documentary · HACKER NEWS RECOMMENDATION
The Century of the Self - Part 1: "Happiness Machines"
JustAdamCurtis · 13 HN recommenders · 9 recommendation months
Recommended by 13 Hacker News commenters across 9 months (2017–2025).
About this video
“The Century of the Self - Part 1: "Happiness Machines"” is catalogued as a documentary from JustAdamCurtis. Its recorded topics are Media, journalism & propaganda, Documentaries & storytelling, and Psychology & human behavior, with tags such as adam curtis, edward bernays, freud, and advertising. These labels offer a subject map for the video; they do not provide a transcript or establish details beyond the public export. This guide uses catalog metadata and Hacker News stance counts rather than repeating the source summary.
Audience fit: people exploring Media, journalism & propaganda, Documentaries & storytelling, and Psychology & human behavior may find it relevant. The source classifies its format as documentary and its level as general; those labels describe catalog intent, not guaranteed prerequisites or a specific teaching style. Review the video itself for details before using it as a reference.
Discussion snapshot: the export records 20 comments from 13 distinct recommenders over 9 months between 2017 and 2025. Its 20 available labels count 6 contextual references, 9 recommendations, 4 strong recommendations, 1 critical mention, and 0 jokes. Recommendation labels are more common than contextual references in this snapshot. 1 mention is classified as critical. That label signals a qualifying or skeptical role in the discussion, but it does not identify the exact point at issue; open the linked comments to read each author's reasoning. These counts describe roles assigned to comments; they do not measure factual correctness or video quality. Each Hacker News item below links to its source comment for the full exchange.
Recorded details: the source lists JustAdamCurtis as the channel or speaker. Runtime is not included in this export. A verified YouTube publication date is not included. The first and last years above refer to Hacker News mentions, not the video's release year. No duration or release year has been guessed.
- Channel / speaker
- JustAdamCurtis
- Video duration
- Not included in the source export
- YouTube release year
- Not included in the source export
- Hacker News mention years
- 2017–2025
THREE SOURCE-BASED CONTEXT POINTS
Why Hacker News recommends it
These concise summaries are generated from real comment text, thread titles, and stance labels. They do not reproduce comment wording; the original comment stays on Hacker News.
The commenter uses the video as context in “Bypassing Google's big anti-adblock update”, connecting it with freud, american, curtis, and government.
The a strong recommendation in “Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers” is tied to adam, century, covering, and curtis; the linked thread preserves the original comment and its full context.
The commenter uses the video as context in “Hunter-gatherer childcare suggests new key to mother and child well-being”, connecting it with link, corporations, burnays, and capitalism.