Binge Watching Series Recommendations

[72gmc]

I binge on podcasts that I listen to while on the trainer. No picture to watch, I can just close my eyes, listen, and turn pedals. If I'm working on a project, I'll have a notepad on the table next to the bike and record my random thoughts.

This is now binge watching and binge listening. The Reith Lectures? Hardcore History? What are your go-tos?

[defspace]

Deadloch on Amazon Prime. Funniest thing I've seen in ages.

[bigbill]

This is now binge watching and binge listening. The Reith Lectures? Hardcore History? What are your go-tos?

Jocko Willink mostly. He gets some great guests and they can be as long as 5 hours so I break them up over a period of days. His interview of Rainn Wilson was very good. He gets Medal of Honor recipients, former SEALS, educators, and one of my favorites was Bud Anderson, a triple ace from World War 2 who is still living at 100 and doing interviews.

[jimcav]

Yessir.

I'm still working on a later season of The Expanse.

Is Ken Burns' buffalo show worth the time?

I'd say yes--American Buffalo was good (but not that long--maybe 4 hours)

[vertical_doug]

If you like Ruth Wilson, and want a creepy Irish rehash with the Catholic Church and adoption, 'The Woman in the Wall' is pretty brutal.

I also like Alfred Molina, and Amazon's Three Pines is a lighter Nordic Noire set in Canada.

[vertical_doug]

As long as we are on Nordic Noir, the Darkness series from Denmark is pretty good.
Darkness: Thos who Kill is series one.

WHy does the Nordic countries have so many serial killers?

Nothing says Christmas like a Nordic Crime Drama..... but for those of you who hate subtitles, you can go for the two Santa Claus is a killer stories - Violent Night and Fat Man..... Seems the old guy in beard has some issues....

[bigbill]

We are binge watching Fargo. The characters and cinematography are wonderful. Each season is a complete story that takes place where they have the Minnesota accent, don't you know.

[72gmc]

WHy does the Nordic countries have so many serial killers?.

Same reason the Pacific Northwest has so many serial killers. Anywhere people wear long dark coats every day, and have existential moments while standing near bodies of water while it rains ... bodies.

[bcm119]

Re: Nordic countries, I thought Wallander was excellent. It's not new. It's a BBC miniseries taking place in Sweden. Very good cinematography, writing, and acting (Kenneth Branagh).

[robin3mj]

Switching media here, but the novel Stolen (Sweden-based) is one of the better books I've read in a while.

I've been guiltily watching The Buccaneers on Apple. Can't say it's Emmy-worthy but it's a fun watch.
Have started Lessons in Chemistry at the recommendation of others, but despite the fact I really like Brie Larson as an actor (and "Bob" from Top Gun 2), it's been a little slow to get into.

Slow Horses has caught my eye and I will probably start that the next weekend I can ese myself getting through ~2-4 episodes without having to set it aside for another period of time.

[rec head]

We are binge watching Fargo. The characters and cinematography are wonderful. Each season is a complete story that takes place where they have the Minnesota accent, don't you know.

I definitely didn't see season 4 but we jumped into season 5. It has been great so far. Keeley with a different funny accent wasn't as hard to get used to as I thought it would be. We are caught up and I will wait til the season is over before getting started again. I hate week over week releases.

[bigbill]

I definitely didn't see season 4 but we jumped into season 5. It has been great so far. Keeley with a different funny accent wasn't as hard to get used to as I thought it would be. We are caught up and I will wait til the season is over before getting started again. I hate week over week releases.

Each season is a stand alone. We're in season four, Chris Rock is amazing in his character.

[vertical_doug]

Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office

Based on a true story about how a new account system, Horizon, made accounting errors which showed shortfalls in accounts for sub-Postmasters in the UK. The UK Post Office, just took for granted the system was reliable and robust, so prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters, and once they had a conviction the post office would go for a Proceeds of Crime Act order to seize the assets destroying countless lives in the process on a faulty algorithm.

The post office continued this even after an outside audit firm in 2012 conducted a review and declared the system 'not fit for purpose'. You essentially had a PR department saying system was robust and you were unable to challenge the algorithm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britis...Office_scandal

It just started in the UK, and it is really causing an uproar as the UKGov has been foot dragging this for over 10 years. . . I am sure it will make it to PBS.

[vertical_doug]

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-b2465992.html

From the Independent, this is not paywalled. It is a better recap of the whole affair.

[echappist]

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-b2465992.html

From the Independent, this is not paywalled. It is a better recap of the whole affair.

The whole episode is such a gross misconduct of justice.

And now it seems like the UK gov't is purposely stringing things along in the hopes that various claimant would either give up or die. Even more dire, as this cohort can be quite loose with money if it reaches the right pockets; see the various early Covid PPE contracts to cronies, only to have very little actually gets delivered.

[Paul Jacobs]

The whole episode is such a gross misconduct of justice.

And now it seems like the UK gov't is purposely stringing things along in the hopes that various claimant would either give up or die. Even more dire, as this cohort can be quite loose with money if it reaches the right pockets; see the various early Covid PPE contracts to cronies, only to have very little actually gets delivered.

Maybe it will not be too long.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-67926661

It is an election year. Sunak may want to be able to say to the electorate that he has sorted out this problem. I do not think that this would be happening without the television drama raising puplic awareness. I have copied an extract from the link above.

"Good afternoon. If you're just joining us, welcome, as we continue to report on the latest developments on the Post Office IT scandal. Here are some of today's main findings:

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced during Prime Minister's Questions that the government will bring in a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims" of the scandal
A group of former postmasters who brought forward a group lawsuit, known as the 555, will be offered a £75,000 upfront payment, the government says
During an urgent question on the subject in the House of Commons, Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake announced that victims will be able to sign a form to say they are innocent in order to have their convictions overturned and to claim compensation
At the heart of this scandal is a faulty Horizon IT system, which led to the Post Office prosecuting 736 sub-postmasters and mistresses between 1999 and 2015

Here’s the really interesting bit.

The government’s standing compensation offer for Post Office workers who were victims of miscarriages of justice is a no-questions-asked £600,000.

Nobody exonerated under the plan can get at that cash until they sign a declaration that they definitely weren’t guilty.

That form will effectively be a legal promise: anyone who signs it and was later shown to have been genuinely on the take in the past could then be prosecuted for attempting to defraud the government of the compensation."

[j44ke]

Why does that sound like a catch-22?

[vertical_doug]

Why does that sound like a catch-22?

I don't think of it as a catch-22. There have been calls even from subpostmasters to make sure they don't pay people that actually defrauded the Gov. If you do the math, the £600,000 seems inadequate for many of the people when you consider they lost homes etc....

At least Paula Vennells, the ex-Post Office Boss, handed back her OBE for a job-well done... It's amazing how many shady business heads end up with OBE's.

I can't wait until we get the Lady Mone MedPro scandal TV docu-series. . . This will be another classic.
(for those not in the UK, Lady Mone was a lifetime Peer in the House of Lords who 'helped' fast track her husband's firm MedPro to get a COVID PPE contract worth £200mm. Her family was paid £60mm and the PPE was defective)
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ne-ppe-scandal

Just the photos are priceless. The villian writes the story herself. I just don't know where her dalmatian coat is.

[j44ke]

I don't think of it as a catch-22. There have been calls even from subpostmasters to make sure they don't pay people that actually defrauded the Gov. If you do the math, the £600,000 seems inadequate for many of the people when you consider they lost homes etc....

At least Paula Vennells, the ex-Post Office Boss, handed back her OBE for a job-well done... It's amazing how many shady business heads end up with OBE's.

I can't wait until we get the Lady Mone MedPro scandal TV docu-series. . . This will be another classic.
(for those not in the UK, Lady Mone was a lifetime Peer in the House of Lords who 'helped' fast track her husband's firm MedPro to get a COVID PPE contract worth £200mm. Her family was paid £60mm and the PPE was defective)
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ne-ppe-scandal

Just the photos are priceless. The villian writes the story herself. I just don't know where her dalmatian coat is.

I guess what I mean is that by signing that piece of paper, the people affected agree to be subject to the same enforcement authority over the same historical period of time that enforcement authority improperly accused them of malfeasance using a broken inaccurate system. Any records for that era are going to be tainted by the use of that system and the credibility of the enforcement authority. Who is to say that the government won't circle back and start retrying those cases afterwards, whether or not the charges are justified. And if you've signed a paper that says the government can in fact come after you if they so decide even though this document and payment are supposed to be an exoneration, that creates a lingering threat of future prosecution. I am sure someone has said, "Well if they are innocent they have nothing to worry about - this is to get actual criminals." But the government's credibility for that period of time is all shot full of holes. What's more, if they cannot by this time separate out the people who were wrongfully accused from the people who were actually embezzling funds, where is there any credibility in the government's ability to properly adjudicate anything coming out of this era? My feeling is that the government has essentially lost the opportunity to prosecute irregularities from this period, and while they may be able to discern who should and should not get the settlement, they should remove that statement from the settlement paperwork as an act of good faith. It is at least redundant (if you do illegal things you typically are subject to prosecution regardless) and reads as tone-deaf.

[72gmc]

At least Paula Vennells, the ex-Post Office Boss, handed back her OBE for a job-well done... It's amazing how many shady business heads end up with OBE's.

One of my positive takeaways from this post office scandal is that I'm now aware of the mechanism for rescinding such honors. I've wondered about the shady people, and who monitors how shady they are while holding those honors <cough Dave Brailsford cough>

Back on topic: my wife and I are most of the way through Ridley Road via PBS Masterpiece. Rory Kinnear is another convincing bad guy (he has a good career in the villain business) but Agnes O'Casey is the real reason to watch. First big role for her, apparently, and she's great.