The Underground — Issue #34
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: A different take on the anti-GMO movement, a documentary on the leading candidate to be President, a TED talk about addiction, a short film about rejection, and see what happens when astronauts have fun with Alka Seltzer on the International Space Station.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. We should probably knock it off with the anti-GMO stuff. We all love to claim that we don’t want genetically modified foods, but they’re everywhere. Everything that you put into your mouth has been changed through genetic modification or forced evolutionary changes. Most of the “sugar” in your favorite foods comes from corn syrup, but the corn you know now is a lot different than the corn your ancestors knew. Have a look at the changes some of your everyday foods have gone through, and then you can feel a bit different about the foods you put in your mouth.
I prefer not to eat my fruits and vegetables with a hammer.
2. The real Trump documentary that you need to see. 25 years ago, a Donald Trump documentary was set to debut, but Trump stopped it because saying anything about him negatively will lead to a lawsuit and Trump calling you and idiot. It doesn’t take a genius to sum up the guy after one interview, but it’s still fun to watch him actually be that human being.
The film was commissioned in 1988 by Leonard Stern as the first of a series on celebrity businessmen and finished in 1991. Back then, the only way for a film to be seen was on television or in the theater. Donald threatened to sue any broadcaster or distributor that took on the film. In effect, it was suppressed. It was screened twice in back-to-back standing room only showings at the Bridgehampton Community House on July 3, 1991, the same day that Donald announced his engagement to Marla Maples.
The documentary that was suppressed is called What’s The Deal? Trump The Movie and it’s just as relevant as it was 25 years ago as it is today. I don’t really like getting political because I’ve realized that political and religious talks only lead to arguments, but this guy is one of the leading candidates to be the leader of the free world, and it really scares and embarrasses me that it’s actually happening.
You can watch the entire film here right now. It’s pretty amazing, I must admit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qy75pRQKMU
3. Everything you know about addiction is wrong. Addiction is a pretty terrible thing to have. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and I tried dozens of times. When you quit and start again, you ever lie to yourself about whether or not you started smoking again. You say things like “Oh, I only smoke when I drink” or “I only smoke after dinner.” It’s really you smoking and making excuses.
Addiction isn’t limited to drugs, it can be an addiction to social networking or your smartphone. Think about when you’re out with friends and they all look at their phones every minute or two. In this video, Johann Hari explains what we don’t understand about addiction and it’s eye opening in the way that he describes addiction that goes against the norms.
4. Seconds is a short film about rejection that will really help you get over getting rejected. Let’s face it: getting rejected really sucks. What’s worse is not taking a chance because you’re afraid of getting rejected. You’ll never know what would’ve happened if you just simply asked the girl/guy out instead of being too afraid.
This short film sums up the “what if” scenario in a quite perfect amount of time. That chance that you take could radically change your life or not change anything at all.
5. What does Alka Seltzer look like when it’s dissolved… IN SPACE?! Besides residing on one of the most expensive and impressive things ever built, the crew at the International Space Station get to have a little bit of fun with the lack of gravity tying them down
Astronauts on the International Space Station dissolved an effervescent tablet in a floating ball of water, and captured images using a camera capable of recording four times the resolution of normal high-definition cameras. The higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station. This footage is one of the first of its kind. The cameras are being evaluated for capturing science data and vehicle operations by engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
I wonder how long it takes until floating in space gets boring. That’s probably how this recording really came about. It’s basically the things a few college freshman would try if they brought a 30-pack of beer up to the ISS and didn’t really know anything about science, but know it would look totally cool.
Check out these scientists play with bubbly water high above the Earth.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com