There’s a story about why those six graves are set apart like this. The video explains.

I feel ghoulish for admitting this about a place where 13,000 people died in just over a year, but Andersonville has a very special place in my heart.

I wanted to go for years. It nagged at me, the way Harpers Ferry did until I finally went and made it the first real post on this blog. And the minute I pulled into the parking lot for the very first time, in 2009, I was struck with the brainstorm that wound up becoming “AfterShark,” my post-show for ABC’s Shark Tank. Before I even went inside, I’d scribbled the concept down. It feels uncomfortable to say it, but something revelatory happens to me every time I visit here.

A few weeks ago, I went back, in the red-earthed rolling hinterlands of mid-Georgia, for the third time, this time to research a big project I’m working on. It was mostly empty, as it always is. I think that’s a shame. Americans should know what happened on their turf. We shouldn’t forget about it. We shouldn’t excuse it. Andersonville makes me indignant about ignorance.

So I made this quick video about it: what it looks like there, what happened there. It’s quick, and I hope it’s evocative. Continue reading »