When I was in college my free time was often spent lounging on my futon, surrounded by a collection of my favorite junk food, and binge watching my favorite TV shows. I was always in the middle of at least two or three because as I grew tired of one I could just pick up another. A friend recommended "Mad Men" to me at the beginning of my senior year and as a history major I was instantly fascinated by the complexity of the show. Its dynamic characters, incredible attention to period detail, and broad perspective on the sixties was unlike anything I'd experienced.

So many of the greatest TV shows merely tell a story. "How I Met Your Mother" took 10 years to tell us about Ted Mosby's life. "Game of Thrones" tells a gripping story fraught with conflict and intrigue, yet it is still just a story. "Mad Men" is an entirely different animal. While it tells the fictional story of Don Draper, it also examines one of the most pivotal eras of American history through the lens of business; a perspective which few alive today have first-hand experience of. Don's dynamic and aggressive business savvy represents the spirit of American exceptionalism, which carried us through the Cold War. Peggy's struggle between her desire for a husband and family, and her hopes of a career personifies the social revolution which swept through the younger generations at the time. Never before have I encountered a show which so perfectly brings to life the era of history which it seeks to narrate, and who's characters so accurately represent the caricatures they illustrate. I highly recommend you watch it.