Never Forgetting
the true crime that's worth your time
I don’t remember the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as being this…insistent. On the eve of the 20th anniversary, though, after PR blasts about commemorative docs and specials and singles and endless all else “honoring” or “remembering” 9/11/01, I feel…intruded upon. Yes, it changed the world; yes, it’s worth pausing to contemplate; no, you’re not alone in hoping that perhaps this flare of craven self-righteousness can be the end of it. (2026 is likely to be as bad, IMO; we’ll see.)
So, if you’re avoiding coverage, and/or social media, and/or thinking about it this year, I don’t blame you. If the inevitable Giuliani-osity of contemporary accounts is insupportable, I hear that. If it just doesn’t seem that important compared to the last eighteen months, I don’t disagree. But there is a fair amount of worthwhile material about 9/11, so if you’d like to share that instead, and “make it about the work,” let’s do that. I’ve watched The Woman Who Wasn’t There several times (there’s a book as well); the New York piece on Sneha Anne Philip is still haunting, although the podcast about her disappearance isn’t as successful. I haven’t made time for Lawrence Wright’s award-winner yet, but if you’ve read it, what did you think?
What’s the 9/11 material that’s worth our time?