History 101Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.
DirectorMarc Tiley
WriterMarc Tiley
Fast Food
May 22, 2020
Cheap, quick and tasty, fast food became a culinary craze in the 1950s. But has our quest for convenience created an irreversible health crisis?
The Space Race
May 22, 2020
Fifteen international agencies spend $62 billion every year on space travel. What's fueling our costly — and dangerous — drive to explore the universe?
The Rise of China
May 22, 2020
In the 21st century, China has become a global economic powerhouse. Why was the rest of the world so slow to notice its rise to the top?
Plastics
May 22, 2020
Plastics have transformed how we live, but progress comes at a high price: 7.8 billion tons of waste. Are plastics a miracle or a catastrophe?
Oil and the Middle East
May 22, 2020
Oil has brought great wealth to the Middle East and ignited major wars. Is it a blessing or a curse for the region, as well as the rest of the world?
Robots
May 22, 2020
We share the planet with an estimated 9 million robots, from self-driving cars to surgical arms. Could they one day completely replace humans?
Feminism
May 22, 2020
Feminism has ushered in sweeping changes to society, securing rights for women around the world. How much further do we have to go?
Nuclear Power
May 22, 2020
Over 10% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power. But with radioactive waste and the threat of nuclear meltdown, are we playing with fire?
AIDS
May 22, 2020
Nearly 40 million people are living with HIV. After decades of research and activism, how far have we come in finding a cure and battling the stigma?
Genetics
May 22, 2020
DNA analysis has given us the tools to map disease, solve crimes and more. But in our rush to decode DNA, are we leaping before we look?
SierraKiloBravo
@SierraKiloBravo
Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/JQCiV0ghtLg I'm a bit of a history nerd, so anything related to this subject usually catches my eye when it arrives on Netflix. So it was with _History 101_. This is a 10 part series that uses archival footage and animated infographics to cover the chosen subject of each 25ish minute episode. The subjects covered are fast food, the space race, China, plastics, oil, robots, feminism, nuclear power, AIDS, and genetics. Given how short the episodes are and how broad the topics are that are covered, this series is a case of style over substance. It looks cool and flashy, but its way too rushed to be of any substance or anything more than the lightest of covering of a subject. They heavily use animated infographic type side pieces which are of a type that gives it all a bit of a childish feel. They whoosh in and whoosh out and spin around but it all blasts over the screen so quick that it negates a lot of the information it's trying to convey. What I did like about it was that it has some most excellent archival footage - this was what I enjoyed the most. Some of it is of a very high quality and there was lots of clips that I had never seen before even on subjects that I'm really interested in. So that's a real cool part. But it's about the only good thing I could take away from it though. I think this might be best for kids or teens. As its only really a surface level introduction to the various subjects, there's not a lot here for history nerds looking to learn something new.
