Stress, Portrait of a Killer - Full Documentary (2008)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters recommend it whenever threads touch on chronic stress, memory, aging, or social status and health, as an accessible primer built on Sapolsky's primate work.
Recommended by 2 people across 2 different months, 2016 to 2026.
What it is
A 2008 National Geographic documentary, co-produced with Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, on how chronic stress damages the body and brain. It follows Sapolsky's baboon research in Kenya alongside human studies of stress, status, and health, covering hormones, telomeres, and the immune system.
What people said
Strong rec rhizome · 2017-01 · Hacker News · on “Long-term stress erodes memory”
Robert Sapolsky has dealt with this field quite a bit and is a plain-spoken and engaging academic concerned with much of what is being discussed in this thread. I highly recommend a documentary he co-produced, "Stress: Portrait of a Killer." A short interview on the topic: [LINK] YouTube: [this video]
Recommends 77pt77 · 2016-11 · Hacker News · on “Low social status 'can damage immune system'”
directly related: Stress, Portrait of a Killer - Full Documentary (2008) [this video] It studies this in humans and other primates.
Cites latexr · 2026-10 · Hacker News · on “Loss of cell identity drives human aging: Two new papers”
> So chronic stress is one of the main contributors to aging. I remember seeing a documentary on that some two decades ago, so we’ve known it for a while. I haven’t watched it since so can’t say if it holds up, but to this day still remember the explanation of telomeres and the story of the baboons. It’s been uploaded to YouTube if you’re curious. For future readers, in case the link is dead, it’s called “Stress: Portrait of a Killer”. [this video]