The Witches<\/a><\/em> B<\/p>\n Backstory: The Tale of T\u2019eo<\/a><\/em> This hour-long piece looks back at and updates the Manti T\u2019eo catfishing<\/em> scandal of 2012. I had forgotten some of the details, and it was even crazier than I remembered. I\u2019m still not sure what to think about the whole thing, mostly because it\u2019s hard to know where the truth begins and ends even after nearly nine years.<\/p>\n B+<\/p>\n Chernobyl<\/a><\/em> A-<\/p>\n Curb Your Enthusiasm<\/a><\/em>, seasons 4\u20137 The Office<\/a><\/em> A<\/p>\n Icarus<\/a><\/em> While there was some disjointedness from that transition, it was still a fascinating look at a man\u2019s entire world crumbling around him. Regardless of what you think of PEDs and Rodchenkov at the beginning, it\u2019s hard not to ignore his acts to upset the balance of athletic competitions and see the man who is separated from his family, estranged from his country, and likely in danger because of the people in Russia he has spoken out against.<\/p>\n A-<\/p>\n What If We Nuke the Moon?<\/a><\/em> A-<\/p>\n Rebuilding James Bond\u2019s Apple IIc<\/a><\/em> A-<\/p>\n Danny MacAskill – The Slabs<\/a> A<\/p>\n
\nA movie L picked for us to watch New Year\u2019s Night. Roald Dahl stories are always wacky and this one did not disappoint in that sense. Very weird and maybe\/likely offensive at times? I\u2019m not sure, but I get how some folks were offended.<\/p>\n
\nRemember when we only had completely insane stories a few times a year? Now that they seem to happen almost daily we don\u2019t get to really dive in and enjoy them the way we once did.<\/p>\n
\nI read Midnight in Chernobyl<\/em> last year and was floored by it. It remains one of the best pieces of non-fiction I\u2019ve ever read. I decided to cap off our month of HBOMax by reviewing this miniseries, also based on the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl power plant in current-day Ukraine. The series is also excellent, if not quite as memorable as the book. It has to cover the same material in a lot less time and suffers somewhat for that. But it still does a fine job of showing what happened, explaining how it happened, and the heroic efforts to save lives and secure the power plant. Episode five, which features the trial of the three men held most responsible for the accident, is especially powerful. And the soundtrack – filled with dissonant takes on traditional Russian music – was amazing in helping to set the tone.<\/p>\n
\nHow I spent most of my month with HBOMax. At one point I was having dreams about the show. And I also found myself getting incredibly agitated over mundane details of daily life. Might have been a good thing to stop after four seasons.
\nSeason 4, A-
\nSeason 5, B
\nSeason 6, A
\nSeason 7, A<\/p>\n
\nAlthough the show has left Netflix, Comedy Central still own rights to it. And they\u2019ve been playing the hell out of it since it went to Peacock. At least five times this month I would be looking for something to watch, see that CC was airing a block of episodes, and spend the next couple hours watching several. Since they were all over the place in terms of season and episode, I\u2019ll give the show an overall grade. Pretty much anytime Michael Scott is present you can expect to be entertained.<\/p>\n
\nDocumentarian Bryan Fogel set out to make a fascinating film: after finishing 15th in a prestigious bike race in France, he decided to spend the next year doping to see how he would compete by breaking the rules. He enlisted the foremost expert in the world on how to both dope and avoid being detected, Russian Grigory Rodchenkov. But in the midst of filming Rodchenkov became the center of one of the biggest drug scandals in world sports history, one which at times completely shut down the Russian Olympic team.<\/p>\n
\nShorts<\/h3>\n
\nScience!<\/p>\n
\nMore science!<\/p>\n
\nHoly shit. I can barely ride down a flat road. This is insane!<\/p>\n
\nPodcasts<\/h3>\n