Documentaries & Storytelling Videos Hacker News Recommends

documentary#28

The Century of the Self (Full Adam Curtis Documentary)

David Lessig

“For the first time in my life I feel like I understood the “why” of how things work in American society.”

13 HN recommenders · 2016–2026

documentary#40

Video explains the world's most important 6-sec drum loop

Landon Proctor

“this is an excellent 20-minute video about the history of the Amen Break”

15 HN recommenders · 2011–2026

documentary#63

James Burke Connections, Ep. 1 "The Trigger Effect"

DRS_Education

“It's a masterpiece of popular science production made better with the grainy film patina of the 70s and 80s.”

12 HN recommenders · 2019–2026

documentary#79

AlphaGo - The Movie | Full award-winning documentary

Google DeepMind

“I consider AlphaGo - The Movie [1] to be a timeless classic that will never feel outdated.”

10 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

documentary#85

TIMELAPSE OF THE FUTURE: A Journey to the End of Time (4K)

melodysheep

“does a great job with visuals and voiceovers about what will happen over the next trillions x trillions of years”

13 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

documentary#158

The Century of the Self - Part 1: "Happiness Machines"

JustAdamCurtis

“There's a great four-part documentary by Adam Curtis about Edward Bernays”

13 HN recommenders · 2017–2025

documentary#189

Dick Proenneke in Alone in the Wilderness

swererbob

“I think HN would really appreciate the story of Dick Proenneke”

10 HN recommenders · 2012–2023

documentary#210

The Secret War

Sergio IQ

“It's very long, very detailed but well presented - in a style that assumes you aren't stupid.”

4 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

podcast#225

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

Fall of Civilizations

“I highly recommend the _Fall of Civilizations Podcast_ episode 8.”

7 HN recommenders · 2020–2023

documentary#242

1. How Buildings Learn - Stewart Brand - 1 of 6 - “Flow”

Stewart Brand

“It changed my view of a building from a static thing to a dynamic system, changing over time.”

8 HN recommenders · 2013–2020

documentary#266

Powers of Ten™ (1977)

Eames Office

“a classic video that demonstrates the scale of the Universe from the micro to the macro perspectives”

9 HN recommenders · 2012–2025

documentary#279

TempleOS | Down the Rabbit Hole

Fredrik Knudsen

“This video is the definitive rundown on his life and illness”

7 HN recommenders · 2019–2022

documentary#322

Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans | A Film by Jeff Gibbs | Full Documentary

Michael Moore

“Strongly recommended.”

7 HN recommenders · 2020–2024

explainer#384

I promise this story about microwaves is interesting.

Tom Scott

“The whole story is worth a watch since Tom Scott does an admirable job of explaining”

9 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

documentary#411

The House I Live In Official Trailer #1 (2012) Drugs Documentary Movie HD

Rotten Tomatoes Trailers

“a fantastic documentary about the US drug war/justice system. Go watch it now.”

4 HN recommenders · 2013–2015

documentary#441

HyperNormalisation 2016

crisalist

“he's essentially cross cut the last 40 years into a 3 hour cliff notes guide to some of the darker corners of postmodern philosophy.”

6 HN recommenders · 2016–2020

documentary#494

Moleman 2 - Demoscene - The Art of the Algorithms (2012)

Vakondok (Moleman)

“Both are expertly crafted and fun documentaries”

6 HN recommenders · 2015–2023

documentary#517

James Burke Connections, Ep. 4 "Faith in Numbers"

DRS_Education

“Every computer engineer, computer scientist and software developer should learn about the Jacquard loom”

4 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

documentary#521

FarewellEtaoinShrdlu

Drinks and Dice

“the final day the New York Times was printed using their linotype machines.”

6 HN recommenders · 2017–2026

documentary#650

The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel

Jenny Nicholson

“here's as an incredible documentary covering the misaligned incentives and poor guest experience at the now-shuttered Disney Star Wars hotel.”

4 HN recommenders · 2024–2026

documentary#673

Happy People | Spring (part 1) [Happy People Documentary | Spring in Siberia Part 1

Дмитрий Васюков

“I like the original much better, I think of it as the authentic view”

4 HN recommenders · 2015–2023

explainer#680

England: South Sea Bubble - The Sharp Mind of John Blunt - Extra History - Part 1

Extra History

“For those who want an accessible introduction to the South Sea Bubble, Extra History has a video series”

6 HN recommenders · 2018–2025

documentary#691

The man who almost faked his way to a Nobel Prize

BobbyBroccoli

“amazing piece of documentary”

6 HN recommenders · 2022–2023

explainer#703

Alexander Pope Wrote a 35-Page Takedown of a Historian

CGP Grey

“Linking the full video because it's a masterpiece”

5 HN recommenders · 2021–2025

documentary#705

Netscape Mozilla Documentary 1998 - 2000 ProJect Code Rush - creative common licence

znoopy2k

“Code Rush is a great SV tech documentary about the initial release of Mozilla”

5 HN recommenders · 2011–2013

documentary#731

Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History

Defunctland

“If you ever wanted a feature-length explanation of queueing theory and how ignoring it makes everything worse, well... here you go”

7 HN recommenders · 2021–2024

podcast#770

Neuromancer (BBC radio play adaptation ) William Gibson

Michael McGrath

“The BBC did a great adaptation of the book to a radio play, complete with professional voice acting, sound effects, even music”

3 HN recommenders · 2018–2025

documentary#778

Free to Play

Valve

“I've enjoyed this documentary a lot.”

5 HN recommenders · 2014–2022

documentary#805

The Great Wave - Part 1

David Bull

“The series is up there with Clickspring's skeleton clock in my pantheon of "greatest long-form process videos”

4 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

documentary#858

Man Spends 30 Years Turning Degraded Land into Massive Forest – Fools & Dreamers (Full Documentary)

Happen Films

“This is a great short film that goes into detail about the project and the challenges faced in getting it off the ground”

4 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

documentary#868

Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea | KQED Truly CA

KQED Arts

“Definitely one of my top 10 documentaries”

4 HN recommenders · 2017–2025

documentary#909

The End of Suburbia - 52 minute documentary on peak oil

endofsuburbia

“It's entertaining and, IMO, well worth watching even if you disagree with some of the people they interview”

3 HN recommenders · 2011–2021

documentary#925

A NEW Trace! The FULL MH370 Story, so Far..

Mentour Pilot

“I highly recommend Mentour Pilots videos on the topic, for an indepth introduction to the whole story and the new search”

5 HN recommenders · 2024–2025

documentary#929

Riding through Iran on a small motorcycle as British person.

c90adventures

“I highly recommend watching this fairly recent documentary about a British guy riding a motorcycle through the country.”

4 HN recommenders · 2016–2021

documentary#956

13TH | FULL FEATURE | Netflix

Netflix

“This documentary is an absolute must-watch”

6 HN recommenders · 2020–2023

documentary#1033

BBS The Documentary: Episode 1 of 8: BAUD (The Beginning)

Jason Scott

“He also gave us the brilliant BBS: The Documentary”

4 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

documentary#1072

James Burke Legend Connections 1 The Trigger Effect

Tim Callinan

“You may enjoy the first episode of James Burke's Connections ("The Trigger Effect"), if you've not seen it.”

4 HN recommenders · 2022–2026

documentary#1074

Talking Funny - HBO

Ken Jones

“is worth watching for anyone interested in that aspect of comedy”

3 HN recommenders · 2014–2022

documentary#1091

Smelting Iron in Africa (A DEMONSTRATION)

Christopher Roy

“One of my favorite videos is a documentary of a village in Africa that goes through the process of producing iron tools from scratch”

4 HN recommenders · 2015–2024

documentary#1138

The Vanishing of Flight 370

LEMMiNO

“There is a really well put together video[1] by a YouTuber, who goes by the name of Lemmino”

2 HN recommenders · 2019–2023

documentary#1159

Britain peak power demand (from BBC TV series: Britain from Above)

fiddyschmitt

“Here's a great movie illustrating how the grid is balanced”

4 HN recommenders · 2013–2026

documentary#1162

Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years (Full Length)

VICE

“I highly recommend it for anyone interested.”

4 HN recommenders · 2014–2023

documentary#1241

War - Part Two: Anybody's Son Will Do (1 of 6)

Ingsoc75

“This documentary explains in great detail the nature of military basic training and its psychological component”

3 HN recommenders · 2013–2017

commentary#1276

RAT POISON AND BRANDY: THE 1904 ST. LOUIS OLYMPIC MARATHON.

Jon Bois

“He has a video on the marathon that's very worth the 21 minutes”

3 HN recommenders · 2019–2024

comedy#1298

Verbatim: What Is a Photocopier? | Op-Docs

New York Times Opinion

“The New York Times did an amazing reenactment from transcripts of the legal deposition”

4 HN recommenders · 2017–2025

documentary#1483

Money as Debt I - Revised Edition 2009 (Full Movie)

Ethaniel RockX

“is a cartoonish but thorough explanation for anyone who has the time”

4 HN recommenders · 2020–2022

documentary#1499

Money as Debt - Full Documentary

Free Your Mind

“the first Money as Debt video [1] still makes the most sense to me”

2 HN recommenders · 2017–2023

documentary#1517

The Kennedy Assassination: Inside the Book Depository

LEMMiNO

“It's long but it gives a good overview of the sequence of events and the discrepancies.”

5 HN recommenders · 2023–2024