POLL: Pick the next Extra History series! Theme is "Art & Architecture"! (Patreon)

What series would you like us to air on Extra History? Cast your vote(s) below and let us know! This series is expected to air later in 2019.

Friendly reminder: You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. The poll will end at 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday, May 28.

Current Schedule:  History of England --> Joan of Arc --> The Inca Empire --> Your Vote!
 

Angkor: A Clash of Gods

Between the years of 1100-1200 CE, roughly 0.1% of Earth's population was supported by the city of Angkor. It was a marvel. A place where the Khmer god-kings quarried huge blocks of stone thirty miles away, and floated them to construction sites via specially-excavated canals. But these temples were anything but serene. With a royal family split between the worship of Shiva, Vishnu, and Buddha, changes in leadership often meant alteration and iconoclastic destruction. But Angkor would survive these desecrations—as it would the fall of the Khmer. From its first visit by Portuguese clergy in 1586, to the looting of French colonials, to the machine gun damage of the Khmer Rouge, Angkor survived—inspiring and shaping the modern conception of the lost city.

Renaissance Masters: Art in Canvas and Stone

Michelangelo, Bruegel, Raphael, Van Eyck, Da Vinci. Men of art—but also sculpture and architecture. From the building of Florence Cathedral's dome, to the glowing figures of the Sistine Chapel, to Bruegel's everyday themes and the premature death of Raphael, we'll explore the artistic, sculptural and architectural achievements of these great artists. Along the way, we'll see how the emerging philosophy of the Renaissance shaped how the world views everything from art to the relationship between man and god.

Notre Dame de Paris: Solid as Stone, Fragile as Glass

Workers began building Notre Dame in 1160—and finished it a century later. But a building as old as this one is never truly complete. Modified according to the tastes of the moment, it suffered desecration by French Revolutionaries who used it for their short-lived Cult of Reason, and played host to the coronation of Napoleon. Increasingly deteriorating and neglected, Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame revived interest in preserving the building and put it back at the center of the city's life. This series will not only explore the history of the building, but use it as a window into how French artistic and architectural sensibilities changed over the centuries.

Birth of Filmmaking: Celluloid Dreams

Get the popcorn and draw the curtain, we're going for a wild ride through the history of early film. It begins with people fleeing a theater, terrified by the phantasms projected by a magic lantern. It runs through the age of nickelodeons and small scenes, the first vaudeville "music videos," the first cinemas, studios, and special effects. Then it's off to the races with slapstick, animation, documentaries, the chase scene, and simulated gore. Join us on a Trip to the Moon, get shut in The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari, and thrill to the first feature film The Story of the Kelly Gang (Ned Kelly cameo FTW). Then, as World War I engulfs the world, see the rise of a new unstoppable power—a place called Hollywood.