The Newsroom - Will McAvoy On Historical Hypotheticals

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

I could watch 10 hours of Will explaining history like that.

[@lauramarcus2063]

Me too!

[@a_smart_yeet3731]

Same!

[@raima6877]

Yep!!

[@NSankeerthUrkec]

Really good

[@mickeye6428]

How, inaccurately?

[@KITLEVEY]

The Newsroom is one of those programs that should have NEVER been taken off the air.

[@bark-aholic6534]

Probably made Zucker's 'eyebrow waxing' CNN info-tainment opinion D.J.s feel bad about themselves.

[@mc76]

I love Sorkin's work, but Fonzie donned the skis about halfway through the second season.

[@jasonkoch3182]

It wasn't taken off the air. Sorkin ended it. Sorkin has said multiple times after West Wing that he would never do a TV series longer than 3 seasons. HBO could certainly have carried it on, but they learned from NBC's mistake with West Wing and decided it wouldn't be the same show without Sorkin.

[@la_scrittice_vita]

If he trusted what he did with S1, I would agree but seasons 2 and 3 were dumpster fires. I don't know if it was HBO or if Sorkin was just beaten down after the failure of Studio 60 and the echoes of the mixed feedback for Newsroom. I love the guy, truly. But he's human and the last decades have simply taken a toll.

[@MrCanis4]

Never seen it but I would like to. Don't live in the US.

[@lolipedofin]

It is mind boggling this guy is played by the same guy who played Harry in Dumb & Dumber.

[@iwanebbing4944]

Bill Burr comes to mind; "That's why it's called acting, you dumb F..." And sorry if it comes over more aggressive then just funny.

[@streaky81]

Eve n his bit part in Steve Jobs he was exceptional. I do hope he gets to work with Sorkin some more..

[@charlottehalsall5488]

You should watch his interview on... that grey scales, cool interview show.. theoffcamerashow

[@olampes]

@@streaky81 yeah as a matter of fact he did just that .they worked on a Broadway play called "to kill a mockingbird" and i think you've better chances to watched that me.

[@mcnall34]

I think that to myself every day/

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

Aaron Sorkin needs about 10 lifetime achievement awards for this series.

[@pauliewalnuts100]

It's a shit series based all on his political opinions. Not facts.

[@pauliewalnuts100]

@CD Smith Your whole drivel of a post just proves how bullshit this show was as you agree with Sorkin's politics, you're blind to the obvious mistruths and bias.

[@moshebronner4292]

Though i dont agree to all his points made theur. Specially the fact that he came across harsher to the reds than the blues (Hollywood stays Hollywood) this show is still truly amazing well written and perfectly performed. I watched it 3 times already.....

[@daverhoden445]

Sorkin had a knack for making shows that are difficult to not binge watch. someday I'm going to do Newsroom, West Wing, and Studio 60 back to back to back.

[@lauramarcus2063]

@@daverhoden445 I'd read a shopping list written by Sorkin

[@Witnaaay]

They did test for cold. The Engineers warned their managers. NASA didn't listen.

[@hint0122]

And the company did too

[@rcslyman8929]

That's exactly right. And if you've ever served in government in any fashion, you know exactly what happened in that meeting with the PMs, and none of the SMEs. "They're saying the O-rings fail below 40 degrees. What did they say will happen if the O-rings fail?" "The booster probably blows up with the ship." "Right, that would be bad. How much did they say replacing them would cost?" "Maybe a couple million." "Uh-huh. Any other options?" "Well... that's why we launch in Florida, right? Temps don't get down to 40 degrees in Florida. It's Florida." "Sold. Next?"

[@jardelelias5625]

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle by Richard Feynman

[@B2Roland]

Yeah that part was largely stupid

[@andrewndify]

Sorkin just needs to be given money to make whatever he wants.

[@andrewmayes3115]

I agree. I have such trust in Sorkins ethics and morality that I will listen to anything he has written, knowing that despite his obvious liberal mindset, it will be truthful and profound. He seems to believe in the good in humans and the possibility that we can do better as long as we talk with each other more and try to learn as much as we can about each other. Ignorance is Deadly!

[@mfazfurqan8482]

You guys noticed when gary cooper said "I wouldnt" I just feel he said the one thing celebrties are afraid of saying it know

[@_daybreaker_]

This 💯... and time...

[@leaannpanek3015]

While the clearly liberal leaning of Sorkin invade his work and make me crazy, the characters he writes are true and noble patriots. The type of people we wish were in media and government, but we have been sadly lacking for decades with no hope on the horizon.

[@nudist0885]

I'm a 50 year old single white male from NJ. I'm hearing about Claudette Colvin for the first time in my life, today, July 31st 2014.

[@Chemicalkinetics]

I wrote to Randy Jones already, but if you don't mind I will copy and paste the important part. By the way, Claudette Colvin wasn't even the first neither. "Others had taken similar steps, including Irene Morgan in 1946, Sarah Louise Keys in 1955, and the members of the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery months before Parks. NAACP organizers believed that Parks was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge..."

[@Justmynewaccount]

I am actually surprised: I had never heard of Miss Colvin before.

[@TheRealNabil]

Wow. Haven’t seen someone write 2014 in a while.

[@Belioyt]

Makes you wonder how much of what's taught as history is actually scripted.

[@Our_Sole_Pusch]

@@Belioyt Indeed. Sadly, it is often told by or on behalf of the winners.

[@victoriaprovost3022]

I love how Will explains the situation before giving the who and where, so that you assume and get it wrong.

[@VinayKambliV]

You mean Aaron Sorkin - and you're right, it's brilliant story-telling.

[@OverworkedITGuy]

Actually he was explaining these examples in this manner to show how one seemingly innocuous occurrence or situation can lead to tremendously impactful sets of consequences If the ACN guy on the Romney press bus hadn't broken his ankle, the Genoa scandal (which is what Will and the rest were talking to the lawyer regarding) would have never happened.

[@victoriaprovost3022]

I watch the show.

[@TuckerWhite94]

DarkKuno That's why I love the works of Aaron Sorkin especially his work on The West Wing.

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

DarkKuno You could add "If the Jim/Maggie/Don love triangle didn't drive Jim to use the Romney press bus as a means for Jim to avoid Maggie's insistence that they must "deal with this and make things better," either Jim probably would have left ACN or possibly blown up at all concerned and would have been told to leave if either Mac, Will or Charlie found out about it. In any case, I would disagree that the Genoa scandal could have been avoided due to Maggie's chaotic nature and Jim's conflicted feelings for her IMHO.

[@rapid13]

Well, now I have to go and watch the entire series again...for the 5th time.

[@daverhoden445]

This was a good idea three months ago and it's a good idea now.

[@Indifferent7]

just the 5th? 🙂

[@HitboxingInTheLab]

I'm on watchthrough number 36. I watched it on repeat last year.... it's all saved on my phone.

[@priyankavora530]

Netflix watch party!

[@randyjones7176]

That civil rights story just made my jaw drop, WOW!

[@Chemicalkinetics]

You mean the young girl who refused to give up the seat before Rosa Park? Yeah. It is true. What is not realistic about this scene is this character (Jeff Daniels) was lecturing to 3-4 other news agents about this fact. This isn't really a secret though. I would think most if not at least 50% of any news media personnel knows this fact. It would be like I lecturing to a bunch of history professors that FDR had polio and was sitting on a wheelchair. I mean, you don't think Rosa Park was the only person who ever refused to give up the seat, right? There must have been like 5-6 well known incidents before this, and many more lesser known ones. She also wasn't just any other person. She was well connected to NAACP. As the movie Barbershop has pointed out, there was a lot of political chips tossed behind Rosa not just what she did, but really who she was. To quote wikiepda: "Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation. Others had taken similar steps, including Irene Morgan in 1946, Sarah Louise Keys in 1955, and the members of the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery months before Parks. NAACP organizers believed that Parks was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge...." Let me say very clearly that I think what Rosa Park did was very correct. I am just trying to say that people should know that she wasn't the first one or first few persons who refused a seat. She wasn't the only black man/woman who has the courage to stood up. She just happened to be the best candidate for the movement. Don't think of her as just a commoner standing up injustice. Standing up against injustice -- true. A common person -- not entirely true. I hate to break this to you, but I think they would have much more reluctant to back a black man. They needed a black woman, a wholesome black women....etc.

[@Questron71]

Chemicalkinetics He's lecturing the lawyers that shall defend his station against the aftershock of the Genoa disaster

[@crazytrain111]

Those where lawers.....not news staff

[@longmemory1620]

condescending stuff like that is probably the reason The Newsroom got cancelled

[@Questron71]

Quote from Wikipedia: On January 13, 2014, HBO officially confirmed the series had been renewed for a third and final season consisting of six episodes, scheduled to premiere on November 9, 2014

[@sycodeathman]

Only one correction, the SRBs on the space shuttle didn't have pressurized hydrogen, that was the external tank. The SRBs burned solid fuel, the O rings prevented the pressurized hot exhaust inside the burning SRB from escaping outwards, burning the casing, and causing structural failure of the SRB. Which is exactly what happened during Challenger.

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

+Rothpol X yup... it was the coldest morning for a launch up to that point. Oring failed due the cold.. Allan McDonald i think his name warned them the night before....

[@Ken4Pyro]

The Morton Thiokol engineer who tried to get someone at NASA listen to him regarding cold and the o-rings was Roger Boisjoly. He begged and pleaded with them that it was just too cold. No one believed him.

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

Ken4Pyro yeah there were more than one I realize now... we can also add Bob Ebeling too.

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

***** familiar with the OP eagle claw to rescue the iranian hostages in 1980 ? I always wondered about that one... that was the election in a nutball. 8 guys i think died in that. also, while im on a roll... The lack of support by us state dept shown to Ross Perot and EDS getting their guys out... hmmm. Hehe the bastard financed a team - from company employees- and went and got his guys. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Wings_of_Eagles en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_B._Vaught en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Alvin_Beckwith en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Meadows pfft added the pages of some serious bad asses.

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

***** hehe Official stories about anything pretty much annoy me... so i go on the hunt. And I love a good read so military history is in my wheel house. Bought a SEAL a beer once. hehe

[@soumy1986]

Sheer bloody genius to write such stuff

[@ptroinks]

That's Aaron Sorkin for ya :).

[@PantomimeHorse]

Genius, and/or access to Wikipedia.

[@jeffsuter344]

Wish Studio 60 on Sunset Strip lasted more than 1 season.

[@naomilee3726]

This show has amazing dialog and even better acting. But my GOD this scene is one of the best

[@ConstantChanger1000]

"Their apologizing for the movie?" "2,000 people just hopped the wall, I'd apologize for whatever they want!" "I wouldn't." "...Congratulations?" Oh Don, I love you.

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

Don had a talent for respecting courage and integrity while cynically avoiding it. Hence the sarcastic Congratulations as is You're a hero with a death wish. Good for you. Great performance...

[@andrewcooper3823]

Aaron Sorkin is by far the greatest television writer. Could someone please ask him to come back and do something that's up to date in the media-political field. We are crying out for good television

[@ericcrabtree6245]

He’s preachy, predictable, and repetitive. People will have banter about something contemporaneous while walking and speaking at 1930s radio personality pace. They’ll eventually conclude the conversation by saying ‘OK’ to each other and go separate ways.

[@angmstoner]

@@ericcrabtree6245 You just said a lot of nothing. Aaron Sorkin is a chosen genius. Stay tuned…

[@shyyou93]

@@ericcrabtree6245 Why are you watching this clip if its preachy, predictable, and repetitive?

[@ericcrabtree7404]

@ Shyam Young So tell me - how exactly does one go about knowing what something is without watching it?

[@shyyou93]

@@ericcrabtree7404 So I then assume that watching this clip was when you made your definitive decision on Sorkin as a director and as a human being and you never ever watched anything he made ever again? Give me a break

[@matwatson7947]

I can just imagine how much fun Sorkin had with this. The same with the iconic "America is not the greatest country" speech. He's the only screenwriter that I truly think can pull this off. That said, with Daniel's performance it would be a garbled, confusing set of words with no impact

[@gadgetgeek96]

This TV show makes me want to join journalism SO FUCKING MUCH

[@maxhydekyle2425]

"He's like the Glenn Beck of Egypt" well that sounds terrifying.

[@ukanian]

The O-rings story is even more serendipitous if you know how that information came out in the hearing. Read Feynman's book for detail but essentially he was nudged into figuring this thing out for himself by a man who had a hunch he would.

[@sharonmahoney9333]

I'm late to the party here, but the discussion below initiated by this clip is some of the best I've encountered on KZbin. Well done.

[@remychase]

That’s the power of Sorkin’s writing. He gets people thinking and talking about real things that really matter. It reminds me of an early episode of another of his masterpieces, The West Wing. White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry says to the rest of the White House senior staff “We’re gonna raise the level of public debate in this country. Let that be our legacy.”

[@yasserahmed6980]

"These old rings has been tested and tested against all circumstances but one, COLD" .. I knew immediately he's telling the story of "Challenger"

[@corberus3119]

o-rings, not old rings

[@DummyYEEEAAHHHHH]

Hands down,one of the best written shows in the last 20 years...also very well acted...love Sorkin..and Jeff Daniels.

[@terminatrix92]

I would say Sorkin writes great drama and politics. But he's pretty bad at romantic relationships and female characters in general...

[@knight7se7en]

Will's hypothetical regarding FDR can be thought of as the basis for another great show out right now, "The Man In The High Castle", which is based on a book of the same name written in 1962.

[@pauliewalnuts100]

It's a stupid point because all the New Deal did was keep the Great Depression going.

[@ryanshearer5569]

Paulie Walnuts it stopped the bleeding and kept the economy from completely collapsing. The Great Depression didn’t really end until Pearl Harbor

[@pauliewalnuts100]

@@ryanshearer5569 The Great Depression continued until the war when all the young men in the workforce were shipped off to Europe and Japan and it continued after the war. The only thing that stopped it was because America was untouched by war and became the only sustainable exporter in the world. The New Deal extended the Great Depression and only idiot revisionists and socialists think otherwise.

[@ryanshearer5569]

Paulie Walnuts I don’t think you read my comment

[@pauliewalnuts100]

@@ryanshearer5569 No I did. I just don't think you understand the answer.

[@TheGrandmaster1]

God I miss this show so goddamn much. It should have gone for 7 full seasons.

[@fendwick]

... and a movie!

[@levyticus2760]

One of my favorite scenes of Season 2. One that requires multiple viewings.

[@alexandermarquardt597]

The writing, the acting and the directing here (the EDITING).... *brilliant* doesnt start to describe it.

[@AndrewSMi95]

I'll do you another hypothetical. Its July of 1861 the commander of the 21st Illinois volunteer infantry regement is trying to find and dislodge a reported Confederate regement in southern Missouri. Following to their last reported position the commander of the Illinois regement is faced with cresting a hill on which from a report on the previous day had been the camp of the Confederate forces, he has three options go over the hill on an attack as sending a few men forward would alert Confederate forces of the Union's presence if they don't know that they are there allready, wait for them on this side of the hill for the Confederate to attack, or beat a retreat. The commander who might have had great experience during the mexican American war was wracked with fear at going over the hill but pushes forward anyway only to be met with an empty campsight as the confederate forces had abandoned it hours earlier at learning of the approaching forces. This union commander would use this experience as a paradigm shift understanding that being on the offensive is better than the defensive. That commander was Ulysses s. Grant. Without this understanding of affensive strategy he is just another one of the many generals of the time who waits around and doesn't press his advantage. Because of this he is never put in charge of the army of the Tennessee, doesnt convince General Sherman to stay in the Military doesn't secure a victory at Vicksburg and is never put in charge of the Union army. This leads to the civil war likely ending in 1864 or 65 with Lincoln not winning re election and losing to the Democratic candidate George McClellen who throws in the towel and the Union Loses the civil war and modern history is completely different.

[@onothankyou]

Very good example.

[@onothankyou]

Great thought: when people go back in time in science fiction, they are careful not to change anything. Right now will be the past to the future. What you do now is important. Make today count.

[@bluekitty3731]

In 1905 A young man living with his parents in Abilene Kansas was in his freshman year of high school, when he injured his knee and developed an infection that spread to his groin, doctors recommended that his leg be amputated but the young man refused. Surprisingly, he recovers, but he had to repeat his freshman year. He graduates in 1909 and because he and his older brother can't afford college, the young man and his brother decide to take turns going to college, helping each other with the cost. The oldest goes first, but then asks if he could continue college for another year, the younger brother agrees, but on a recommendation from a friend that the Naval Academy and West Point don't require tuition, he took the entrance exam for the Naval Academy, he passed, but was to old to be considered. So the young man went to West Point instead. Now if he agreed to the leg amputation, of course he wouldn't have gone to West point, or if he hadn't repeated his freshman year, or hadn't waited on his brother to do two years in college, he would've gone to Annapolis. I'm not sure if his Naval career would've been as lustrous as his Army career. But I'm sure General Dwight D Eisenhower and the 34 president of the United States would've made his country proud either way.

[@jrs3739]

I think the story in the vid is meant to disabuse us of the notion in your last sentence. There are no Great Men.

[@starfall9400]

​@@jrs3739Not sure how you reach that conclusion. The point of Will's story about FDR seems to be that the country would have been screwed if FDR hadn't survived.

[@asterix811]

If Bruce Wayne’s parents had chosen a different night to go to the theater or if they had walked down a different alley that night, there would be no Batman today.

[@Valueclown]

I love this sequence!

[@lundylow]

I love the flow and momentum of Sorkin's writing, and I've seen this series numerous times, but I still don't know what juxtaposing these two scenes is supposed to say. Sometimes it feels like Aaron Sorkin's style of writing is hypnotic enough to make you not really question it. I guess that's a sign of a good creator? But in the age of KZbin where I can rewatch this particular scene it just makes me wonder what the hell O-rings and Giuseppe Zangara have to do with Cairo riots and "Innocence of Muslims"? In the context of the entire season it kind of makes sense I guess, a wrong thing happening when highly trained people had no way of anticipating, like O-rings and a sketchy EP from DC, but why do they jump between these scenes here? I'm also drunk and haven't watched the series in full in a long time, I'm instead victim to a barrage of inebriated KZbin rabbit holes, so I inevitably end up back at The Newsroom, so disregard my ranting as anything legitimate. But if you have any light to shed on my ramblings, please share.

[@michaelblueknight1268]

Perhaps (and that's only my opinion) because the protest in Cairo would have never taken place without the excuse of the film. Or just to highlight the guy who comes with the digital display interrupting Mac during the crisis. Without that display, Mac would have never figured out that Dantana had doctored the tape

[@michaelblueknight1268]

or maybe the protest in Cairo just casually happened at the same time with the broadcasting of the film, that would be more realistic I think

[@e.elisabeth]

I know I'm very late, but it's because of the assumption by all media outlets (because ACN isn't real) that the protest was over the movie and not a September 11th anniversary plot. They weren't upset about the movie (not enough to riot, anyways). The plan was already in motion by the time word spread about the movie. Sorkin is juxtaposing how easy it is to believe you already know everything about a story you've always heard or that is commonly echoed rather than look at the facts. The fact that the woman on the bus wasn't Rosa Parks. The fact that the mayor of Chicago wasn't the original target. The fact that O-Rings don't work when it's cold. The fact that the movie was not the motive for what happened on September 11, 2012.

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

I think the best answer to your question of why these themes were shown overlapping one another is that life happens. It happens regardless of our preparedness for it to occur. It happens at inconvenient times. It happens all around us, and for the most part we are not involved in it. There are 7.8 billion stories taking place right now on this planet. Each and every one of us are the center of our own little microcosm of events. Is it really so hard to recognize that those stories might intersect in a big way from time to time? We have a name for when that happens. It's called the news.

[@element4studios]

Take a slightly different approach... All of these things are relating to pressure. Chemical, social and economic pressure. He's running through the things he was talking about, as a situation was unfolding in real time that was related to the kinds of pressures those situations he was talking about happened those years before... It's a bit poetic, really... :)

[@zoltanszentirmai4945]

One of my favourite episode,

[@tingfact]

Wish I could watch Newsroom without turning to tears.

[@XLRAshon]

Watching stuff like this kind of wished I was taught the truth in school

[@Holdit66]

It's better if in school they tell you how to work out for yourself what the truth is, or at least what it's most likely to be given the available information.

[@element4studios]

An unfettered mind is a better tool to be given... Allow the biases to fall, and the facts to remain and think for yourself.

[@darkriku12]

@@Holdit66 there are classes like that, but usually high schools in America also have to have minimum requirements of teaching our population everything they can before letting them out forever. College courses, no matter what you think of the students/faculty, often show the tools to keep an open mind and to critically and logically think things through. Most of engineering coursework also teach how to approach and think about problems before ever designing a product or debugging an issue.

[@kriddius]

The US embassy employee killed was known to many in Eve Online's gaming community as "Vile Rat" He was a skilled analyst, intelligence officer and politician both in game and out. The stars of New Eden shone dimmer without him ever since and his beloved Goonswarm was never the same

[@gilliganxl]

Sean Smith, aka vile and I miss him. This episode was hard to watch

[@bubbercakes528]

This was a great show! Damn shame it was canceled!

[@jasonkoch3182]

It wasn't canceled. Why do people keep saying this? Aaron Sorkin said that, after West Wing, he'd never do another TV series longer than three seasons. And rather than continue the show without him, and watch it decline in quality like West Wing, the show just ended.

[@annanyajohari555]

They got the Nole video in the background, that's some accuracy

[@cohenb18]

Claudette Colvin (born September 5, 1939) is a retired American nurse aide who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. This occurred some nine months before the more widely known incident in which Rosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of the NAACP, helped spark the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott. Colvin was one of five plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorney Fred Gray on February 1, 1956, as Browder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. She testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case in a United States district court. On June 13, 1956, the judges determined that the state and local laws requiring bus segregation in Alabama were unconstitutional. The case went to the United States Supreme Court on appeal by the state, and it upheld the district court's ruling on December 17, 1956. Three days later, the Supreme Court affirmed the order to Montgomery and the state of Alabama to end bus segregation - the Montgomery bus boycott was then called off. For many years, Montgomery's black leaders did not publicize Colvin's pioneering effort. She was an unmarried teenager at the time, and was reportedly raped by a married man soon after the incident, from which she became pregnant. Colvin has said, "Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn't the case at all." It is widely accepted that Colvin was not accredited by the civil rights campaigners at the time due to her pregnancy shortly after the incident, with even Rosa Parks saying "If the white press got ahold of that information, they would have [had] a field day. They'd call her a bad girl, and her case wouldn't have a chance."

[@CSteeg-em2fh]

covid 2020 , we need this show back

[@pbdye1607]

Only thing he got wrong was that he said pressurized hydrogen comes out of the Solid Rocket Booster. The SRBs use(d) a *solid* propellant mixture of polybutadiene acrylonitrile and ammonium perchlorate. The shuttle's main engines use(d) a mixture of liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen, though. The O-ring failed and caused a premature and uncontrolled release of *all* of the propellant in the right SRB - there wasn't any 'detonation' or explosion, since there was no noise past the sonic boom the orbiter made during its short ascent - and the SRBs kept on going on their own. The entire assembly just tore itself apart - so what you're seeing in the 'fireball' is really a ton of *really cold* liquid oxygen and hydrogen in the process of sublimation back into their gaseous forms - hence the cloud. Just to get on message, though - Halliday's seriously giving McAvoy the 'fuck me' eyes. =)

[@brethomuel786]

Two things. The New Deal didn't end the depression. World War 2 did.

[@svyt]

@@brethomuel786 Slight linguistic nitpick - he didn't say it "ended" the depression, he said we wouldn't have survived the depression without it. It's the difference between being a "sufficient" condition (it would have ended the depression) and a "necessary" condition (we wouldn't have survived without it, but it wasn't sufficient by itself to end it...)

[@Sandvink]

I feel educated and this had a great 'WTF'-factor.

[@hammerb]

I just finished watching this show. I vividly remember this episode and the 3 examples of Will explaining history. Were there, or weren't there, a couple more episodes with a couple more examples?

[@jasonkoch3182]

They talk about history a lot, but this is the only scene with the historical hypotheticals that Will discusses.

[@ed1st]

And if Jimmy Carter had accepted George H. W. Bush’s offer to stay on as CIA Director the history of the GOP and country is different. No Presidents Bush.

[@endersdragon34]

I think you mean HW Bush

[@ed1st]

HW Bush I mean

[@Goatboysminion]

You mean George W. Not his kid, W.

[@ed1st]

goatboy yup corrected to Herbert Walker last week.

[@221BSam]

Aaron has a thing for forgotten figures in history, the ones who are just pipped by someone who *does* become well known. He did the same in Molly’s Game.

[@jimmy2k4o]

Jackie Robinson’s brother Even I can’t remember his name and I watched mollys game 3 days ago.

[@jimmy2k4o]

His mention of Alan Turing in Steve jobs would count too.

[@davidcombs3617]

​@@jimmy2k4o Matthew "Mack" Robinson

[@jimmy2k4o]

@@davidcombs3617 thanks but kinda proves the OP’s point.

[@davidcombs3617]

@@jimmy2k4o I was helping you remember is all. 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆 I wasn't trying to disprove the OPs point.

[@alexforce9]

We look back and we see history as a calm sea with some notible higher waves, and we call those waves - historical events. But the truth is - the sea is never calm. Its vast and messy and violent. And those higher waves we notice - those are just few of the thousands we dont see.

[@Travis_Montgomery]

Eloquence at it's finest

[@klm2960]

Brilliant scene!

[@jackster1212]

I knew the Claudette story, though I didn't know her name. But not the one about the guy trying to shoot FDR. "Guiseppe's Chair" would make a good title for a book about the New Deal and what would have happened... if it hadn't.

[@RazielKain619]

3:20 Sad part is this was thought of. There was an engineer who pointed out the o-rings weren't tested for cold, but he was told the same rationale Will used. Cold snap came in, and the same guy said it should be fine.

[@percym.v.rodriguez7765]

Love how the lawyers are focus on listening Wills monologue instead of writing everything like with the other members of the the team.

[@realTRAVE75]

I would've LOVED to see this show in the Trump era.

[@dudearlo]

That dood bringing in that bigass clock “Mac, you wanna look at this?” XD

[@cmdmd]

Just a note, Challenger did not detonate, there was no shockwave. It was a deflagration.

[@mwiinga6052]

Man, the writing + acting 😍

[@genehenrylindgren]

That was amazing

[@potterpotty01]

Damn this is good writing! As soon as the west wing weekly finishes and I wrap up my umpteenth watch of that show, I'm re watching the newsroom.

[@pbdye1607]

Marcia Gay Harden is such a magnificent woman.

[@thomaswilliams5599]

god damn it, that was so goooooood!

[@uh6091b]

"What is the name of the pastor with the mustache who is crazy?" And everyone has a different correct answer.

[@davidparton5409]

Makes you wonder why his career hasn't been as successful as his talents deserve. Great viewing, terrific actor!

[@CardinalX]

Quite possibly my favorite tv program ever. MASH Hill Street Blues Monty Python's Flying Circus Benny Hill Simpsons South Park Sopranos The Newsroom Cheers Homeland Entourage That's my list off the top of my head. Newsroom may well be at the top of that list for me.

[@TrinityCourtStudios]

I’ve got the same list, but I’d add The West Wing, 30 Rock, Archer, Top Gear and The Grand Tour :)

[@jasonlapeer]

Damn I loved this show, would be ecstatic to see another similar one come around. Throw in some West Wing with it.

[@jameswalsh7168]

Will mc avoy is the Greatest news anchor ever

[@alonzowilliams7338]

i love love LOVE this show

[@matd675]

3:27 the O-rings on the Space Shuttle SRBs are not to hold pressurised hydrogen. The SRB is not fuelled by Hydrogen, it's a mix of ammonium perchlorate oxidiser and powdered aluminium fuel. Its the Space Shuttle main engines that run on liquid hydrogen (and oxygen) fed by the massive orange external tank.

[@cathywolfe7993]

Regardless. Feynman, Nobel prize winning physicist, showed the O rings were the cause of the failure with nothing more complicated than using an O ring and a glass of ice water. The ring lost its plasticity when cold/frozen.

[@joemac4880]

One of the best shows and actors ever

[@kimberlyhonig8030]

I hate to be that person… but, I have to… sorry. The Challenger example is a poor one. The engineers tested SRBs after launch. They knew the O-Rings degraded in cold temperatures. There was a huge conference call the night before the launch. The engineers at Morton Thiokol told NASA it wasn’t safe to launch. The meeting was muted and they were told to take off their engineer hats and put on their managerial hats. Challenger is the case-study for Business Ethics and the spectrum of acceptable risk in that it could have absolutely been prevented. It’s so sad. P.S. I love Sorkin and I think he’s amazing. I adore that man ❤

[@Wolfen443]

I miss this show, it kept it real back in the day.

[@alexh8613]

This whole thing of the media trying to portray the attack on Benghazi as a reaction to a movie and not an attack on America because it was the anniversary of 9/11, really was a low point for the media.

[@chasekiddy8864]

Alex H that’s actually part of this episode though. ACN figures out it’s a terrorist attack, but because they’ve just messed up the Genoa story and had to retract it, they don’t trust their sources in the state department anymore. They end up reporting the same thing as everyone else.

[@antoine8194]

amazing moment

[@jorgeduarte8021]

What I miss about the show is: Will's intellect and vision. Sloan's nerdiness and smartness.

[@dobekhil]

This is the best show. In a perfect world.

[@PeterSedesse]

Paul Harvey used to have a radio show which was probably what this scene was based on. He will start by telling this rather mundane story about 'chance'... and then at the end reveal who the historical figures were and how huge that 'chance' had on world history.

[@javiermoretti1825]

Correction. The Kennedy Space Center is in central Florida, not south Florida.

[@jasonpdsi]

How in the HELL did I miss out on this show???

[@rhapsodyinglue8758]

The ONLY critique I have of this sequence is a personal preference. I wish they had shown pieces of Will’s amazing storytelling from the viewpoint of the lawyers camera. It would have added that little extra immersion for the viewer. I know this idea stylistically contradicts the overall style of the show……

[@jerrylove865]

The problem with his stories is that, at least some, are not true. The o-rings on the shuttle (the shuttle itself) had an approved temperature range for launch. But NASA had broken that without problem before, so they broke it again.

[@dansomething7742]

I haven't watched this episode. Why is Don asking if London has any info not a reasonable question?

[@kevinriccy9590]

what episode?

[@Go4Yourz]

What a great show

[@NayokeHenji]

props to the random guy that walked up to mak during this chaos to ask if she wanted to look at a clock

[@miri669]

And lawyers are listening for hours about things that have no connection to the case at hand...

[@asterix7842]

Why not? They bill by the hour.

[@miri669]

"Sir, this is a Wendy's..."

[@lindsaygambini2472]

This show needs a reboot.

[@AvangionQ]

History as happenstance ... if not for a few fortunate turns of events, our civilization would be radically different from the one we know now ...

[@hanscombe72]

I still think they had enough to take the Genoa story to air.

[@jqyhlmnp]

1:03 that *FUCKING* cross fade

[@alysiamerdavid-wasser9165]

The Challenger exploded on my birthday, so I know for a fact that the O-Rings were talked about, bc I watched for at least a week as they pushed back the launch date due to a cold snap. JS..

[@spdcrzy]

Talked about. Not tested.

[@spdcrzy]

@FNU LNU Not strictly correct. There was a test performed, but it never went below 50 degrees. Even the possibility of testing under extreme cold conditions never occurred to the engineers. Here's the article. Read it fully. www.nytimes.com/1986/05/13/us/nasa-had-warning-of-risk-to-shuttle-in-cold-weather.html

[@spdcrzy]

​@FNU LNU You're not listening to what I said, dammit. THERE WAS a coverup, just not in the way you think. Yes, there was testing done. That testing never went below 50 degrees. 50-100 degrees considered the static operating envelope for that O-ring. HOWEVER. Even that testing showed numerous failures below 70 degrees and, more importantly, multiple successes WITH a failure of some kind below 50. There's a slight, but important, difference between the two. A testing failure means the operation doesn't proceed at all. A testing success WITH a failure afterwards means the operation proceeded as planned, even if the part itself failed. Management most definitely cherry picked their dataset and OK'd the launch. The engineers DID in fact go and talk to NASA directly, but were rebuffed. But your claim, specifically that the O-rings were tested in conditions around or below freezing and that their managers didn't listen to those results, is false - even the engineers who conducted the original tests realized that testing would be pointless at those temperatures since, in their minds, it would only exacerbate the results they had already seen at 50 degrees.

[@ethan19942012]

-_- The protests weren’t about that stupid movie.

[@endersdragon34]

They were in Egypt.

[@ashokpandey1586]

The protests were, the attack in Libya wasn't.

[@NoGoodNames20]

If you were to watch the full episode at the end they admit to that

[@rgefd0210]

What makes this sadder is he went on to take people hostage in Nakatomi Plaza

[@maxhydekyle2425]

"And we don't survive The Great Depression" I think we "survive" I just don't know how strong we'd be.

[@vdoggydogg3922]

Ww2 still happens so it plays out the same

[@Egilhelmson]

I think that the “we” that doesn’t survive is the Democratic Party. What country except Germany didn’t survive without Herbert Hoover’s plan that he couldn’t get around to introducing?

[@kingdomecthulhu8738]

He makes fair point

[@paulsenmmwanza5329]

The only person close to "Raymond Reddington" in The Blacklist 👏

[@penboyasgod6103]

Which Season, Episode is this, please?

[@mikeclark3223]

Season 2, Episode 7 "Red Team III"

[@mc76]

And to reward his unintentional sacrifice, the Chicago city council renamed 22nd Street after slain mayor Anton Cermak. There is no record of aldermen having a hissy fit like they would if, say, someone suggested changing the name of Lake Shore Drive.

[@Peter24601]

HBO should have never cancelled this series...

[@Crlarl]

The last one isn't a hypothetical, it's just what happened

[@R4Y2k]

Here's what you need good education for^^ If I was one of this lawyers, I'd go " alright, this guy knows his shit, I'll back him up no matter what!" :P

[@timothyw98]

Quite shocking that a world war brings our behinds out of the worst crash in history.

[@JoshSweetvale]

No.

[@olampes]

Which episode is this please?

[@Kevin-tz2lv]

Its in the 2nd season, I know that much

[@mgsPWlover]

Only issue with this scene is that he's wrong about the Challenger failure. NASA engineers absolutely knew about the issue, but were effectively overridden (and many believe could and should have fought harder) by the company designing the O-rings. His point basically stands, but it wasn't a total mystery what happened, nor shock to those that knew.