Comment by sb | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sb | Hacker News Reader

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"Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room" seconded! It is by far my most favourite documentary.

In addition, I like the following documentaries:

- "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638362/

- "Planet Earth" IMHO one of BBC's best productions with some of the most amazing nature shots ever (e.g., a [presumably stratospheric] shot that looks like fog or fire but is really a swarm of flies) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795176/

- BBC has also two of the best documentary series regarding the second world war: "The World at War" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071075/) and "The Nazis: A Warning from History" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207907/)

- Errol Morris' "The Thin Blue Line" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096257/) and "The Fog of War" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/)

Really? I thought "The Smartest Guys in the Room" was very boring -- I learned literally nothing about the Enron scandal other than "some guys were pretty greedy." Most of the documentary was segments of people describing how unethical management was, while barely elucidating on what actually happened.

The World at War is a series that I believe shaped large parts of my life. It still colours my thinking to this day; particularly with respect to the Middle East.

I was 11 or 12 when this series first aired in the UK. It was on quite late at night, but my parents decided I should "stay up" and watch it. Good parents. The war was still raw with them, though they were tiny kids at that time. My mum was born in 1937, my dad was as bit older.

It is graphic, honest, and a since folk rewrite history as time passes, an essential historical document of what transpired in those times.

I urge you to watch it. Our recent history is the most relevant.

But let me put this in perspective. The American Civil War started 100 years before I was born. WWII started 72 years ago. What seems almost unreachable history, becomes almost tangible as you get older. And I'm not that old!

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