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

Why HN readers recommended it

Heavily recommended as a masterpiece of popular science and the classic illustration of how fragile interdependent systems are, trotted out in every blackout or supply chain thread.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

DRS_Education

Topic

technology and society history

Format

documentary

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

12

HN mentions in dataset

18

Recommendation years in dataset

2019–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Years back I was introduced to a terrific BBC show called Connections with James Burke (1978). The first episode, available on YouTube [0], is all about the world's reliance on power and that within a short period of time we'd be catapulted back to the …

• I highly recommend James Burke's Connections (the original series if this kind of thing interests you) [VIDEO]

• For the uninitiated, Connections is a documentary series from the seventies exploring the interconnectedness of technology. In the first episode, titled "The Trigger Effect" [0], Burke shows that if electricity were taken away from us, we'd be sent back to the plow. It's a little …