20 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American television news magazine broadcast on CBS since 1968 — the longest-running primetime TV news program — which pioneered the investigative television journalism format through its combination of hidden camera reporting, confrontational interviews, and narrative storytelling.
British documentary filmmaker at the BBC who made The Living Dead, The Century of the Self, The Power of Nightmares, The Trap, It Felt Like a Kiss, All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace, and HyperNormalisation — known for his distinctive style (archive footage, ambient music, voice-over narration) and his thesis that hidden power structures shape our perception of reality.
Greg Kohs's 2017 documentary following DeepMind's AlphaGo system as it defeats 18-time world champion Lee Sedol in the board game Go — a milestone moment in AI development — exploring what it means for a machine to master humanity's most complex game.
Stephen Shaw's independently produced documentary investigating the global fertility decline and the phenomenon of unintentional childlessness — combining demographic data with personal stories.
Adam Curtis's 2002 BBC documentary series tracing how Freudian theory was used by Edward Bernays and his successors to manipulate mass consumer behavior and political opinion — arguing that the 20th century's mass consumer society was built on the deliberate manipulation of the unconscious.
James Burke's 1978 BBC documentary series — each episode tracing unexpected historical connections between events, inventions, and ideas across centuries — one of the most influential science history documentaries ever made.
Netflix's documentary series following the Formula 1 season — credited with massively expanding F1's audience in the United States and globally by humanizing drivers and team principals.
Eyes on the Prize is a landmark PBS documentary series about the American civil rights movement, directed by Henry Hampton.
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's Oscar-winning 2018 documentary about Alex Honnold's free solo ascent of El Capitan — simultaneously a climbing film, a psychological portrait of extreme risk tolerance, and a meditation on obsession.
Adam Curtis's 2016 BBC documentary arguing that governments, finance, and technology have constructed a simplified false version of the world that both they and we know is fake — but continue to inhabit because no one can imagine an alternative.
Australian investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who spent 60 years reporting on war, imperialism, and Western foreign policy from a radical anti-imperialist perspective.
History Channel's 2012 twelve-part documentary series covering the entire sweep of human history from the first humans through the modern era — one of the most ambitious popular history documentary series produced for American television.
British historian and documentary filmmaker who created In Search of the Dark Ages, In Search of Alexander the Great, The Story of India, and Story of China — combining serious historical scholarship with accessible television documentary presentation — one of the most influential popular historians.
Ezra Edelman's 7.5-hour documentary essay on O.J. Simpson — treating the trial as a lens through which to examine race, celebrity, law enforcement, and American culture in the 20th century.
Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's embedded documentary following a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley — the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner that set the standard for immersive combat documentary.
Morgan Neville's documentary portrait of producer Rick Rubin and his Shangri-La studio — examining the creative process of one of music's most significant producers.
British television journalist and documentary maker known for immersive BBC investigations into global issues — child labor, sex trafficking, drugs — brought to mainstream audiences.
ESPN/Netflix's 2020 documentary series about Michael Jordan and the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls — interweaving footage from the Bulls' final championship season with interviews and archival footage spanning Jordan's career.
The book companion to Joseph Campbell's 1988 PBS interview series with Bill Moyers — exploring universal mythological themes (the hero's journey, the goddess, the sacred, sacrifice) and their relevance to modern life — one of the most accessible introductions to Campbell's comparative mythology.
Jeff Orlowski's 2020 Netflix documentary featuring tech insiders (many affiliated with the Center for Humane Technology) warning about the psychological and democratic harms of social media platforms' attention-optimizing algorithms.