A Brief History of Neoliberalism

Narrated by Matt Damon, Ferguson's Oscar-winning documentary takes apart the 2008 financial crisis: the deregulation, the ratings agencies, the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington and the economists who were paid to say it was fine. He interviews the people responsible, and watches some of them squirm.

Why it’s here: The film shows the crisis as a decision, not a natural disaster. What's punk is the interview chair: the people who profited are asked to explain themselves on camera, and several do not. What's pedagogical is the way it follows the money and the incentives, including the academic ones. It is the film companion to Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, and a fitting pair for the Capitalism bundle. Note: Ferguson was criticized for the access some interviewees were given and for the narrow focus on the US; the film is a one-sided prosecution by design.

MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that a face-recognition system can't see her face unless she puts on a white mask. She follows the thread to police departments, landlords and schools that are using such systems, and to the activists in London and New York who are pushing back. It's a documentary about who gets watched and who gets judged by software.

Why it’s here: The film shows how algorithms inherit the prejudice of the people who built them, and who gets hurt first. What's punk is that a graduate student's anomaly turns into a campaign against the tech industry. What's pedagogical is how clearly it explains training data and error rates to a general audience. Pairs with Deep Unlearning, Automating Inequality and Your Face Belongs to Us.