Written by: Many People A few speeches are great in both content and delivery. Some are good content but don’t sound so great. Many were pretty boring. I have to assume there will be even better speeches in the future, so the title feels a little misleading. Length: 1.75 hrs 11/2003: Fortunately this was short.
Written by: Al Franken You know how someone tells you something and then recommends an action based on that thing? And that action kind of makes sense based on what they told you? Except that the thing they told you was a total lie? Turns out a bunch of jerks in government and on the […]
Written by: Gore Vidal A “semi-fictionalized” history of the United States from 1939-1954, focusing primarily on American politics and Franklin Roosevelt. While not entirely true, it does give a sufficiently accurate enough portrayal of the events of the time and how people thought about them so as to be useful in understanding the flavor of […]
Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns, and Dayton Duncan Follows his life and adventures through his private letters and pubic writings (and statements). Interesting facts about history, but more so showed how awesome Mark Twain was. He was a hilarious, and travelled the world for both inspiration and to create a giant canvas for […]
Written by: Walter Isaacson A great autobiography that teaches not just about Benjamin Franklin, but also the general era and other players during that time. Lots of insight into what he did and why (according to his journals) he did it. Franklin was huge into self-improvement, laying out detailed, long-term experiments and plans for himself […]
Written by: Rick Atkinson Primarily about the war in North Africa from 1942-1943, there is a lot of blowing shit up and people getting shot in the head and other parts. Lots of detailed history and first hand accounts. Length: 7 hrs 5/2003: Very interesting and engaging, plus I learned a lot.
Written by: Clayborne Carson He had a dream. He got some stuff changed. Then he got killed, and folks are still working on getting things right. Length: 10 hrs 7/2003: A great view into what was going on in his mind throughout his life and what motivated him. Very educational.
Written by: Bob Woodward I can’t believe we had this idiot for a president, and I can’t believe Bob Woodward sucks so bad now. I expected a hard-hitting, investigative piece where I would learn something about the ‘inner circle’, but it was no better than a crappy news report. Actually it was a lot worse, […]
Written by: Harriet Beecher Stowe Very good character development and depiction of life for various slaves in the United States before the Civil War / War Between the States / War of Northern Aggression / Mississippi Fight Club Jamboree. Actual human beings as property, with every aspect of their lives hanging on the whims of […]