All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 3 of 11 documentary series by recommenders
A distinctive, wide-ranging documentary series on the history of computing, cybernetics and Silicon Valley, recommended for its engaging storytelling and fascinating look at ideas.
A distinctive, wide-ranging documentary series on the history of computing, cybernetics and Silicon Valley, recommended for its engaging storytelling and fascinating look at ideas.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 10 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Distinctive, engaging storytelling style
“Adam Curtis has a quite distinctive style of story telling - to me the weaving of a sense of sublime via intensity and associativity offers quite a fascinating way to look into things.”
Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “Adam Curtis – All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace” “Curtis's stuff is all good fun but I'm skeptical”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Nature's capacity to 'bounce back' when species are lost is overestimated: study” Wide-ranging history of computing
“extremely good multipart documentary and wide ranging if slightly silly look at the nexus of Greenspan, Ayn Rand, Silicon Valley”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Alan Greenspan Dies at 100; Led Fed During Boom Before 2008 Bust” “There is a good documentary called "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" which documents how computing started”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Anthropic S-1” “on Cybernetics and the 20th century "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Adam Curtis”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “A Brief Introduction to the Basics of Game Theory” Well presented and fascinating
“is worth watching, but it's well presented”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “I wasted years of my life in crypto” “This was a fascinating read”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011)”
Other documentary series people recommend
The four most recommended other documentary series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connections by James Burke | 33 | 1 | 97% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Triumph of the Nerds | 31 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam CurtisThis page | 10 | 1 | 91% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Century of Self by Adam Curtis | 10 | 1 | 91% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Secret Life of Machines | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“There is a good documentary called "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" which documents how computing started”
“Curtis's stuff is all good fun but I'm skeptical”
“Rather than the first two minutes, here's the whole thing”
“He learned to see it all as uncharitable nonsense to convince others that technocracy is unassailable.”
“I can never end recommending Adam Curtis's series”
“This was a fascinating read”
“Adam Curtis has a quite distinctive style of story telling - to me the weaving of a sense of sublime via intensity and associativity offers quite a fascinating way to look into things.”
“extremely good multipart documentary and wide ranging if slightly silly look at the nexus of Greenspan, Ayn Rand, Silicon Valley”
“on Cybernetics and the 20th century "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Adam Curtis”
“is worth watching, but it's well presented”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.