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In this section, we have collected films and TV series that tie in with the rest of the issue without overwhelming viewers with terminology or educational content. Movies about the first cables laid between continents and the evolution of communications, series about hackers and future technologies, and stories behind the creation of Spotify and Fox News—everything you can turn on in the evening and enjoy while immersing yourself in the intricacies of the industry.

From Copper Wire to Digital

We recommend starting with the documentary When Wire Was King: The Transformation of Communications. This film focuses on the evolution of telephone networks, competition, and regulation that laid the foundation for today’s internet and mobile services. Another documentary, The Cable That Changed the World, explores a specific aspect of telecom history. In it, you will learn how the first transatlantic submarine communication line (mentioned on pages 6–7) was created, how it connected the entire world, and why 99% of global traffic still travels along the seabed rather than via satellites.

Hackers, Networks, and the Dark Side of Progress

For a thrill, we recommend watching the critically acclaimed series Mr. Robot, which explores hackers and the vulnerabilities of digital infrastructure. Through the perspective of a cybersecurity engineer, it shows how attacks on networks, data centers, and telecom operators can lead to political and social crises. The series received an IMDb rating of 8.5 out of 10.

Season after season, the acclaimed series Black Mirror pushes modern technology to its limits, presenting a world of possible futures. The episodes are not interconnected, so you can start watching from any one. We recommend The Entire History of You, an episode about the digitalization of memory.

Opportunities and Challenges

For a closer look at how businesses built on telecom infrastructure operate, Silicon Valley and Halt and Catch Fire are excellent choices. The former is a comedy series praised for its humor by Elon Musk, who served as the prototype for one of its characters. It tells the story of a startup’s growth in the world’s leading innovation hub, driven by the creation of unique code. The latter series explores the computer industry of the 1980s and the emergence of the personal computer.

Among documentaries about digital footprints and online platforms, The Great Hack is particularly worth watching. It examines the illegal use of the personal data of millions of Facebook users to influence political events such as the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election.

Success Stories

The biographies of brands that have become symbols of the new media reality deserve special attention. The Playlist depicts the birth of Spotify and shows how a single streaming service reshaped content consumption habits for an entire generation, forcing internet providers to adapt to explosive traffic growth and the subscription-based economy.

The film The Loudest Voice chronicles the creation of Fox News, which became one of the most influential media holdings in American history. The channel shaped the political agenda and public sentiment for nearly 30 years and remains a powerful instrument of social and political influence.

Together, these films form a chronicle of the rise of digital modernity—from submarine cables to digital platforms, from mobile operators to streaming services. Telecom has long ceased to be merely an “internet delivery service”; it is now impossible to imagine modern life without it. We believe the New Year holidays are an ideal time to explore these trends not through charts and diagrams, but through human stories.