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The Last Dance
2020 · TV series · documentary · 50 min episodes · 1 season
Created by Michael Tollin
A 10-part documentary chronicling the untold story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty with rare, never-before-seen footage and sound from the 1997-98 championship season – plus over 100 interviews with famous figures and basketball’s biggest names.
6 positive2 neutralfrom 8 commenters
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8 comments on Hacker News
Resolved - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolved_(film)
- Follows a high school debate team that eschewed the normal speed and pitch common in debate and instead argued against the structure of debate on the whole.
Class Action Park - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Action_Park
- Covers the history of Action Park, and amusement park which was located in Vernon Township, New Jersey and was infamous for its poor safety record.
The Last Dance - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dance_(miniseries)
- Chronicles the career of basketball great Michael Jordan
The Captain - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Captain_(miniseries)
- Chronicles the career of baseball great Derek Jeter
Andre the Giant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_the_Giant_(film)
- Examines the life and career of professional wrestler Andre the Giant
6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_Days_to_Air
- Follows Trey Parker and Matt Stone as they produce an episode of the adult cartoon series South Park in the 6 days before it is due to air.
The Alzheimers Project - https://www.hbo.com/the-alzheimer-s-project
- A bit aged, but a multi-part series covering Alzheimers disease and its impact on those affected by it and their families.
Alive Day Memories - Home From Iraq - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive_Day_Memories
- Interviews with Iraq War veterans about the days they should have died, but didn't.
Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assume_the_Position_with_Mr._Wuhl
- Talks about facts and myths of American history in a comedic view
"The Social Dilemma", what a great documentary showing how ad business, recommendations, attention grabbing works in social networks and how it impacts society, it basically shows "how sausage is made" and how it impacts the whole world and the risks associated with it https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
"Planet Earth II", breathtaking documentary about animal life on earth with extraordinary scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5491994/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Inside Job", documentary about 2008 crisis, masterpiece, narrated by Matt Damon. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/
"The Last Dance", I'm not a fan of basketball, it's a doc about Michael Jordan, one of the best docs I've seen, sounds boring but you can't wait to watch the next episode, recommended even if you don't watch sports like me, it's about extraordinary person/athlete and what it takes to be GOAT https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Zero Days", great doc about stuxnet exploit https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5446858/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Human", what it is to be a human from different perspectives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3327994/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Over the Limit", documentary about olympic gymnastic and shows the price of winning at any cost. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8184202/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Life Story", beautiful doc about animals, great scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4150884/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Planet Earth", extraordinary scenes of animals lives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795176/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Blue Planet II", like Planet Earth but in water https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6769208/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Cosmos", doc about cosmos, nature of the world etc, very good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395695/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"The Tinder Swindler", "Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, he wooed women online, then conned them out of millions of dollars." Surprisingly good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14992922/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"The Farthest", about first human made object leaving our Solar system https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6223974/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Our Planet", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9253866/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Cartel land" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4126304/?ref_=rt_li_tt
I'm going to list just a few of the best I have seen so far:
- The Last Dance [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/]
- Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13651632/]
- Indie Game: The Movie [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1942884/]
- The Staircase [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388644/]
- Making a Murderer [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5189670/]
- Icarus [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333060/]
- Apollo 11 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/]
Manipulate is a big word...
If you're on Netflix, obviously you'll want at least some of the suggested content to be relevant to you. If you love basketball, of course you'd want to be reminded of The Last Dance documentary. The same goes for any other decision in the marketplace, you want relevant products to be presented to you. And that requires information about you.
Of course there's a limit to this. I'd always want at least some content to be atypical, to let me get exposure to things outside my bubble. But it doesn't change the notion that I mostly want content relevant to me.
Now if you ask me: do you want to see ads? I'd say no, most of the time. Because I don't enjoy being distracted by people trying to sell me things when I'm doing something else, e.g. checking my friends' summer pictures.
But if you're showing me ads anyway, making them more relevant is a net benefit than to be spammed with garbage. And if that runs much of the web otherwise for free, that's great, too.
Reminds me a of a quote from "The Last Dance" [1]:
“If you ask all my teammates… ‘The one thing about Michael Jordan was he never asked me to do anything that he didn’t f*%king do.’”
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/
Remember The Last Dance, the documentary about Michael Jordan's last season with the Chicago Bulls? Remember that weird talk show clip where the host describes Jordan as close to a living god? Now, Michael Jordan was an awesome athlete, but I think his mythos owes a lot to the specific media landscape at the time.
That is, media was extensive enough for a person to be a truly global star, but for the most part it only went one way. The media gave you an image of Michael and, for the most part, the image was pretty close to "living god". In contrast, modern media is intensely participatory. There are vicious comment sections and viral Tweets dunking on every person. Nobody seems to stay above it for very long.
There's a famous, maybe apocryphal quote where John Updike explains Ted Williams' decision to mostly ignore fans as "gods do not answer letters". But at this point, fame seems to require answering letters. I think people need to maintain some kind of distance to be the sort of heroes described in this article, but the culture we have seems pretty opposed to this kind of distance.
A few good ones:
Decoder Ring: Jane Fonda Workout tapes.
Hang up and Listen: The Last Last Dance. An exploration of Michael Jordan's time on the Wizards.
99% Invisible: In the Unlikely Event. About the design of airplane safety cards and how getting people off the plane quickly saves lives.
Planet Money: All Your Genes Are Belong to Us. On gene patenting. Good interview subject with the plaintiff who overturned these patents.
Software Engineering Daily: Federated Learning with Mike Lee Williams. Don't usually like this podcast very much, but this episode was an excellent overview of how federated learning works.
The Allusionist: No Title. Interesting examination of titles (e.g. "mrs.", "mr."). This podcast always has hilarious asides.
30 for 30 Bloodlines. A mini-series on the state of horse racing.
Retronauts: '90s Video Game Websites.
You're Wrong About: Shaken Baby Syndrome. Exploration of how this basically made-up syndrome became weaponized.
Don't remember the exact episode name but there was a recent episode of The Weeds on college debt which added some nuance to that discussion that I wasn't aware of.
Jerry Krause is the one who makes the best case for being an asshole leading to great success.
I agree with this summation fully, having said as much in many conversations on the topic since "The Last Dance" documentary aired and I discovered many of my friends were suddenly experts on the 90's era Bulls. Even the fans who swore they hated professional sports and couldn't separate Tony Kukoč from Tony Parker
Phil Jackson gets discounted as they guy who sat and watched Jordan do all the work...He is someone who definitely does not present as an asshole.
That's because the people who do this probably haven't bothered themselves to know anything more about Phil Jackson than the one they see on the court; a common malady of critiquing the human machinations of sports and sports personalities.
Read any of his books (but maybe especially "Sacred Hoops"), enter his head space and see his motivations as player turned coach-they're amazing. Phil Jackson the younger wasn't quite the same man, but in 'Sacred Hoops' it's really interesting how Phil Jackson the older didn't rebuke his younger self, merely embraced him, molded him and constantly reflected back on that young man while coaching Mike. Phil says as much and cites especially when his father passed away, as the moment that allowed him a certain "freedom" to be himself. I'm taking a lot of these same lessons and applying them to my team at work, while reading my second Phil Jackson book, "More than a Game".
Even taking his philosophies out of it, Phil Jackson was and I think still is an enormous student of the game-going all the way back even before his days playing for the Knicks, like you said-the man didn't just happen upon success because he found himself coaching stellar players, his willingness to buck traditional thought at the time in the NBA and embrace his assistant coaches "Triangle Offense" and successful integration of that into the Bulls played just as much a part in that team becoming who they did as Air Jordan's ability to defy gravity and hit buckets from just about anywhere on the court (except from the perimeter[1], consistently at least).
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[1] https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/5/18/21260106/michael-jordan-the-last-dance-evolution