I'm on CNN's The Nineties tonight, discussing Columbine
Updated: Jan 2
Hopefully, CNN won't use all my goofy faces tonight. There are so many!
We shot my interview about Columbine for their documentary series "The Nineties" back in January, and it debuts tonight (Sunday) at 9pm ET.*
Each episode tackles a major theme from the 90s, and the title of this one is "Terrorism hits home." (Yes they worked Columbine in with Oklahoma City, the rise of Osama Bin Laden, The Unabomer, Waco, Ruby Ridge, etc.)
I've been enjoying the series since The 60s, so I'm optimistic that they did a good job. I've not seen it yet. (And I have no idea how much they'll use me.)
Coincidentally, the (new, expanded) edition of Columbine is 55% off at Amazon right now ($7.76). I don't control that (nor do I ever know why), but that's unheard of. Columbine at Amazon.
BTW, I was dogsitting Bobby Sneakers that week and showed up with "dog all over you" in the words of one producer. Whoops. Big props to the great make-up woman in the pic who culled him off me with a roller.)
Note: I also shot interviews for a much longer Columbine documentary coming soon to another network. Details of that still have to remain hush hush.
* If you miss the show tonight, they rerun them several times during the week. (Starting with 3 hours later tonight, I think.) But there are so many news pre-emptions in this breaking-news-palooza that all bets are off on that.
Update: I liked what they did. I'll post clips soon. (And CNN will replay it several times this Saturday and Sunday. The first is very late Friday night--technically Saturday a.m.)
Anyone teaching a 90s unit gets a usable case study: Columbine bundled with Oklahoma City, Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Unabomber under “Terrorism hits home.” The 55% off / $7.76 book price is a small window for students who need the expanded text. Creating timeline worksheets for a 90s terrorism unit can help classes sort the news pre-emptions, not just watch. That rerun note—very late Friday night, technically Saturday a.m.—matters for assignment planning.
Teachers building a 90s unit can use the CNN reruns alongside the $7.76 paperback; a percentage-off calculator helps if they’re ordering class sets. Same for documentary watchers trying to separate Columbine from Oklahoma City, Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Unabomber in “Terrorism hits home.” The Bobby Sneakers and “dog all over you” detail also makes the interview prep feel human, not archival.
Bobby Sneakers' fur came off with a roller for the make-up woman, but packing tape just smeared it deeper into my only blazer before a panel on the 90s. The rerun advice worked differently too: I set a reminder for the 3-hours-later slot and a pre-emption killed it; Saturday a.m. was the one that survived. If you're chasing the documentary's broader timeline, the archival 90s terrorism context filled gaps the episode skipped.
It's interesting to see how Columbine is revisited through documentaries. I also tried a free ai prompt generator recently for a project, and it was surprisingly useful.
Interesting to see Dave Cullen discussing the Columbine case on CNN’s The Nineties. It’s a difficult subject, but thoughtful discussion can help provide historical context and encourage a better understanding of the events. For a fun browser-based screen effect, Broken Screen is also worth checking out.