Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 27
December 12, 2023
Podcast Review of the Who Killed JFK podcast, Episodes 1-5
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 364, in which I review the Who Killed JFK? podcast, episodes 1-5.
Read this review (written review of episode 5, with links to written reviews episodes 1-4)
Links to some of what I mentioned in the podcast:
my review of Jack Dann's Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History ... my podcast interview with Jack Dann my alternate history story about The BeatlesPaul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 11, 2023
Who Killed JFK: Episode 5: Sheep Dipped
Wikipedia says "sheep dipping is the immersion of sheep in water containing insecticides and fungicide." On another Wiki page, we learn that sheep dipping in military idiom is"to formally, and usually temporarily, transfer military equipment or personnel to non-military ownership for the purpose of its employment in covert action with less risk of triggering armed conflict."
Guess which kind of sheep dipping Episode 5 of Who Killed JFK? tells us the CIA did to Lee Harvey Oswald, to set him up as the "patsy" in their assassination of JFK? The answer is: all that sheep have to do with this is the American people and the world were led like sheep to believe that Oswald was the sole assassin in this horrendous history-changing crime.
Rob Reiner, Soledad O'Brien, and their experts give us painstaking details of how the CIA did this, making him look like a supporter of Fidel Castro and his Soviet-allied Cuba when actually Oswald was just the opposite. And who do Reiner et al claim came up with this ingenuously devious plan? None other than James Angleton, aka the Poet Spy, the erudite, brilliant Chief of Counterintelligence at the CIA.
I have to say that this part of the incredible story the podcast is carefully telling is a bit less convincing than the forensic evidence laid out in prior episodes. The fact that at least one of the bullets came from the front not the back of JFK as he and Jackie and Connelly and wife rode through Dallas that day seems unimpeachable, unless all the experts talking in podcast are blatantly lying, which seems very unlikely. And if there was more than one shooter, that means 100% that the Warren Commission was lying, and at very least there was more than one person shooting at JFK.
But the CIA piece is important, because it seeks to establish or at least further demonstrate not only its motive in killing the President (anger over the Bay of Pigs and fury at the detente JFK was pursuing with Khrushchev) but the specific way they expressed that motive, and made his assassination actually happen, and in a way that didn't implicate the CIA.
Even as I write that, it seems like one tall order. I'm not completely convinced that Angleton was smart enough and powerful to pull that off (I certainly didn't know the man personally). But the evidence is piling up in this and the previous episode, and I'm 100-percent up to being further convinced.
See also Who Killed JFK? A Review of the First Three Episodes of this Podcast ... Episode 4: The Real Manchurian Candidate
December 9, 2023
For All Mankind 4.5: Al Gore as President and AI
My favorite part of For All Mankind 4.5 was Al Gore as President, 2001-2005. First of all, that's an especially satisfying piece of alternate history, since in our reality Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000, and the Republican dominated US Supreme Court stopped the recounts in Florida which could have given Gore a victory in the essential Electoral College as well. (Also, in my time travel story, Ian's Ions and Eons, a time-traveler from the future goes back to 2000 to prevent the Supreme Court from taking that election victory away from Gore, and it's fun to see Gore in the White House in For All Mankind, a completely different story.)
Gore as President could have given the US and the world a real jump on the climate crisis, which of course he was sounding clarion calls about in the first decade of the 21st century in our reality. I'd like to see something showing Gore as President leading the world in responding global warming in For All Mankind. So far, the only notable alternate history flourish in Gore's alternate history Presidency is his taking credit for discovering a very valuable asteroid approaching Mars, mirroring what he said about inventing the Internet in our reality. Both cases were accidentally misleading statements by Gore, but the media in both realities had a field day with them.
There hasn't been much about AI in For All Mankind as yet, but it's no doubt being used to make the fictional Gore speak so clearly about things the real Gore certainly wasn't exactly taking about in our history. It struck me that maybe the reason the series ditched Gorbachev is there wasn't enough raw material from our history for AI to put whatever words the narrative may have needed for a Gorbachev who stayed in power in our at least through the early 21st century.
[And now some spoilers ahead ... ]
As what's going on now in For All Mankind of Mars, it was painful to see Poole and Baldwin at such odds, but that was probably inevitable. The two have gone from saying hello Bob to each other to Poole stripping Baldwin from his rank and position. I agreed with Baldwin that Poole was wrong to send the Russian back to Earth in the previous episode, but she's not wrong to be concerned about tremor in Baldwin's hand.
On the bright side, it was good to see Dev going up to Mars permanently, and it will be fun to see how things develop with all of our character here in the US and USSR.
December 7, 2023
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial: Short in a Variety of Ways, But Still Worthwile
Today is the 43rd anniversary of John Lennon's assassination. The older I get, the more clear I am that Lennon's murder, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, are the two most deforming events of the history that has taken place in my life. And of the two, Lennon's was the worst, since he was one of the most wondrous singer-songwriters who ever lived, which I think is more rare that even a great President.
Given all of that, how I could I not watch this short documentary that went up two days ago on Apple TV+. Short -- three episodes, that added up to less than three hours. I would have much rather spent that time re-watching any part of Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back. But I felt I had no choice.
Was it worth it? Well, here are the highlights of what most struck me about this documentary:
1. MKUltra, the CIA operation 1953-1973 that drugged, hypnotized, and otherwise abused subjects without their knowledge to do its bidding, may have played a role in Lennon's assassination. More specifically, it's implied/suggested that John Lennon's assassin may have been hypnotized and more by the CIA. This is the second time MK-Ultra has come up in documentaries I've watched/listened to in the past few weeks. The excellent Who Killed JFK? podcast with Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien is exploring the role that MK-Ultra may have had in that assassination. And unlike John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial, the JFK podcast goes beyond mere suggestions and offers some evidence.
2. The assassin of John Lennon said he killed him to get more people to read The Catcher in the Rye. The documentary tells us the shooter who attempted to kill Ronald Reagan under four months later had a copy of that very novel in his hotel room. But the documentary gives that no further consideration. Was the novel figuring in the life of one assassin and the life of a would-be assassin just a coincidence? I'd say, probably not. So does that novel have some kind of monstrous effect on vulnerable minds, on the psyches of people who are mentally ill? I'd say, also probably not. The most the likely explanation for Catcher in the Rye being in the lives of the two shooters is that the second was sickly inspired by the first. But that's just logical -- the documentary provides no evidence of that.
3. If you're interested in alternate history -- which I very much am -- Lennon's record producer, Jack Douglas, provides an exquisitely heartbreaking example. He tells us that he'd usually go back with John and Yoko from the recording studio to the Dakota, I guess to talk over what they'd done that night, or were planning to do the next night, or whatever. On that night, the night that Lennon was murdered, Douglas did not go back to the Dakota. He's sure that if he'd seen the assassin lurking, Douglas would have done something, "tackle" that "nutcase," anything, to prevent the beyond obscenity that occurred. A day hasn't gone by since then that Douglas hasn't raked himself over the coals for not being in the limo that night with John and Yoko.
4. Yoko Ono correctly points out that John likely wouldn't have been killed by an assailant with just a knife, and says point blank that John's death was due to a lack of gun control in the United States. The insane, mounting number of shootings in the United States with every passing year couldn't make Yoko's message any more timely. Just yesterday, three people were shot to death at a university in Las Vegas. These shootings which seem to be happening now almost weekly or more often are the fault not only of the person who pulled the trigger but every US Senator and Representative who has steadfastly stopped sensible gun control, over and over again.
Indeed, though Kiefer Sutherland's voice as narrator was very effective as it always is, and the lawyers and the police and the other people who played a role in the aftermath of John Lennon's assassination were interesting and sometimes crucial to see and hear from, the five or so minutes that Yoko was on the screen is what most made John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial worth watching. Most of that comes near the end. Will that make it worthwhile viewing for you? I guess that depends, more than anything, on how much tolerance you have for another dose of horror and grim understanding that cuts through your soul.
====
Here's an alternate history story about The Beatles that might make you feel a little better.
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial: Short in a Variety of Ways
Today is the 43rd anniversary of John Lennon's assassination. The older I get, the more clear I am that Lennon's murder, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, are the two most deforming events of the history that has taken place in my life. And of the two, Lennon's was the worst, since he was one of the most wondrous singer-songwriters who ever lived, which I think is more rare that even a great President.
Given all of that, how I could I not watch this short documentary that went up two days ago on Apple TV+. Short -- three episodes, that added up to less than three hours. I would have much rather spent that time re-watching any part of Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back. But I felt I had no choice.
Was it worth it? Well, here are the highlights of what most struck me about this documentary:
1. MKUltra, the CIA operation 1953-1973 that drugged, hypnotized, and otherwise abused subjects without their knowledge to do its bidding, may have played a role in Lennon's assassination. More specifically, it's implied/suggested that John Lennon's assassin may have been hypnotized and more by the CIA. This is the second time MK-Ultra has come up in documentaries I've watched/listened to in the past few weeks. The excellent Who Killed JFK? podcast with Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien is exploring the role that MK-Ultra may have had in that assassination. And unlike John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial, the JFK podcast goes beyond mere suggestions and offers some evidence.
2. The assassin of John Lennon said he killed him to get more people to read The Catcher in the Rye. The documentary tells us the shooter who attempted to kill Ronald Reagan under four months later had a copy of that very novel in his hotel room. But the documentary gives that no further consideration. Was the novel figuring in the life of one assassin and the life of a would-be assassin just a coincidence? I'd say, probably not. So does that novel have some kind of monstrous effect on vulnerable minds, on the psyches of people who are mentally ill? I'd say, also probably not. The most the likely explanation for Catcher in the Rye being in the lives of the two shooters is that the second was sickly inspired by the first. But that's just logical -- the documentary provides no evidence of that.
3. Yoko Ono correctly points out that John likely wouldn't have been killed by an assailant with just a knife, and says point blank that John's death was due to a lack of gun control in the United States. The insane, mounting number of shootings in the United States with every passing year couldn't make Yoko's message any more timely. Just yesterday, three people were shot to death at a university in Las Vegas. These shootings which seem to be happening now almost weekly or more often are the fault not only of the person who pulled the trigger but every US Senator and Representative who has steadfastly stopped sensible gun control, over and over again.
Indeed, though the lawyers and the police and the other people who played a role in the aftermath of John Lennon's assassination were interesting to see and hear from. the five or so minutes that Yoko was on the screen is what really made John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial worth watching. But most of that comes near the end. Will that make it worthwhile viewing for you? I guess that depends, more than anything, on how much tolerance you have for another dose of horror, grim understanding, and heartbreak.
Slow Horses 3.3: The Meaningful Difference Between "The" and "A" in the UK
As anyone who watches TV in English that comes for the other side of the Atlanticwell knows, the folks there have a great expression, "take the piss," which means mock or make a fool or fun of. That's in contrast to the use of "take a piss," which on this side of the Atlantic means what my wife always tells me women prefer describing as peeing. So what does this little idiom lesson have to do with the third episode of the third season of Slow Horses, up on Apple TV+ yesterday?
Well, in one of many telling scenes in this episode, Shirley tells Marcus that she's taking a piss. Which struck me as culturally significant because I don't recall the word "piss" ever used on U.K. or Irish television that way, and what my wife, as I said, tells me about women. Further, Shirley shortly after talks about "pee". So in addition to all its many other merits, Slow Horses provides some kind of lesson in charming vulgarity on both sides of the Atlantic.
Speaking of which, Lamb, as can always be relied upon, stinks up a car when he lets one go (is that an acceptable euphemism?) in a car with the windows closed. That's marginally better than doing the same in an elevator, because there are no windows to open when an elevator is moving. On the other hand, when Lamb is the perpetrator, the place is bad wherever it happens. Lamb himself is quick to leave the car after he does the deed, leaving the other passenger not only grimacing but gasping.
[Hey, three paragraphs, and no warning about spoilers, but now there's one coming up ... ]
I was glad to see Spider go, for good. At least I hope so because, as you devoted readers will know, I have a fundamental principle in reviewing television shows that if you don't see a character blasted in the head or decapitated, he or she may not be dead. But this episode if anything heightened his obnoxiousness, which give us even more of a reason to want him gone, so I'm hoping my principle of decapitation or its equivalent doesn't apply here.
Next on my list of people I'd like to see gone is the bald guy who came in at the end of River's beating and added some damage of his own. We'll see how he's dealt with in the episodes ahead...
See also Slow Horses 3.1-3.2
And see also Slow Horses 2.1-2.2: Do Horses Eat Ramen? ... 2.3: Faster Than You Think ... 2.4-2.5: Lamb Firing On All Cylinders ... Slow Horses 2.6: Heralds of Humiliation
And see also Slow Horses 1.1-2: Fast-Moving Spy Thriller ... Slow Horses 1.3: The Fine Art of Bumbling ... Slow Horses 1.4: Fine New Song by Mick Jagger ... Slow Horses 1.5: Did You Hear the One About the ... Slow Horses 1.6: The Scorecard
December 5, 2023
Podcast Review of The Lazarus Project season 1
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 363, in which I review The Lazarus Project, season 1, on TNT.
Read this review.
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 1, 2023
For All Mankind 4.3-4.4: The Soviet Union in the 21st Century, on Earth and Mars
I decided to review episodes 4.3 and 4.4 of For All Mankind on Apple TV+ together, because they're so closely connected.
[Spoilers follow ... ]
So, at this point in the story, at least, Gorbachev didn't make it too far into the 21st century. He's been forcibly replaced in the Soviet Union by Korzhenko, a hardliner. So my hope that Putin would not come to power was fulfilled only by one fascist leader replaced by another, or a Putin coming to power with just a different name.
And Korzhenko has much more power than Putin, since the Soviet Union was much more powerful than Russia is today and has been in the 21st century. So powerful, and so essential to humans in space -- after all, they did beat the U.S. to the Moon in 1969 -- that they pressure the U.S. into agreeing to return Svetlana to Earth, after she badly hurts Vasily in an argument they have about the Soviet Union that turns physical (Svetlana supports Gorbachev, and Vasily supports Korzhenko). Ed ends up losing a budding and strong romantic interest, whose only protection against the KGB on Earth is that she's going to India, where'll she'll stand trial. That's not too far at all from the Soviet Union. Ed knows that, and exchanges some angry words with Danielle about this, and President Al Gore doesn't look too good in this either, agreeing to send Svetlana to India, literally in the backyard of the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Margo gets a taste of how brutal the Soviet Union under Korzhenko has become. The guy in charge of the team that built the device which failed and caused the fatal accident in the asteroid mission back in the first episode of this season admits his error to Irina Morozova, after Margo explains to Irina exactly what happened. And Irina (of course) turns him over to the KBG. She saved Margo from likely death in episode 4.3, and tells Margo in 4.4 how she (Margo) will be part of the Soviet Union's plans to go out into the cosmos far beyond Mars, but Irina has a heart of ice and a morality that harkens back to Stalin.
All in all the fourth season of For All Mankind is firing on all cylinders at this point, in its alternate history and action and intrigue on Mars. I'll see you back here soon with my next review.
PS: I was hoping when Miles fell into that crevice on Mars that he'd discover some Martian civilization, or at least the ruins of one. But I guess that's too much to hope for, even in an alternate history.
See also For All Mankind 4.1: Back in Business and Alternate Reality ... 4.2: The Fate of Gorbachev
And see also For All Mankind 3.1: The Alternate Reality Progresses ... 3.2: D-Mail ... 3.3-3.4: The Race
And see also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality ... For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn ... For All Mankind 2.6: Couplings ... For All Mankind 2.7: Alternate History Surges ... For All Mankind 2.8: Really Lost in Translation ... For All Mankind 2.9: Relationships ... For All Mankind 2.10: Definitely Not the End
get the paperback or Kindle of this alternate history here
or read the story FREE here
My Spotify 2023 Stats, Including My Most Shared Song
Time travel rules! And thanks to the 286’s Spencer Hannabuss for singing "If I Traveled to the Past" in the It’s Real Life radio play on The Killerwatt based on my story; thanks also Laron Cue aka QROCK639 for the great remix of my song Cloudy Sunday; both songs from my Welcome Up album on Old Bear Records.
It's Real Life -- free alternate history short story about The Beatles, made into a radio play and audiobook, and Finalist for the Sidewise Award 2022, and Winner of The Mary Shelley Award 2023
the whole song
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
November 30, 2023
Slow Horses 3.1-3.2: Beatles Level
Whew! The first two episodes of the third season of Slow Horses begin (after a prelude) with a shot at Ringo, of all people, with River telling Catherine he doesn't want to waste time on a file because it's "Ringo-level". I wasn't completely sure this was about the Ringo -- Ringo Starr -- but who else could it be, I mean, it surely wasn't about Johnny Ringo, the out-West outlaw. But I didn't know for sure until a bit later in the first episode, when there's talk about "George-level" as below "John-level" and "Paul-level," so whew, yeah, the new season is off with a bang,
Though, one more thing about "Ringo-level," I've always thought even Ringo was so essential a drummer for the greatest group that ever existed that maybe "Wyman-level" would have been a better choice. And, after all, Slow Horses does feature that fine theme-song by Mick Jagger. On the other hand, using the members of The Beatles as a measuring stick is consistent with the appealing outrageousness of Slow Horses, so ...
But let's get to the new season. All of our favorite characters are in fine form. Lamb is still farting his head off, and denouncing every member of the team, even though all of them are doing an excellent job. Especially River, who we're reminded doesn't really belong in Slough House, but everyone else, including Ho. And the story is sharp.
[And here's the warning about spoilers ahead ... ]
Catherine is kidnapped, by a group apparently led by the guy we see in the prelude, about whom we're not really sure he's a bad guy after the prelude is over. I mean, kidnapping is not a good thing, but it's still possible he and the couple he's working with kidnapped Catherine for some worthy reason? Nah, I doubt it, that's why I put the question mark there, but there is something about them that seems not that bad, including that they gave Catherine a choice of ham or cheese or both for her lunch as a kidnapee.
The two hours flew right by, and it's great to see show back. It's one of my favorites. On The Beatles level? A little too soon to tell, but it's a contender for sure.
And see also Slow Horses 2.1-2.2: Do Horses Eat Ramen? ... 2.3: Faster Than You Think ... 2.4-2.5: Lamb Firing On All Cylinders ... Slow Horses 2.6: Heralds of Humiliation
And see also Slow Horses 1.1-2: Fast-Moving Spy Thriller ... Slow Horses 1.3: The Fine Art of Bumbling ... Slow Horses 1.4: Fine New Song by Mick Jagger ... Slow Horses 1.5: Did You Hear the One About the ... Slow Horses 1.6: The Scorecard
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