It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground-a hydraulic drilling process called “fracking”-and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.
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A personal documentary about a public subject, My Father’s Vietnam personifies the connections made and unmade by the Vietnam War. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and 8mm footage of the era, My Father’s Vietnam is the story of three soldiers, only one of whom returned home alive. Interviews with the filmmaker’s Vietnam Veteran father, and the friends and family members of two men he served with who were killed there, give voice to individuals who continue to silently carry the psychological burdens of a war that ended over 40 years ago. My Father’s Vietnam carries with it the potential to encourage audiences to broach the subjects of service and sacrifice with the veterans in their lives.
10 May 1943. Something is spotted drifting ashore off the coast of Northwest Donegal, Ireland. Something that would change the lives of the local people forever.
When actress Gwyneth Paltrow and retired optometrist Terry Sanderson collided on a ski slope, Sanderson sued Paltrow accusing her of skiing recklessly.
A.I. guru Ben Goertzel grew up in a hippie community in Oregon during the Vietnam War. Inspired by science fiction, he imagined a perfect rational world that would transcend 1970s’ America. Ben has dedicated his life to developing OpenCog, a software that models the human mind. If Ben’s design works, OpenCog will become a human-like general intelligence. But for OpenCog to work, it needs a body.
Cookbook author and environmental activist Diana Kennedy reflects on an unconventional life spent mastering Mexican cuisine.
The remarkable true story of Darius McCollum, a man with Asperger’s syndrome whose overwhelming love of transit has landed him in jail 32 times for the criminal impersonation of NYC subway drivers, conductors, token booth clerks, and track repairmen.
From the beginning, LA punk band the Circle Jerks were rooted in controversy. Formed by ex members of Black Flag and Red Cross (now Redd Kross) in late 1979, the band came to encapsulate the image, sound and energy of California Hardcore Punk. Filmmaker David Markey (1991: The Year Punk Broke, The Slog Movie) mixes in-depth interviews, rare live footage and historical perspective to illustrate the story of one of the most influential bands in the American underground. My Career as a Jerk follows the band from their early days and classic debut to navigating the independent label and touring scene of the 80s to the addictions, fights and injuries that forced their break up. Of course the story doesn’t quite end there.
The triumphant story of how a little Chicago microbrewery succeeded in flipping off the president and mobilizing a community got its start after the 5 Rabbit Cervecería received a major order with a downside. Married brewery owners Andres Araya and Mila Ramirez, Latin American immigrants, rejoiced when they were selected to brew the house brand for the new Trump Tower, a coup for such a small business. Joy turned to horror with Trump’s shocking public characterizations of Hispanic immigrants. They pulled their beer out of the tower, but what to do with all that product? The answer lay in imaginative relabeling of the golden ale as Chinga Tu Pelo, or F••• Your Hair. Thirsty Chicago beer drinkers, bar owners and restaurateurs rose to the protest challenge with glee, and set 5 Rabbit on a new path to social action.
Canyoneering is the sport of descending canyons by means of hiking, climbing, rappelling and swimming. Relatively obscure, the sport was brought to the mainstream in 2003 with the news of Aron Ralston who had severed his own arm while trapped in a canyon. Experiencing an overnight spike in popularity by the late 90s – a result of information appearing on the internet – the sport became inundated with thrill-seekers of all backgrounds and skill levels. Facing a new era of off-the-couch recreationalists, three influential participants, a canyoneering instructor, pioneer, and guidebook author each respond to a growing interest in the incredibly dangerous activity. Gorging employs the story of canyoneering to examine larger questions about the pursuit of thrills and the consequences that follow.
Captures a moment in 1970s Britain’s immigration debate, focusing on new arrivals at Heathrow as they wrestle with immigration law.