Norri

Nord works for me.

Steerpike

Currently watching "Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates". Just finished episode 2, 1 more to go. Absolutely loving it! Main focus is Bills philanthropic activities, through his foundation. Episode one focused on his quest to solve the '3rd world toilet situation' - the fact that hordes of people die in 3rd world countries through the simple lack of proper sanitation - clean water, functioning toilets, etc. He applied his substantial intellect, and also his substantial financial resources, to a problem that is about as un-sexy as one can imagine. Episode 2 focused on his quest to eradicate polio. Not sure what Episode 3 is yet. Along the way, we get to learn of his childhood, the influence of his mother, and his friendship with Warren Buffett.

Overall, a very uplifting story. I have to say, I now have a great deal of respect for the man (and Warren Buffett).

I do take issue with the 'style' of the documentary; not unlike my comments earlier in this thread about 'The Great Hack', this documentary shows us extensive footage of Bill Gates walking ahead of the camera talking to the unnamed interviewer (so you have no idea who is talking ... I found this very distracting), and lots of close-ups of Bill pondering things, chewing on the edge of his glasses. I feel we could have saved a good few minutes editing this stuff out without losing any information. I'll be watching the third episode tonight!

Steerpike

Update - watched final episode - great stuff! The focus of Episode 3 is his quest for clean energy. This will likely be the most controversial episode, since he's advocating nuclear power. He has funded and built a prototype that is air-cooled (needs no water) and operates at normal pressure (no vessels to explode). It also runs on existing 'spent fuel' that is stock-piled in storage already, reserves of which are substantial enough to power the entire US for hundreds of years. I've heard about this design before; anyone with a technical background can appreciate that this approach is 'sound', but the topic is so controversial that many will reject it out of hand. The final twist is gut-wrenching - just as they are about to deploy working models to China, good old Donald Trump nixes the plan thanks to his China tarriffs! So those of you who hate nuclear at any cost can thank Donald for his efforts.

PS - the title of the documentary is misleading; it should simply be called, 'life after Microsoft' or 'inside Bill's heart', or 'how to spend 40 billion dollars' or something! It makes no effort to really explore the workings of the mind.

vespucci

Thank you- I haven't watched this sort of stuff, it's good to get to know about it here.

I seem to remember he was portrayed as a ruthless businessman who stole other people's achievements; it seems either the portrayal was wrong, or he's changed.

Steerpike

All that is covered in the documentary. In essence, he got married, had kids, and mellowed out to some degree. He still has a laser-focus and a drive to succeed, but imagine what that means when the 'goal' is to build a cheap toilet or sewage treatment plant in the third world - the measures of success are different so it doesn't introduce the same competition perhaps.

It sounds like his wife Melinda was a pretty amazing choice as she managed to take the rough edges off him! She also runs the foundation as his equal. He (and Warren Buffett) are committed to giving all their money away and are trying to encourage other rich people to do likewise. Interesting dynamic, when you consider they have at some times been the richest and second richest men in the world!

scrubbedexpat097

Echo in the Canyon.

If you're a certain age then you will enjoy the music. Jake Dylan interviews many of the old folk rockers of the 60s and 70s and listens to their stories as well as performing some of their songs himself also along with Beck and a few others.
It was interesting and entertaining.

Steerpike

Nice summary of several documentaries out there, some on Netflix. Had the good luck to see 'Apollo 11' on a recent flight.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/11/...-child-doc-nyc

scrubbedexpat097

We watched One Child Nation last night. Very disturbing listening to some of the stories . Worth wstching.

Steerpike

Wow, thanks for the tip!
"A thoroughly entertaining look at the Laurel Canyon scene as well as the musical history surrounding it, Echo in the Canyon is essential viewing for rock doc fans."

I shall be watching!

scrubbedexpat097

Evil Next Door.

Nazis in the US. It was an eye opening documentary of a story we kind of knew about but didn't know all of it. Mistaken identity or not or evil?

Steerpike

Definitely worth a watch! Lovely to see people like Crosby, Stills, Ringo, Clapton, and the rest talking about how they shared their ideas and expanded the art form. I wasn't overly keen on the amount of time given over to the 'young uns' - Jake Dylan (never even knew he existed but he was instantly recognizable as the son!), Beck (I only ever knew one Beck - Jeff Beck - and this wasn't him!). But I must say, I enjoyed listening to the voice of 'Jade Castrinos' (another name I'd never heard before watching). And the very brief moment where Nora Jones sang was memorable.

But most interesting to me was the architecture! That really is one crazy canyon, with houses perched on the hillsides. I wished the aerial photography had gone on much longer!

scrubbedexpat097

Glad you enjoyed it.
I actually loved the way the young 'uns especially Jacob " jake" Dylan came in with their own versions of many of the songs. Have you never heard of his band The Wallflowers ? They were pretty popular in the 90's ( having teen kids at that time probably kept me in the loop!) The same with Beck. He was the same era and then went AWOL for a time. I'm with you on Norah Jones. I love her voice!

Hiro11

Throwing in another plug for "Wild Wild Country" which I am rewatching. This story is so incredible that it doesn't seem possible. It's full of memorable characters whose quirks (and psychopathy in a couple of cases) are teased out in long form interviews. It's sharply edited and economic in its story telling. Also, it's a very precise time capsule of the late seventies / early eighties for a certain piece of America and a certain type of American. It remains, IMO, the best thing Netflix has ever done.

ddsrph

scrubbedexpat097

Will try to catch this, thanks!