#History Documentaries

[deadpresidents]

I recently wrote about my opinion on PBS American Experience's "The American Vice President" documentary, which was good but I thought it could have been better. Last night, I stumbled upon this documentary that is available free with ads on YouTube called "President In Waiting" about the modern Vice Presidency, and it's GREAT!

I had never even heard of this documentary before last night, but it's a very straightforward look at the modern Vice Presidency. There is no narrator, no random talking heads, just interviews with Presidents Carter, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama, as well as Vice Presidents Mondale, Quayle, Gore, Cheney, Biden (it was filmed before Biden was elected President), and Pence, and it's those guys telling the story of the modern Vice Presidency, the relation between the President and the Vice President, and their personal experiences in the jobs. There are some really great stories in there, too, and a hilarious one at this point of the documentary regarding President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and their dogs at Camp David. I definitely recommend checking out "President In Waiting" on YouTube if you have the time.

[charlesoberonn]

Tell me you know nothing about history without telling me you know nothing about history

[tmarshconnors]

“If you’re not a conspiracy theorist at this point, you’re not paying attention!”

Neil Oliver is a Scottish television presenter and author. He has presented several documentary series on archaeology and history, including A History of Scotland, Vikings and Coast. He is also an author of popular history books and historical fiction. 

Born: 21 February 1967 (age 57 years), Renfrewshire, Scotland

Television Presenter: Neil Oliver is well-known for his work as a television presenter, particularly for the BBC series "Coast," which explores the natural and human history of the British coastline.

Author: He has written several books, including "A History of Scotland," "Vikings," and "The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places," combining his historical knowledge and storytelling skills.

Archaeologist: Before becoming a television personality, Oliver worked as an archaeologist. He studied archaeology at the University of Glasgow and participated in various digs and research projects.

Public Speaker: Neil Oliver is a popular public speaker, often invited to give talks on historical and archaeological topics. His engaging storytelling style has made him a sought-after speaker at events and conferences.

Scottish Heritage: Oliver is deeply passionate about Scottish history and heritage. He has produced and presented several documentaries focusing on Scotland's history, including the series "A History of Scotland" and "Scotland's Story."

[noodles-and-tea]

Back at it with my enchanted merthur shenanigans

[mengjue]

Okay I just went through Binge to add history documentaries to my watch list, and I need to rant a little about the state of things in the history doco world. The beyond blatant US/UK centrism is entirely too damn high to the point that you almost have to laugh. Here are a few of the standouts I found and why their producers/directors deserve a plate of cold spaghetti thrown in their face:

A History Warfare: It starts in the fucking ROMAN EMPIRE. Like, fuck all the civilisations before that I guess? And from the title it covers all warfare in the world, right? Nope! Of course not! All that matters is Europe and England. But white history doesn’t get qualifiers so it’s just a history of “warfare” in general. Other honourable mentions here are Besieged Fortresses and Legendary Castles, both of which are spelled with a silent “European” in the middle. And of course there’s Decades That Defined Us, which just forgot to add a “the” in front of U.S.

Lost Treasures of the Ancient World: This is a classic example of US/UK get specifics, everyone else gets vague hand waves. Like how nature docos give town, state, and country names for the US and UK but then cut to “the jungles of Africa.” In this case Rome and Britain get multiple episodes each, and then there’s an episode called “The Aztec & The Maya.” Cause you know, they’re pretty much the same thing and not a lot went on in their combined multiple millennia of history. We have white English people to get back to!

Megapolis: This is your classic token diversity point documentary. We’ve got two Hellenistic cities and Rome, let’s just throw in Tikal to make sure it’s “global.” That should be enough, now we don’t need “European” in the title!

Ancient Aliens: Ancient goddamned aliens. No, this is not history. No, this is not science or in any way legitimate. But what else will we fill the history section with? Stories about places other than the US and Europe? That imply they achieved great things without the aid of white people or magic? We can’t have that! There’s plenty other pseudoscience and outright lying about history conspiracy docos being lapped up by streaming too, but this one really lives in infamy.

Finally, in the “too many to count” category, fucking WWII. Every time you search for history on a streaming service it’s just a synonym for WWII. Not even WWII, Hitler and Europe, specifically. Cause these docos give fuck all about Asia and Japan’s war until the US comes along. I honestly wish there was an AO3-style filter for WWII at this point so I could browse the 3 remaining history documentaries in peace. And 2 out of 3 are gonna be about Rome, which is also on thin ice.

Anyways none of this is new but it’s been a lot to wade through to find decent history docos, so thanks for coming to my rant

[rosechata]

afghanistan

oriane_zerah_photo

[the-blueprint]

"Brazilian hand games and American hand games!!!! Realizing that the art of hand games comes from Africa! I never thought about it before. It was just embedded in our childhood."

"The collective consciousness is real"

"My goodness. We played this in Nigeria too."

There's a documentary with @jamilawoods called "Black Girls Play" about the history of handclap games in the US and their importance in the Black community. And a book before it called The Games Black Girls Play, by Kyra D. Gaunt.

[chrissmou]

History documentaries that I like to watch

As last was New Year’s Eve I didn’t have time to write my post for the week, so this week you are what I have planned for them and an extra one for the plans I have for this year for my posts in Tumblr. But, let’s start with this one.

In this one, I would like to start with that I was never good at History in my school as I am a practical person and I love computers and mathematics. So, some years ago when I found on YouTube Lucy Worsley’s documentary “If walls could talk” about how our homes changed through the years with the help of 4 rooms, which I highly recommend. Her wit and humor with the energy she talks from ordinary people to the kings and queens of England, France, Russia, and Germany. I love the fact that when she goes to a historical palace or castle where she works as a curator, she seems like a child ready to open a beloved present.  So, I would to tell you that from this point on I love her documentaries and histories or art histories. I would recommend 10 of my favorites and all of them you can watch on YouTube or Dailymotion and not in a particular order:

1.      If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home

2.      Elegance and Decadence: The Age of Regency

3.      A Very British Murder

4.      A Very British Romance

5.      Cake Bakers and Trouble Makers: Lucy Worsley's 100 years of the WI

6.      Six Wives with Lucy Worsley

7.      Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors

8.      Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen

9.      Lucy Worsley's Royal Palace Secrets

10.   Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History

[that-butch-archivist]

the documentary "the aggressives" about poc butches is on streaming and can be bought idk if that's useful or anything but i just watched it and thought it fit in here

It's totally useful, thanks for reaching out!! I've not had time to watch this one myself yet but it's high on the list for ... whenever I get a moment. I've heard really good things and all, and--oh shit it's free on Tubi ... HMMM. Okay. Well. I know what I have to see later lol. xD

But yes, anon is right--for those interested in seeing more butches of color, or just butches in general, please take a look at "The Aggressives"!

"The Aggressives" on Wikipedia. "The Aggressives" (free to watch!) on Tubi.

[deadpresidents]

Will you be watching The Lady Bird Diaries on Hulu?

I'm insulted that you feel the need to even ask this question.

OF COURSE I watched The Lady Bird Diaries immediately and it's fantastic. I was obviously already aware of what a priceless source of fascinating detail on the history of her time that Lady Bird's diaries are. In my opinion, they are one of the most extraordinary perspectives of the Presidency by someone so close to the institution that has ever been created -- even more illuminating than most autobiographies or books written by actual Presidents. On their own they are remarkable, and Lady Bird Johnson is a tremendously underrated and unappreciated figure of the 20th Century.

But Dawn Porter went above and beyond with crafting something even more incredible out of source material that would be interesting enough if it was standing alone. In just a few years, Dawn Porter has made a half-dozen stunning films on American history and politics and culture and it's a staggering achievement. If you haven't done so yet, go watch The Lady Bird Diaries NOW. Both Lady Bird Johnson and Dawn Porter are American originals and American treasures.

[hisiggy]

little edie for interview magazine 1976

[sycoraxproductions]

The Masterdebater | A Human Pet Episode Five is out now

[dronescapesvideos]

P-61A 42-5580 Wabash Cannon-Ball IV of the 425th Night Fighter Squadron. France, 1944.

➤P-61 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/EjfRv9vi0D0

➤WW2 VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/WW2

[hephaestn]

Alexander and Hephaestion in Film/TV throughout the years.

Alexander the Great (Robert Rossen, 1956)

Adventure Story (Rudolph Cartier, 1961)

Alexander (Oliver Stone, 2004)

Young Alexander the Great (Jalal Merhi, 2010)

Alexander, the Great (Terra X, 2014)

Ancient Empires (History Channel, 2023)

Alexander: The Making of a God (Netflix, 2024)

[balkanradfem]

List of Youtube Documentaries and Video Essays on Tumblr Lore, for anyone wanting to learn or re-live it:

Meta

The Story of Dash Con

Tumblr Etiquette Manual

The Tumblr Calendar Explained

Tumblr Gimmick Blog Iceberg

Tumblr Live Explained

The Bizarre Story of Cole Sprouse's Tumblr Experiment

Cursed Tumblr History (heritage posts)

Aesthetics of the Tumblr Past

Life and Story of the Tumblr's CEO

The Story of JustGirlyThings

The Evolution of the Tumblr Girl

Evolution of the Hipster Trend

Fandoms

Sherlock: The Story of TJLC (The JohnLock Conspiracy)

The Supernatural Finale (Destiel Becomes Canon-ish)

Destiel Is Canon

Harry Potter: The Story of Snape Wives

The Onceler Fandom

Hamilton: The Insane Scandal of Hivliving

The Tumblr SexyMan Iceberg

The Lies of Tumblr

Alexandria's Genesis: The Internet's Fakest "Disease"

Hey Peebrain, You Teleport? Tumblr's Dark Mystery

Oppa Homeless Style

Tumblr's Infamous Fake Stories

Tumblr Fake Stories Part 2

Fake Tumblr Posts

That Time Tumblr Invented A New Greek Goddess

The Unreality Blogs

Clown Husbandry

Goncharov (1973)

Drama&Cores

The Tumblr Controvery Iceberg

Color Theory

The Rise And Fall Of 'Common White Girl'

Sonic for Real Justice (strange aeons)

The Bizarre Tumblr Saga of Sonic For Real Justice (izzzyzzz)

This Tumblr Blogger had a Child Slave

Iceberg of Infamous Tumblr Blogs

Tumblr Adds

Heterosexual Pride on Tumblr

Rabies Pride

Goblin Core

The Tumblr Needle Cookie Story

Scams:

The Story of 'All or Nothing'

The "Woke" Tumblr RPG that Scammed Thousands of Dollars

Tumblr's 80,000 dollar animation scam (Miss Officer and Mr Truffels)