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There are scores of people forecasting what will happen once the impeachment trial of President Trump begins on Tuesday, Jan. 21, but lets be real: No one knows what is going to happen or what the long-term implications will be.

However, it has definitely brought to life a hunger for media to help us understand the impeachment. Even for those of us who vividly remember the impeachment of Bill Clinton or resignation of Richard Nixon, this is a fraught time full of confusion. Where can we turn for help?

Well, the streaming sphere is a good start. Here is a handful of viewing and listening options that help contextualize this moment thats sure to be etched in American history annals.

The good thing about presidential history is that it is covered so extensively. But theres a downside: Because so few people have been president, it is very hard to judge the future by the past thanks to a limited data set. Still, there is always something to be learned from what came before.

The Lost Tapes, which streams on Hulu, is a neat show from the Smithsonian Channel that tries to frame history through the lens of news reports at the time. Most of us have gotten so used to analysis from pundits that the bare facts are often shielded from us. Thats not to say that modern historical perspective is worthless. Its just good, sometimes, to revisit the cultural context of events.

The second season of Lost Tapes has an episode about the Clinton impeachment, laying out news reports and secret documents behind the scandal that led to the proceedings. In addition to comparing the most recent events with our current predicament, its helpful to remember how far weve come in how we talk about things like sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as how we treat women who are the subjects of investigations. Or, to judge by the recent events surrounding Katie Hill, how we do not.

Memory is fallible, and stark reminders of exactly what coverage of the last impeachment looked like help keep our heads clear.

Though she is mostly known for her punditry on MSNBC, Rachel Maddows greatest work might actually be her podcast miniseries Bag Man.

Over the course of seven episodes, Bay Area native Maddow lays out the oft-forgotten tale of former Vice President Spiro Agnew. When he is remembered at all these days, its as a minor sideshow that took place in the shadow of the Richard Nixon investigations. In truth, Agnew was, perhaps, a bigger crook than his boss as well as a man who held sway over a vast right-wing army dedicated to beating back progressivism.

The podcast, which can be heard through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and other services, interviews many of the figures who were involved in the investigation of Agnew, as well as dissecting how a criminal investigation of the possible next president changed forever the way we deal with wrongdoing at the highest levels of the American government. Combine that with this incredible period musical score, and it becomes an addicting thing to hear.

Ian Danskin made a name for himself as a video essayist with his long look at the GamerGate controversy called Why Are You So Angry?, which many now see as a proof of concept for many of the tactics used by Russians to interfere in the 2016 election. His current long-term project in the same vein is The Alt-Right Playbook, and it may be the best way any of us are ever going to understand the darkest timeline.

The open-ended YouTube series (Danskin has said he has no idea how long it will eventually be) explores how rabidly right groups built themselves into an online armada that, in the alt-rights own words, memed a president into office. Now that Trump has been impeached, these same people are often his most vocal supporters.

With admirable scholarship, wit and a distinctive animated style, Danskin clears the fog around the alt-right mind-set. This in turn, helps us to understand why people continue to defend a president under impeachment even if the evidence seems clear as crystal to others. Its uncomfortable media, but its indispensable knowledge told in bite-size ways that might possibly save us all.

The classic cinematic look at the Nixon investigation is All the Presidents Men, and if you havent seen it, you really should watch that film since its one of those movies thats considered an all-timer. (Its streaming on Amazon Prime.) However, you should probably watch it so you get even more of the jokes in Dick.

Streaming on Amazon Prime and starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as two bubble-headed teens who stumble into the Watergate scandal by becoming Nixons dog walker, Dick can help us remember just how ridiculous so much all of this impeachment process was, or, is.

Impeachable offenses are serious. Even Clintons sexual misdeeds involve the felony of lying to a grand jury. But we should never forget that so many of these things that take over the news cycles are, well, stupid. A razor-sharp period comedy, like Dick, might make light of the bad things Nixon did, but it also puts him in his place.

We need that more than ever now.

Originally posted here:
Impeachment streaming: What to watch (and hear) to help contextualize the moment - San Francisco Chronicle