Here’s what Oliners recommended you watch or otherwise consume! Note that Frankly Speaking and its editors do not necessarily endorse any of this content; its just an anonymous collection of tips from fellow Oliners!

TV Series

Avatar the Last Airbender, a feel good show that’s full of complex characters and wonderfully good for the heart. Currently on Netflix!

The Midnight Gospel – netflix, very trippy and they talk about death a lot but you can’t look away, incredible dialogue

THE OFFICE 🖥

 Blood of Zeus: perfect if you like greek mythology and epic music. It’s available on Netflix

The Good Place: hilarious and very thought-provoking (Netflix)

Dash & Lily: adorable and screams CHRISTMAS! (Netflix)

Orphan Black (TW: suicide, addiction)

Los Espookys is a show about a fictional Halloween VFX small business growing in success despite its employees dealing with personal problems including juggling part time jobs, a cult-like pyramid scheme, being the heir to a chocolate empire, and just wanting to be left alone to do your spooky stuff. Produced by Fred Armisen, who also plays the best valet parker in the world. My all-time favorite tv show. Available on HBO.

Netflix: Pose – such amazing genderqueer stories of suffering and love and hard work and dreams

Selena: The Series – if you love music and a beautiful story and strong gender dynamics lol

Altered Carbon – why rich people are literally evil

Hulu: Westworld – dystopian, robots, *let it change you*

Daria, my highest recommendation, deadpan, real, alternative, Jane Lane is my animated crush, but Hulu got rid of it, so idk Amazon Prime?

The Good Place— there was a celestial bureaucratic mixup and the wrong person gets sent to heaven, it’s very entertaining. There’s also a genderless Siri-like sentience named Janet who has just the best lines. It’s also worth noting that beyond the idea that there’s an afterlife with “a good place” and “a bad place,” it’s not a religious tv show.

Boy Meets World- wholesome wholesome wholesome <3 Started as a story of friendship, wound up becoming a love story over 7 seasons

The Middle- lots of solid, relatable humor. Does its job as a sitcom

Stranger Things- stellar production, leads to excellent discussions with Rob Martello

Dash and Lily is a super cute short holiday romcom on Netflix ! Mindhunter is also on Netflix and a cool serial killer show that evolves really well.

Queens gambit. TW: addiction, drugs/alcohol, suicide. You’ve probably already heard about this show, but if you haven’t, here’s a blurb I blatantly stole from google: “Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in world.” I think y’all will love this show. Given that you (the reader) go to Olin, imma assume you’re a nerd. So chess might be up your alley. Either way, what’s not to love about chess, passion, sacrifice, and copious quantities of drugs and alcohol?

The Newsroom: what should an ideal news outlet look like

The Witcher: Toss a bitcoin to your Witcher

The Americans: Soviet spies living in the US during cold war

Great British Baking Show – funny, relaxing, motivation to bake

Great Pretender – TW: child soldiers, sexual assault, child sex trafficing. This might be anime, but it’s a really good show that constantly surprises you. The TW are heavy (especially in season 2), but they are not portrayed in a good light or as normal. 

Goosebumps is really good. I watched it heavily with my household this semester and it’s scarier than most scary movies. 

Anime recs

Bungo Stray Dogs; very good and aesthetic supernatural anime placed in modern japan. All the characters are names after real authors and their abilities are named after their pieces.

Your Lie in April: super beautiful and has lots of classical music (Netflix)

The Promised Neverland: very suspenseful. I can almost guarantee that you will binge this show after watching the first episode (Netflix)

Mob Psycho 100! A young psychic learns to control his powers. Available on crunchyroll.

Erased. 

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – pretty animation and great soundtrack, I think it’s on Netflix

Attack on Titan. It here! The final season. This show is absolute insane! I’m not even sure how to describe the pure lunacy of this show, so imma just say, look up the synopsis for yourself. But I will say that every season thus far has been a STRAIGHT BANGER! Now that the final season is airing, why not go back and watch from the start. You won’t regret it!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun – comedy, slice of life, one of my favorite animes

Haikyu! My first year roommate watched it over and over and I finally understand why. It also provides a really interesting perspective on teaming that I think many can benefit from.

Movies

Ali Wong’s comedy specials on Netflix. Just so worth it. She is hysterically funny

Three Idiots – Netflix – Amazing Bollywood Comedy about engineering students,

Dangal – Netflix – Another great Bollywood movie about female wrestlers

HARRY POTTAAA

I, robot; haven’t watched it in a bit and really want to

The Brainwashing Of My Dad is a documentary about how the director’s formerly liberal and kindly father gets sucked into conservative media, starting with Rush Limbaugh and going to  Fox News and Alex Jones and how that transformed him into this bitter, cruel, and just angry man. When outside circumstances cut off his access to these pundits, he started turning back into his old self again. It truly followed the cycle that many cults use to brainwash their members, and the director Jen Senko got it all on camera.

Nightmare Before Christmas

Coraline

Tangled

Airplane!, Top Secret: hilarious plot-optional comedies, a joke a minute.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: surreal tragicomedy about two minor characters from 

Hamlet. I hear the play is even better, but the movie is a great experience.

The Big Lebowski: Weird, fun characters, kinda complex plot, kinda surreal. Quite an experience.

Hillbilly Elegy was a great recreation of the book, super interesting and about a lot of very real problems that people in America face (on Netflix).

Hunt for the Wilderpeople. You’ve probably never heard of this movie, but you may recognize it’s director Taika Waititi as the mastermind behind classics such as Thor Ragnarok and JoJo Rabbit. Anyways, this movie is a hilarious journey as we follow a boy and his reluctant foster father as they become the center of a nationwide manhunt when they become lost in the New Zealand outback. Watch them escape the authorities, make terrible mistakes, and so much more. Definitely one of the funniest movies I’ve seen recently. Also who doesn’t love a good old kiwi accent. Check it out on Netflix! An absolute hidden gem!

The Lighthouse

Jingle Jangle was very cute and was STEM heavy with a POC heavy cast. It was something I would have really wanted as a kid. 

Klaus is another really good christmas movie that incorporated fun Christmas traditions into the story line.

Audiobooks/Podcasts

Reply All – available everywhere and through Gimlet Media. These people dig into some very niche stuff and boy do they commit, especially recommend the “Snapchat Thief” episode

ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Finding Fred; very compelling look at the life of Mr. Rogers, the type of person he was, and what we could apply to our own lives

The Adventure Zone!! Three comedians who are brothers play D&D with their dad. Hilarious and eventually deeply heartwarming storytelling.

If you’re a fan of horror, I highly recommend The Black Tapes and Tanis. Tanis is a little more *out there* than The Black Tapes, but is also (imo) scarier. I binged both of them in a week and regretted it in the moment bc nightmares but loved it in the long run. I think both are available where most podcasts are but I’ve listened to both through Spotify.

1619 – history is wrong, everything in America is about slavery

Sincerely, X – such compelling stories, this one is amazing from a storytelling perspective, will expose you to new perspectives; Jemele Hill is Unbothered – because she’s funny and cool and talks about real shit

Behind the Bastards is a podcast about evil people and organizations through history and their rise to power. It’s fascinating, horrifying, informative, and often has parallels or adds context to a lot of current events. Be aware that you’ll get angry listening to most episodes though, this is not a calming podcast. I highly recommend “How Nice, Normal People Made The Holocaust Possible” and “The U.S. Border Patrol Is A Nightmare That Never Ends.” Also, all the trigger warnings are attached to this, they talk about some really dark stuff.

Ghosts in the Burbs is a podcast that interviews people from Wellesley (yes, our Wellesley!) who claim to have seen ghosts or paranormal happenings. Fun stuff.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer – super good book about indigenous practice and the environment that really helped me rethink my approach to conservation/climate action, I listened on Hoopla through my public library

If you’re interested in psychology, sociology, rational thinking, game theory, and hallucinatory cactus-people: The Slate Star Codex podcast. I can’t recommend this enough, it’s thought-provoking and a joy to listen to.

Warning: The following article wrestles with a difficult topic in American history, a topic contains some horrid depictions of human suffering

Note from the Author: Sorry I missed November! As classes and grad school applications began ramping up, I didn’t have time to write. I know we’re all short on time as finals ramp up, so I’m going to keep this brief. I hope you can still take something away from this snapshot of America’s past.

This article is a continuation of the Revisiting American History Series, where each article revisists a section of American history with a critical eye for the different groups of people involved in that history. In October, we learned about the origins of slavery in America, and now we’re going to continue that thread by learning more about African resistance and how closely early policing in America was tied to race.

When African people were ripped away from their homes and forced into slavery, they resisted. On the voyage from Africa to America, many African people decided they would rather drown than be forced into slavery, and they jumped into the ocean, killing themselves to end their suffering. Those who made it to America found subtler ways of resisting. They would find ways to sabotage their plantation, or work together to participate in slowdowns. Some were courageous enough to run away altogether, either establishing villages on the frontier, or attempting to pass off as free with skills they learned on the plantation.

Gerald Mullin, author of Flight and Rebellion, studied slave resistance in Virginia in the eighteenth century. He studied plantation and county records, as well as newspaper advertisements for runaway slaves. According to his work, “The slaves described were lazy and thieving: they feigned illnesses, destroyed crops, stores, tools, and sometimes attacked or killed overseers. They operated blackmarkets in stolen goods. Runaways were… men who visited relatives, went to town to pass as free, or tried to escape slavery completely, either by boarding ships and leaving the colony, or banding together in cooperative efforts to establish villages or hide-outs in the frontier.” 

This spirit of African resistance was truly admirable. Landon Carter, a slave owner from the early 1700s, complained that his slaves were so uncooperative that he began to question whether keeping them was worthwhile. I believe that is a feat worth congratulating. Even more impressive, when the first African slaves were forced to work in Hispaniola in 1503, the governor of Hispaniola complained to the Spanish court that the African slaves were teaching disobedience to their Native American counterparts. Not only were African slaves able to hold on to their roots and resist as individuals – they were able to inspire other enslaved and disenfranchised people to resist with them.

Of course, not all of this resistance was so subtle or non-violent. Many African people decided to take matters into their own hands, and fight for their freedom. In 1739, in Stono, South Carolina, a group of twenty slaves killed two warehouse guards to steal guns and gunpowder. Once armed, they headed south, killing people in their way, and burning buildings. They inspired other slaves along their path to join them until they reached about eighty slaves in total. According to one account at the time, “they called out Liberty, marched on with Colours displayer, and two Drums beating”. These slaves were ready to rise out of their condition. Unfortunately, the militia found and attacked them. The slaves defended themselves. By the time the battle was over, about fifty slaves and twenty five whites were killed. Stono’s Rebellion had just been crushed.

America’s ruling class, composed of landowning white men, was fearful of exactly this kind of outright revolt. As Governor Alexander Spotswood warned in a speech to the 1710 Virginia Assembly, “… freedom wears a cap which can without a tongue call together all those who long to shake off the fetters of slavery and as such an insuerection would surely be attended with the most dreadful consequences so I think we cannot be too early in providing against it, both by putting our selves in a better posture of defense and by making a law to prevent the consultions of those Negroes.” In an attempt to keep African slaves from rebelling, the ruling class broke up family ties amongst the slaves, disciplined them with hard labor, lulled them into adopting new religious beliefs, and even created separation amongst the slaves by splitting them into either more privileged house slaves or less privileged field slaves.

The ruling class was especially fearful of what might happen if slaves were to work together with the lower classes of white freemen to overthrow the ruling class. As early as 1705, Virginia’s ruling class was making attempts to draw a clear color line between white and Black. Virginia’s ruling class proclaimed that all white men were superior to Black, and required that masters must provide their white servants whose indenture time was up with ten bushels of corn, thirty shillings, a gun, and 50 acres of land. Their Black counterparts were to receive nothing. The purpose of laws like this was clear: Give the lower class white people just enough privileges that they will see the ruling class as an important defender of those privileges, and maintain the status quo against the further disenfranchised Black slaves. 

As Edmung Morgan, a specialist in American colonial history, describes it, “Once the small planter felt less exploited by taxation and began to prosper a little, he became less turbulent, less dangerous, more respectable. He could begin to see his big neighbor not as an extortionist but as a powerful protector of their common interests.”

This led to a form of early policing in America known as “Slave Patrols”. White men were legally mandated to serve as patrollers for up to a year. They were paid for fulfilling their duty to police Black people, and were fined if they chose not to show up to patrol. These patrollers had very few restraints, and could even forcefully enter anyone’s home based on alleged suspicions that they were sheltering escaped slaves. As historian Gary Potter explains, these slave patrols served three primary functions.

“(1) to chase down, apprehend, and return to their owners, runaway slaves

(2) to provide a form of organized terror to deter slave revolts

(3) to maintain a form of discipline for slave-workers who were subject to summary justice, outside the law.”

Slave patrollers considered it their civic duty to beat and terrorize America’s enslaved population. In fact, they were legally compelled to do so. They enforced curfew, checked travelers for a permission pass, and broke up any assemblies that were held without permission, explicitly preventing any form of organized resistance.

While this wasn’t the origin of policing in the entire world, it was the origin of policing in America. When you think about American policing and it’s modern day controversies, remember that this is where it started: America’s ruling class uniting with disenfranchised white people to oppress an even more disenfranchised Black population.

I feel that oftentimes, when people are confronted with controversies in current events, they hide their opinion behind the question of, “What’s the legal precedent? What does the law say about this?” While it may be easy to hide behind the supposed objectivity of the law and its legal precedents, we must remember that our laws were not written by some objective arbitrators of moral justice. They were in fact written by people, and we need to be cognisant of what their motives were. Were we never to question and rewrite our laws through new legislation, we might never move towards a more just and equal America. Next time you come face to face with an important issue, I invite you to ask why the current laws and social norms are set the way they are. Who do they benefit? And who created them? I believe that this is key to promoting change in a healthy democracy.

I haven’t yet decided whether I will continue this series next semester. We’ll see how much work I have to do. Regardless, I hope these articles have opened your minds to the tremendous insight we can gain from historical context. Good luck with finals!

Sources:

1.  A People’s History Of The United States by Howard Zinn

Many pieces of this article are either direct quotes or paraphrased paragraphs from Zinn that aren’t explicitly called out. Part of this is due to his unique style of writing I hope to capture in this article, how well he articulates certain ideas, so that I can be certain I’m not misrepresenting any facts presented by Zinn, and to not disrupt the flow of the writing.

2. NPR Throughline on American Police: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/03/869046127/american-police

By Rund Abdelfatah, Ramtin Arablouei, Khalil Gibran Muhammad

This was an incredible recollection of the history of policing in America, starting out with some of the podcast guest’s personal experiences, and then exploring the history from slave patrols to the Harlem riots.

The F. W. Olin Family™ is wonderful, and these anonymously-submitted compliments provide a small and sweet sampling of some of the reasons why. Much love!

audrey lee – thanks for always relating to me and nerding out together

jules brettle – you are such a kind person with a warm heart

Thank you Meg K for being an amazing friend <3

kristtiya – meme queen of olin ’22

james davis has the best hair. hands down. you can fight me on this one. not to mention being super friendly and a mega talented dude.

Meg, you’re one of the most genuinely kind-hearted people I’ve ever met. I’m constantly amazed by your compassion and empathy–in addition to, obviously, how frickin smart and cool you are. You’re such a good person and I’m so lucky to know you!

Sam D, you are such an incredible and inspiring person. How do you walk around with such a ginormous heart full of so much love and care??? I love all your incredibly niche STS memes and your lovely laugh. Truly honored to be your friend <3

Cali has really positive vibes and I’ve loved seeing her creativity in her paintings and baking!

quinn kelley is one of the kindest, most supportive people I am lucky enough to call a friend

Prisha, you’re one of the sweetest people I know. thanks for always making me laugh you cutie <3

Carlos has the meats

Francine- you’re the best at covering all my frequently asked questions

Adva. Adva. Adva. We would be lost without her.

Gilda’s story at Convocation was so powerful! (As were the stories that MarCom posted after!)

julia chomowicz is the best. julia is SO SWEET and livens up any occasion. she always says hi to you with a big smile and it’s a very special thing to behold. we stan julia

Serna, you are always there for your friends and you do everything you can to make Olin a

better place.

Shout out to Rachel Won and Alex Frye for coming to talk with our Advising Family about registration even though they’re on LOA. You rock!

kate mackowiak is a loving friend and she is so cool and wow I am just so lucky to know her

nathan faber is a cool dude. the man gives great hugs and loves his bikes like they are his children. gotta love him

scoleman is so fun to be around

Jon Stolk, you are an amazing professor. Thank you for truly and genuinely supporting and caring about your students.

thank you alana huitric for helping me with my homework and everything in between <3

Luke M has been such a ray of light in my life this semester. if he sees this, keep being you!! so endlessly grateful for you.

cara has the most comforting presence :)

Eriel makes me laugh. Always.

the modsim teaching team is the best!

prisha sadhwani is absolutely gorgeous and has the most infectious laugh ever. wow. she is just the best

Casey May (Lil Flex) is just one of my favorite people. He is so cheerful and always knows the kindest thing to say in any circumstance. Plus, I love having a friend that I can send cute dog pics and memes to.

Jeremy Skoler has an inspiring amount of confidence to try new things.

Maeve you’re the best thanks for being an awesome friend!!! Keep being your gay, trans, badass self <3 <3

ally bell is *the* kindest soul

Himanshu is so positive and kind

annie tor is so sweet and so hard working

To the Koala Tea Friends- thanks for everything! <3 I hope we will get to be all together again

Jules, I so appreciate how out of your way you’ll go to make tools for other peoples’ organization or learning. They’re always so elegant and well-thought-out!

emma mack – a loyal friend with giving and fun energy!

Skagglioli has got the ravioli

nicola van moon is awesome. she is great to work with and even better to talk to. I think nicola is the most relatable person around and an excellent source of friendship

Han Vakil was a great negotiator when trading for black market supplies in our candidates

weekend design challenge.

Taylor Swift, thank you for saving me while writing my SCOPE midyear report <3 Wouldn’t have made it through the assignment without your jams

Kristin Aoki, you never fail to make my day better, and my hopeless romantic heart has found kin in your hopeless romantic heart. Thank you for being you <3

Jason Woodard is a 10/10 SCOPE adviser

Lynn, you’re the best advisor in the whole world. You always know exactly the right questions to ask. Thank you for your tireless dedication to your students!

3OH!3, thank you for recognizing us! It’s pretty rare for a community college to get shout outs like that ;)

Leon Santen is always tirelessly trying to make the Woodland experience work for everyone. He deserves so much appreciation.

Emma Pan and Erika Lu bring me joy with their cute, bright personalities and creativity

Leon Santen – You have such interesting perspective on the world and open my mind with every conversation.

Lydia H is so hard working and positive, and has one of the best smiles ever!

Vivian from the registrar is so sweet

Erhardt is one of the most passionate professors I know. His knowledge is boundless and I’m so privileged to learn from him.

Meg K. you inspire me every day!

katie foster, i love hanging out and doing homework with you!

Cassandra is a thoughtful, positive, and really supportive friend. She was always able to notice when I wasn’t in the best mental state and really makes me feel like she has my back

clark pohl – thanks for being lively and hard-working

Alison Wood, thank you for being a professor at Olin! You make Olin a better place. I promise, I’ll find some way to make you queen

Serna, thank you for all of the things you do for the community <3

Camille, you have so much compassion and patience. I’m so thankful for your presence at Olin

The Frankly Speaking team has put a lot of work into keeping an awesome part of Olin alive during a chaotic time. Thank you for that!

Grace, you’re one of the most empathetic and caring people I know. I’m constantly blown away by your capacity to care for people even when they’re going through really, really hard things. You’re amazing and I’m so glad we’re friends <3

Looking into Anya’s eyes is like looking into the galaxy

I’m really thankful for the Community Connections Storytelling Workshops. I went to most of them and found it a time to connect with faculty and staff (and alumni!) who I wouldn’t normally get to just chat with. Thanks for doing these!

Rajiv, I enjoy all of our conversations and you make AMAZING cookies. Definitely friendship-earning-worthy cookies! <3

Arla, you’re a natural-born leader and you’re gonna take over the world, and I can’t wait to see

what you do. Cheering you on always <3

Anna Commers is always up to something unique and awesome.

Meg Ku makes everything work. More Meg, please

Maia M is a sweet pea

Erhardt, I am so fortunate to have you as a professor and mentor. You’ve taught me so much about how to be an effective teacher, especially in the way that you care and believe so much in your students. Your constant support and belief in me makes me believe in myself. Thank you so much!

gail romer, such a kind-hearted soul

Sara Hendren. Review in the m-f’ing NEW YORKER and NPR’s Best Books of 2020. Could we be any luckier to have her at Olin?

Our sketch model artist in residence Arlene really encourages us to think about society and making in different ways and stretch our worldview

Max, I’m really glad that we’ve become friends this semester!

Julian saved our scope team with TLC

scoleman, I’ve never met such a giving yet fun person before

Declan – Talking to you always makes me feel so much better about my self and the world

Reid – I super appreciate your perfect blend of compassion and honesty

Leon: little nail, thick head

Mia Skaggs is always ready with the right mode – joke mode, sweet mode, party mode. They’re all awesome

shoutout to SG and SLAC and Frankly Speaking and Catalyst and everyone else trying to make things happen

Sabrina, you have the sweetest smile and the coolest sense of style. I’m so glad we got closer this semester <3

I live, laugh, and love solely because of Anusha’s reminders

someday. I wouldn’t have made it through Olin without you.

caitlin kantor is such a gem. she is so sweet and so cool and so much fun to be around. you should consider yourself lucky if you get the chance to hang with caitlin

Riya, you’re one of the most Mom Friend people I know and also one of the most adorable. I love when you interrupt yourself mid-text, it brings me so much joy. Loved working with you this semester <3

Class of ‘21, y’all bring me so much joy. I’m pretty crushed that we won’t be spending our spring semester together. Keep being your unique selves and go out into the world and do strange, marvelous things!

I want to be Jadelin’s friend really badly