and learned so much about everyday things I'm surprised to never hear anywhere else in life.
The Part of History You've Always Skipped | Neoslavery — www.youtube.com
TLDW - debt peonage, where blacks were arrested for minor charges and then forced to work for bail forever, existed in the US until 1942, when FDR illegalized it in order to weaken Japanese anti US propaganda(!)
They Were Just in the Way | Indian Removal — www.youtube.com
I still bristle at certain Native Land Acknowledgements. Did they know this specific land was stolen outside of treaty from that specific tribe?
After watching this video, I understand better the breadth and depth of the treachery the US government and its agents perpetrated against Native Americans, and why we must call for reparations. It's definitely genocide, and this video goes deep on why.
The Quartering of Troops | Police Militarization — www.youtube.com
I love this deep dive into #DefundThePolice and the callback to the Declaration of Independence explicitly stating soldiers and police should stay away from private homes. He explains that the police of today are a uniquely modern reality paved by a few laws from the last generation, and problematic.
Un-American and yet, totally American | Company Towns — www.youtube.com
Lastly, this history of company towns might as well be an advertisement for the labor movement, with all the BS capitalists pulled on their employees through the ages. He points out crypto is getting used the same way as company scrip in certain contexts too.
Start with the above, and then pair with his Moderate Guides on Climate Change (nuclear is our only savior), healthcare (Bernies healthcare for all plan was actually super reasonable), welfare (UBI is the best solution), gun control (so many loopholes rn!), and GMOs (organic benefits are a lie).
Fun
When Johnny Comes Marching Home - Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
#TIL that the childrens song I grew up with known as 'when the ants go marching home' is of course, derived from a military marching song, this one from the US Civil War about waiting for a friend to come home alive.
JOHN BROWN’S BODY words lyrics text — www.youtube.com
Relatedly, the 'glory glory hallelujah' Battle Hymm of the Republic Song you hear all over the military was previously a lament for a radical white abolitionist named John Brown, who raided government armories in the South hoping to start a slave uprising right before the Civil War. He was captured and hanged under the first capital charge of treason in the United States!
Add him to the list of 'prominent Americans school doesn't tell you about!'