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(Unofficial) history of the National Parks

4 minutes

A droll, whirlwind history of the US National Parks system, in just four minutes

Do you crave the enriching history of Ken Burns’s celebrated documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009) but don’t have 12 hours to spare? The US filmmaker Ryan Maxey has a droll and delightful short film that will give you the broad strokes in just four diligently researched minutes. With a collage style and a muzak soundtrack, (Unofficial) History of the National Parks aims to entertain, but ultimately arrives at a deeper question about humanity’s potential for curbing its most self-destructive impulses.

Director: Ryan Maxey

Website: Parks Project

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Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking.
But we can’t do it without you.

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But we can’t do it without you.

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