Exploring America’s Attic

Come along with me as we meet “Chatty Cathy’s Great Granny” and explore the surprising roots of the earliest motion picture “talkies” in my latest video documentary on my Meet MythAmerica Youtube Channel!

https://youtu.be/ZnFwEHVN76s

GRANNY GET YOUR GUN: The Life and Times of Elsie Barnard Barry

In honor of Women’s History Month 2021, I offer my new mini-documentary video that I have created of “one woman’s history.” My husband George’s grandmother, Elsie Barnard Barry, was born in 1889. She was an exceptionally strong, capable, fascinating woman, one of my role models and heroes. This BioPic video features many of her own photos and documents highlighting a number of aspects of her unusual personal history, interspersed with general history and fun pop culture tidbits, trivia, and photos from my web research that give lively context to her life experiences.  (If you enjoy the video, be sure to pass along the link to your family and friends.)

QANON: Storm Warnings

The second video in my DocuCommentary series about the QANON movement, QANON: Storm Warnings, is now available on my Youtube channel at the link below.

Here is the description, from Youtube:

As recently as January 2020, the average American had never even heard of the QANON movement, let alone known anything about its background and history and what its supporters believe. But troubling news articles about the phenomenon have exploded during the summer of 2020.

As many have noted, QANON has come in from the fringes of American society and can no longer be ignored. Or, as I have put it in this series, it is not at the fringes any more…it is circling the White House and Congress. And poised to be a powerful influence in the 2020 presidential election…and its aftermath, no matter who is eventually declared the winner.

This DocuCommentary is part of a larger series titled The 2020 Twilight Zone. It is the second entry in a section about the QANON movement.

This DocuCommentary will be better understood if viewers see the first entry, titled QANON: The Pre-History of a Half-Baked Theory, before viewing this one. This “Storm Warnings” video picks up the history of QANON where that video ended. And it goes into much more detail about QANON history, activities, and beliefs.

QANON: Pre-History of a Half-Baked Theory

The second episode in my new 2020 Twilight Zone series is now available on Youtube. I posted it on Youtube just yesterday, and it already has had more views than most of the videos I’ve uploaded over the years. The QANON topic is trending all over the world right now, with people eager to try to understand this exploding phenomenon.

Here is the description of the video titled QANON: Pre-History of a Half-Baked Theory , from the DocuCommentary’s Youtube page:

In early 2018 the phenomenon referred to as QANON was barely a blip on the radar of even the mass media in the US. The average citizen had never heard of it. For the few people who *had* heard of it in mainstream society, it appeared to be nothing more than a wacky conspiracy theory that was only appealing to a small segment of Americans, the same types of folks who dabbled in looking for Abominable Snowmen, or still fussed over trying to pin down exactly who killed JFK and why, even after over 50 years had passed since that tragedy.

But something happened in early 2020. Suddenly evidence of the existence of QANON started popping up where it was getting noticed, particularly at the campaign rallies of Donald Trump. And then came the summer of 2020, when suddenly articles about QANON became almost daily fodder for news outlets all over the place, from CNN to the New York Times to Rolling Stone magazine. (And even across the oceans, in Europe and Australia.)  It was no longer at the fringes of society, it had barreled into the center…and was circling around the White House.

Brief descriptions of “what it’s all about” appear regularly in news articles now, but I believe a deeper look into the background, history, beliefs, followers, and influence of QANON will be more valuable to anyone who wants to more clearly understand…that QANON may have a profound influence on the election of 2020, and power to change the trajectory of American society long after.  

This first episode in a multi-part series is titled “QANON: Pre-History of a Half-Baked Theory.” It goes in some depth into the background that led up to the emergence of QANON from the dark reaches of the Web. Future episodes will clarify what supporters believe, how they organize, what their goals are…and why you should care.

These QANON episodes are part of a larger collection of DocuCommentaries by Pam Dewey titled The 2020 Twilight Zone that explores the impact of the Trump Administration on the ongoing history of America.

Pam Dewey

The 2020 Twilight Zone: Part 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

My latest DocuCommentary is now available on my Meet MythAmerica Youtube channel. I am starting a new “miniseries” that is called “The 2020 Twilight Zone.”This is “Episode 1: Down the Rabbit Hole. “

DESCRIPTION:

In early 2020 the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans who were totally disillusioned with the presidency of Donald Trump and wanted to prevent him from being elected to a second term, began producing and airing a series of very creative and edgy brief ads designed to thwart his campaign efforts. One of those ads was titled “MAGAChurch,” and highlighted the unholy alliance that had developed between the Trump Administration and a large portion of those in positions of influence and power in American Conservative Evangelical Christian circles.

A number of these leaders appeared in brief clips in the Lincoln Project ad, saying preposterous things in support of Trump. But it wasn’t possible in such a brief time to give more than a cameo appearance to each. I created this 2020 Twilight Zone episode titled “Down the Rabbit Hole” to be a companion piece to that short ad. It provides details of the Rest of the Story behind each of the influential people who appear in the MAGAChurch ad, in order to emphasize just how toxic the combination of Conservative Religion and Conservative Politics has become in 2020 America.

(I am currently working on Episode 2, which is the first of several episodes that are a Deep Dive into the QAnon movement that is so prominent in the news right now. The first part of that will be available soon.)

Strange Brew: Part 12: Rise of the Grass Roots

For those who follow this page that are interested in going along with me on my journey of historical research trying to understand how in the HELL we got to where we are in this country at this INSANE moment in time, I invite you to watch the next video in my Strange Brew series.

Strange Brew: Part 11: Better Dead Than Red

Part 11 of my Strange Brew video DocuCommentary series is now available on Youtube. In this session we examine in more detail the Red Scare of the 1940s-60s in America. We’ll cover the background of the Hollywood Blacklist, the witch hunts of Joe McCarthy,   the Army-McCarthy hearings, and more, as we move forward through time trying to piece together the “historical back-story” of how on earth such Strange Bedfellows as billionaires, blue collar workers, and Evangelical Christians pulled together to elect Donald Trump in 2016… and why and how they may do so again in 2020. Click on the link below to watch…

Strange Brew: Part 10: Pitchforks and Torches Time

Part 10 of my Strange Brew video DocuCommentary series is now available on Youtube. In this session we examine the anti-Communism of the 1930s and 40s, including the rise of the House Unamerican Activities Committee, as we move forward through time trying to piece together the “historical back-story” of how on earth such Strange Bedfellows as billionaires, blue collar workers, and Evangelical Christians pulled together to elect Donald Trump in 2016… and why and how they may do so again in 2020. Click on the link below to watch…

Pitchforks and Torches Time

https://youtu.be/2JDarCUgr4A

 

STRANGE BREW: Part 9: Jump-Starting a Slumbering Ogre

Part 9 of my Strange Brew video DocuCommentary series is now available on Youtube. In this session we explore the infamous “Bonus Army” incident of 1932, as we move forward through time trying to piece together how on earth such Strange Bedfellows as billionaires, blue collar workers, and Evangelical Christians pulled together to elect Donald Trump in 2016… and why and how they may do so again in 2020. Click on the link below to watch…

Jump-starting a Slumbering Ogre

An American Hero

My contribution to Veteran’s Day 2019 . This is an amazing story about the uncle I never met.