Part One: Turkmenbashi: The Dictator Who Declared Himself Jesus | BEHIND THE BASTARDS

[@portmantologist]

36:47 North Korean movies aren't good, but at least they MAKE them. "Movies are banned, here are some puppets" is too cruel even for North Korea.

[@jessaminehaak8253]

I assume that the banning of ballet is because Russia has famous ballet companies; if Turkmenistan had much ballet going on at all it would certainly have been introduced by Russia/the Soviet Union, hence his statement that it's alien to the country. Also in regards to your questions about "time is a mace - hit or be hit," given that it comes just after a part where he states that time represents the length of your life, he is presumably talking about taking "time" from other people so that they don't take "time" from you.

[@sun-ship]

Yea, not that hard to understand. Ballet represents Russian influence.

[@dracorex426]

Wasn't there a story about a bunch of people worshipping a golden statue of some kind of baby mammal?

[@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks]

technically “calf” is a mistranslation, the עגל in Hebrew refers to a heifer rather than a calf. But “golden heifer” doesn’t sound as good.

[@dracorex426]

How do you not get 100% of the vote while running unopposed?

[@mathewkelly9968]

People drawing penis' on their ballot etc etc the possibilities are endless . 😅

[@PMickeyDee]

Spoiled ballots, if you want a real answer lOl or write in

[@NeptuneCheeseCake]

✨PR✨

[@plantain.1739]

I guess you can count people who just don't vote for you.

[@redjirachi1]

There needs to be at least some illusion of choice, even a really obvious illusion

[@fett01]

What if, when you die, you find out the Ruhnama was the correct religion

[@mathewkelly9968]

I forget the new dictator of Turkmenistan's name , but he's just as crazy

[@braveothello1896]

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

[@PMickeyDee]

​@@braveothello1896dang it you beat me to one of the three facts I know about Turkmenistan

[@redviolet5158]

@@PMickeyDee well now you've just gotta share the other two!

[@PMickeyDee]

@@redviolet5158 1. they have an absolutely gorgeous breed of " golden horses" called the akhal-teke that serves as a national symbol. i haven't gotten to see on IRL, but if the hype is true they look like something from a fairy tale (the pictures & videos I've seen of them definitely lend credence to this). 2. They have a very odd relationship with the Guinness world record's.

[@Ceruleansquid-lo3iv]

Did you also watch the John Oliver video?

[@paulrhome6164]

"What is it that makes a complete stranger jump into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? I guess we'll never know."--Jack Handey