I haven’t seen it, because I don’t have Apple + right now, but it sparked a discussion of “Dad Movies” on The Big Picture podcast that I really enjoyed and recommend.
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I was watching a video about Western approaches command in Liverpool and the Wrens. The thing that largely broke the back of the U-Boat arm, was a bunch of women in a room, painfully recreating every convoy attack with models, from the collated reports of the escort vessels. Essentially over time, they were able to reverse engineer the tactics of the wolf packs, and construct counter tactics. There were lots of advances in technology, and new long range planes were able to find and sink U-boats on the surface, but it was when attacks on convoys became more dangerous for the submarines than the cargo ships, that they stopped.
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What actually happens in World War II is less interesting than the transformation of the US from largely unpopulated rural backwater into industrial superpower in the space of about four years between 1938 and 1942. There are a bunch of lectures on the George C Marshall foundation channel on Youtube that were fascinating. There really was fuck all west of the Missisippi in the lead up to the second world war. (one steel plant) The stuff about actual battles and stuff is actually a bit dull. The war in the pacific is just horrendous attritional murderous nonsense, and island hopping gets super repetitive. also this video is a very good explanation of why the US beat Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ag2x3CS9M] You don't have to watch all of it, but it is extremely hypnotic.[/url] Pearl harbour was a really terrible idea.
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I think the industrialization of the US took more than four years. But indeed that is the more interesting part. My high school AP American History teacher agreed. For each major war, we’d spend weeks of class time, but only one day on the war itself. For each war, the answer to every question was “it was a three-part strategy....”
That PBS documentary on WW1 is very good in the same way. Mostly about how it changed America and less about the trenches.
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Did you see PBS's four hour doc on women's fight for the vote last week? It was very informative. I didn't, for example, know about the connections between the British and US suffarage movements, nor the double bind that black women were placed in, especially in the South of course.
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Greyhound was okay. Cruel Sea by the far the best of these types of movies though. As TAB says, a whole range of issues helped the allies - US industrial capacity, especially ship-building, the use of Liberators with new radar and re-breaking the Enigma codes being the key ones.
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Originally posted by ursus arctos View PostThe growth during WWII is pretty stark and TAB is right to note the regional aspect.
IIRC, New York overtook London as the most populous city in the world in the 1920s. Or maybe it was before that. Of course, a few other cities are bigger now.
But WW2 was an inflection point for much of the country. The invention of the air conditioner and interstate highways were probably at least as important, though.
Here is the regional chart. IIRC, natives weren’t counted until 1860, but I don’t thing that would change the overall picture much.
Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 15-07-2020, 01:36.
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Yes.
I didn't read TAB's reference to an "underpopulated rural backwater" as referring to the Northeast or industrial Midwest. And if there is anyone on here who knows his underpopulated rural backwaters, it is TAB.
The role of the Civil War in the industrialisation of those areas is significant.
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I watched it and found it quite interesting. The Police officers in the second part are brilliant.
I really need to read up more on Live Aid because I don't know enough about the after effects, but Simon Price on Chart Music had some very choice words about it when they were reviewing a 1985 episode a couple of years back.
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- Jul 2016
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Watching a documentary about Clark Gable. Some twat of a critic spoke about Kate Hepburn. It's like people who call Robert De Niro "Bobby " .It's Katherine Hepburn, she's not your best mate.
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Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View PostHas anyone seen Greyhound? The trailer looks super exciting, but any movie based around an escort destroyer being in mortal peril from u boats, is about as historically accurate as a cthulu film.
I'm interested in WW2 but I'm by no means an expert and to my eyes it seemed pretty authentic although I did have a couple of issues.
I reckon that if you're not particularly interested in the Battle of the Atlantic its probably a bit run of the mill, Hanks is pretty much playing a character we've seen him play numerous times before but overall I thought it was worth 90 minutes of my time.
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Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View PostWhat actually happens in World War II is less interesting than the transformation of the US from largely unpopulated rural backwater into industrial superpower in the space of about four years between 1938 and 1942. There are a bunch of lectures on the George C Marshall foundation channel on Youtube that were fascinating. There really was fuck all west of the Missisippi in the lead up to the second world war. (one steel plant) The stuff about actual battles and stuff is actually a bit dull. The war in the pacific is just horrendous attritional murderous nonsense, and island hopping gets super repetitive. also this video is a very good explanation of why the US beat Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ag2x3CS9M] You don't have to watch all of it, but it is extremely hypnotic.[/url] Pearl harbour was a really terrible idea.
Basically the US was safe from bombing and had a lot of workers so was the perfect place to produce all of the stuff that is necessary to win a worldwide attritional war.
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Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View PostI was watching a video about Western approaches command in Liverpool and the Wrens. The thing that largely broke the back of the U-Boat arm, was a bunch of women in a room, painfully recreating every convoy attack with models, from the collated reports of the escort vessels. Essentially over time, they were able to reverse engineer the tactics of the wolf packs, and construct counter tactics. There were lots of advances in technology, and new long range planes were able to find and sink U-boats on the surface, but it was when attacks on convoys became more dangerous for the submarines than the cargo ships, that they stopped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVet82IUAqQ
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I’ve watched a few of the Alan Bennett Talking Heads remakes on BBC iplayer. The ones with Harriet Walter, Maxine Peake and Kristin Scott Thomas were very good, even if a few references seemed dated already. Not sure about the new Sarah Lancashire one: but it was a rather peculiar subject tackled.
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Originally posted by tracteurgarcon View Post
Didn't French and then British industrialists sink a tonne of money into US factories so they could turn out planes, ships, tanks, guns and ammunition in the 30s and during the War?
Basically the US was safe from bombing and had a lot of workers so was the perfect place to produce all of the stuff that is necessary to win a worldwide attritional war.
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We are in the midst of three series at present:
Succession (near the end of S1 - always late to the party). This is a great show, in spite of having no sympathetic characters whatsoever (except Greg). The performances are excellent, but I wouldn’t single out an individual cast member; it’s an ensemble. We just had the New Mexico/therapy/photo op episode. Shows can only get away with this sort of episode if they’re really on their game, and they did.
Unorthodox (final episode to go). What a compelling series. The cast are all unknown, at least to us. Shira Haas is a revelation.
Space Force: our feelings seem to echo many on here. It’s good, we watch, there are a few laughs. But it could have been so much more.
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