Discovery Orders New Docu Series From Steven Spielberg

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is teaming up with Alex Gibney in a new docuseries currently titled Why We Hate. 

The two will serve as executive producers on the six-part television series for Discovery Channel. The series will explore the origins and dangers of hate, probing human capacity of hatred as well as for overcoming it. 

The Oscar-winning duo spoke with Variety, about their involvement in the project and their quest to trace the basis of hate, as well as their hopes for the series.  

“Getting to the root of the human condition is something I find not only fascinating but absolutely necessary in understanding who we are,” Spielberg told Variety. “With the team in place, we delve into historical and modern-day stories of hate, traveling around the globe to uncover its mystery in others and in ourselves. If we understand why we act the way we do, we can change the way we act. That is what we are uniquely capable of as human beings.”

“This is not a series that simply documents something that’s happening, it’s an inquiry — an attempt to understand why we hate, through the science, and through a sense of common humanity,” Gibney told Variety. “Hate is in our DNA. If we begin to understand this, that’s how we begin to get to a point of being able to hope that we can overcome hate.”

The series draws on in psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and history, in an attempt to uncover the origins of hate and perhaps ways to prevent it. 

The project has been gestating for four years, with Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav saying that there’s no one better suited for the project than Spielberg and Gibney. 

“Our aspiration is to be working with great storytellers like Steven and Alex all over the world on the most important and consequential stories and issues,” Zaslav said. “Why We Hate is even more relevant today, and the Discovery team and I are all in on this project. It is Discovery’s commitment and a critical part of our heritage and mission.”