Documentary Suggestions
Know of any documentaries worth watching? Especially on business or finance
I can recommend "The Devil We Know", available on YouTube, about DuPont and its forever chemicals having polluted every single living thing on the planet. Rly interesting example of the revolving door, comprehensive negative externalities, and greed
I really enjoyed Dopesick on Hulu, great limited series on the OxyContin epidemic that occurred -- showcased different perspectives like Purdue Pharma, the OxyContin salespeople, the lawyers behind the case, and a small town that was hit hard.
Yeah that's a baffling story. Haven't watched this but The Crime of the Century is also good
Enron: The smartest guys in the room ?
Thanks, seems great
The Men Who Built America docudrama miniseries about the robber barons ala JPMorgan, Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.
How to Make Money Selling Drugs - docu by Adrian Greene (Vince from Entourage) about the drug trade in the US and all parties involved (*cough*threeletteragencies*cough*)
Wallstreet Warriors is technically a documentary series, but I watch it for comedy now
It's pretty old school now, but the Trader documentary with Paul Tudor Jones is pretty good
Engineering Marvels is a good series if you like to understand how things work
Watch Floored, great documentary about floor trading in Chicago
Very enjoyable!
there was a movie about DuPont in 2019. Dark waters its called. Mark ruffalo in it.
documentaries -
Paul tudor jones doc - apparently he keeps getting this removed from YouTube because of his agressive trading style.
The Dark End of the Street (on YouTube) - watched this when I was like 14 and remember being shocked by it - about heroin addicts.
underbelly - not a documentary but a series based on real events of Australian gangsters in the late 90s.
channels ive been watching that produce mini-docs -
that chapter - guy reviews murders/serial killers (ones I haven't heard of)
kings and generals - reviews historic battles across the world - a lot of data
Glad I'm not the only mentioning the PTJ doc. If you want more Australian gangster stuff, Chopper is a great watch (also based on a true story and he spawned some simply hilarious comedy skits from the Ronnie Johns show).
yeah I love chopper as well. had been wondering why all Aussie gangster movies are based on real life madness. think theres a clip on YouTube of chopper talking about been in prison with one of them... dont think it was carl Williams but someone else in his crew
PBS Frontline has some amazing free documentaries 1-2 hour docs on YouTube, covering all sorts of topics from the middle east to COVID to wall street. I'm sure you could find something that piques your interest: https://www.youtube.com/c/frontline/videos
Really great journalism.
The most obvious one is "The inside job", a doc on the financial crisis. I also highly recommend "Dirty Money". It's a Netflix docuseries about the biggest financial crimes. For example, one episode covers the 1MDB scandal. It has two seasons and I really enjoyed it.
Definitely going to go watch dirty money
The King of Kong- A Fistful of Quarters
Still my all time favorite
Really like this one.
Tiger King
I started listening to the second season and it is so bad.
But that's what makes it so good! Like 90's action movies ala Judge Dredd or Eraser.
Finance:
The China Hustle, Enron, Inside Job, and Dirty Money
Non-Finance:
Apollo 11, Free Solo, In and Of Itself, Minding the Gap
Seriously, Apollo 11 is one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever seen (though note I did study mechanical engineering and have a lot of nostalgia for the space program). It's entirely found- and news footage, there are no talking heads, no voiceovers, nothing that didn't actually happen and wasn't filmed at the moment. They take you from setting up, through launch, orbiting the moon, landing, getting back to the orbital, safely reentering the atmosphere, and making it back to land. It just grabs you and doesn't let go. It's on Hulu, if you have 90 minutes to kill go see it now.
Seaspiracy, Black Mirror
Hoop Dreams. A documentary about two kids of Chicago in the 90's that pursue a career in basketball. Really interesting for anyone who enjoys basketball.
Cocaine cowboys, a documentary about the exploding of the cocaine trafficking in Miami in the 80's by the usa partners of Pablo Escobar. A lot of pictures and news from the time and with interviews to the real protagonists. There's a second part but I haven't seen it.
The ascent of money by Ferguson
the New york doc series by Ric Burns
Floored (classic trading doc)
To catch a trader (about steven cohen SAC insider trading stuff)
Client 9 (Elliot Spitzer scandal)
Breaking the bank (merril lunch and BAC situation during credit crisis, interviews john thain etc)
Any Ken Burns docu-series, but if I had to pick it would be a toss up between the Civil War, WW2 and Vietnam. All of those are incredibly in depth and eye opening.
Recently watched American Factory on HBO Max. Very interesting documentary about when a Chinese car glass manufacturer acquires an old American General Motors plant.
The integration of Chinese and American cultures is crazy.
This documentary also taught me to be thankful for my economic position. Many of the manufacturing workers have no economic opportunity available to them other than the factory. This made me feel sad that people are not rising to their full economic potential due to their location and their upbringing as limiting factors of growth.
Definitely worth a watch.
Seen it and totally agree
"For the Love of Money: The Bank That Bust the World" - a BBC documentary specifically on the Lehman Brothers debacle, along with the financial crisis.
Netflix has a series called "Dirty Money" which is 10 or 12 episodes.
Netflix also has "Explained" which are neat, concise 20-30 minute eps on a single topic, like student loan debt, how our brains retain/process memory, how the monarchy works, the racial wealth gap, sex, fairy tales and more.
"American Greed" has been on the air since 2007 or 2008, I'm always coming across an episode I've never seen, they have touched on everything from a Boston museum multi-million dollar art heist to the Tyco International scandal and more more.
CNBC did a long-form segment on Goldman back in 2010 or 2011, title's something like "Goldman Sachs: The Power and The Peril"
There's "The China Hustle" from around 2018, about public Chinese companies traded on American exchanges.
My Octopus Teacher
“I’m not crying you’re crying”
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is very good
Velit eum iusto voluptate sed rerum. Corrupti sunt similique tenetur fugit ipsa quam. Vel id ipsa ut quam. Aut consequatur qui quod aspernatur dolorum delectus debitis. Debitis voluptatem corrupti voluptas veritatis.
Reprehenderit sit vel id sunt aut vel facere. Mollitia dolor reiciendis eveniet. Sit sunt sunt doloremque sed id reiciendis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ipsum accusantium sapiente sapiente blanditiis harum maiores dicta. Quidem a aut iure velit. Et sit adipisci perspiciatis dolorem eaque consectetur. Temporibus cupiditate est inventore porro qui ipsa.
Vitae in officiis dolore quas aut quia voluptatem. Dignissimos in tempore mollitia voluptas repellendus dolore quod mollitia. Repellat quia voluptas ut sint unde optio expedita.