It’s perhaps the biggest weekend of the year to be an HBO Max subscriber—House of the Dragon‘s third season debuts on Sunday, in what critics are already saying is poised to be its most explosive and brutal of them all. But before the Targaryens start barbecuing each other with their dragons, HBO Max’s documentary library has some great stuff landing for this weekend.
On tap are a couple of new CNN docuseries, the first featuring influential tech reporter Kara Swisher as she explores the secret to never dying, and the second a 40-years-later reckoning with the world’s worst nuclear disaster. To round things out, I’ve also included a perfect-score series that follows a young filmmaker as he tries to solve his mother’s murder.
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Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever
Chasing the billionaire dream of never dying
With Elon Musk’s recent distinction as the world’s first trillionaire, the question driving this CNN Original docuseries (now streaming on HBO Max) is even more poignant—can the ultra-rich buy their way out of death? Veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher is perhaps the best suited to dig into the booming longevity industry to answer that, because for her, it’s personal.
After losing her father to an aneurysm when she was a kid, and also motivated by a personal health scare (a mini-stroke she suffered when she was just 48), the now 63-year-old has spent much of her career fascinated by subjects like mortality, specifically, in Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever, the Longevity Industrial Complex. In the six-part series, Swisher plays both reporter and lab rat, as she hops around the globe exploring everything from hyperbaric chambers and the revolution of GLP-1 medications to testing treatments like ketamine, red-light, and sound therapy on herself.
Quiz
Know Your Game of Thrones Lore
Trivia challenge
From the Red Wedding to the Dance of the Dragons — how well do you know
Westeros?
CharactersBattlesMomentsHousesLore
The fan theory ‘R+L=J’ refers to the true parentage of which Game of Thrones
character?
Correct! R+L=J stands for Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark equals Jon
Snow, revealing that Jon is not Ned Stark’s bastard but a trueborn Targaryen heir. This was one of the
most celebrated fan theories in TV history, eventually confirmed in Season 7.
Not quite. R+L=J refers to Jon Snow, whose true parents are Rhaegar
Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Ned Stark kept this secret to protect his nephew from Robert Baratheon’s
wrath, making it one of the show’s biggest reveals.
The Red Wedding saw the massacre of which Stark and his allies at the Twins?
Correct! Robb Stark, his mother Catelyn, his pregnant wife Talisa, and
most of his bannermen were slaughtered at the Twins by the treacherous Walder Frey and Roose Bolton. The
event, known as the Red Wedding, shocked audiences worldwide and remains one of TV’s most infamous
moments.
Not quite. The Red Wedding claimed the life of Robb Stark, the King in
the North, along with his mother Catelyn and his wife Talisa. Orchestrated by Walder Frey and Roose
Bolton, it ended the Stark rebellion in one brutal night.
Which Targaryen queen is at the center of the civil war known as the Dance of the
Dragons in House of the Dragon?
Correct! Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, named her father Viserys I’s heir,
fought her half-brother Aegon II for the Iron Throne in the devastating civil war called the Dance of
the Dragons. House of the Dragon chronicles her rise and the conflict that tore the Targaryen dynasty
apart.
Not quite. Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen is at the heart of the Dance of the
Dragons. She was declared heir by her father Viserys I, but her claim was contested by her half-brother
Aegon II, igniting a devastating dragon-fueled civil war.
The Battle of the Gullet, a pivotal naval conflict in House of the Dragon, saw the
Triarchy fleet face off against which Targaryen forces?
Correct! The Battle of the Gullet was a bloody naval engagement where
the Triarchy attacked the Gullet strait, and Rhaenyra’s forces — including her sons riding dragons —
fought to defend it. It was a devastating battle with enormous losses on both sides, including the death
of one of Rhaenyra’s sons, Lucerys.
Not quite. The Battle of the Gullet involved Queen Rhaenyra’s forces,
including Velaryon ships and dragon riders among her sons, clashing with the Triarchy fleet. It was a
catastrophic engagement that highlighted the horrific cost of the Dance of the Dragons.
Ser Duncan the Tall, the protagonist of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, eventually
rose to hold which prestigious position?
Correct! Ser Duncan the Tall eventually became Lord Commander of the
Kingsguard, one of the highest honors a knight could achieve in Westeros. His squire, the young boy
called ‘Egg,’ was none other than Aegon V Targaryen, who would go on to become king.
Not quite. Ser Duncan the Tall rose to become Lord Commander of the
Kingsguard. His adventures as a hedge knight are chronicled in George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and
Egg novellas, which serve as the basis for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
What is the meaning behind the iconic Stark words ‘Winter is Coming’?
Correct! Unlike most Great House mottos that boast of glory or strength,
‘Winter is Coming’ is a somber warning — a reminder that hardship is always on the horizon and that one
must always be vigilant and prepared. It reflects the pragmatic, stoic nature of House Stark and the
brutal climate of the North.
Not quite. ‘Winter is Coming’ is House Stark’s warning to never grow
complacent, as dark and hard times are always approaching. It stands apart from other house words by
being a caution rather than a boast, embodying the Stark family’s grim but honorable worldview.
The Battle of the Bastards in Season 6 of Game of Thrones saw Jon Snow fight to
reclaim Winterfell from which villain?
Correct! The Battle of the Bastards pitted Jon Snow against Ramsay
Bolton, the sadistic lord who had seized Winterfell and held Jon’s brother Rickon captive. Jon’s forces
were nearly overwhelmed before Sansa’s timely arrival with the Knights of the Vale turned the tide, and
Ramsay was ultimately fed to his own hounds.
Not quite. Jon Snow faced Ramsay Bolton in the Battle of the Bastards.
Ramsay was one of the show’s most despised villains, and his defeat — followed by Sansa feeding him to
his own starving hounds — was one of Game of Thrones’ most satisfying moments.
Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons were named after people important to her. Which of the
following is NOT one of her dragon’s names?
Correct! Balerion, known as the Black Dread, was the legendary dragon of
Aegon the Conqueror — not one of Daenerys’s dragons. Her three dragons were Drogon (named after Khal
Drogo), Rhaegal (named after her brother Rhaegar), and Viserion (named after her brother Viserys).
Not quite. Balerion was not one of Daenerys’s dragons — he was Aegon the
Conqueror’s legendary Black Dread, long dead by the time of Game of Thrones. Daenerys’s three dragons
were Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, each named after a man significant in her life.
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Each episode, Swisher tackles a different facet of this fascinating and lucrative world—from anti-aging tech and AI to how extreme wealth and access to it all puts everyone else at a disadvantage. Swisher even sits down with the biggest names who are doubling down on immortality, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman. It’s smart-as-hell, skeptical, and moving.
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Disaster: The Chernobyl Meltdown
The world’s worst nuclear disaster, 40 years later
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe in history took place in Chernobyl. And though there have been countless documentaries, retrospectives, and even an Emmy-winning dramatic series, also on HBO (it won a staggering 10), the four-part CNN Original series Disaster: The Chernobyl Meltdown now comes to HBO Max to revisit the devastating accident, examining it from the blast itself to its still-unfolding aftermath.
Starting from the beginning, the series opens on April 26, 1986, when a botched safety test triggers an explosion at the Chernobyl plant in Soviet Ukraine, sending a radioactive cloud around the globe within a day. Its four episodes move from the initial blast to the helicopter crews battling the horrific reactor fire, the workers clearing debris under lethal radiation, and the USSR’s collapse as investigators finally pin down what went wrong.
From there, the hauntingly-paced episodes trace everything from the Kremlin’s calculated cover-up to the present-day fallout, including how the restricted, contaminated exclusion zone has become a flashpoint in Russia’s war on Ukraine. The series leans heavily on chilling archival footage, expert analysis, and interviews with Chernobyl survivors speaking publicly for the first time. History buffs will not want to miss this.
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Murder on Middle Beach
A son looking for answers about his murdered mother
The lone older title on this weekend’s list should, by no means, be overlooked. Even though it’s from 2020, it tells a chilling true-crime story that peels back layer after layer to uncover a dark, long-lost truth, from the point of view of a son desperate for answers.
The four-part HBO docuseries Murder on Middle Beach, is directed by Madison Hamburg, who investigates the still-unsolved murder of his own mother. On March 3, 2010, 48-year-old Barbara Hamburg was found stabbed and beaten outside her home in the affluent shoreline town of Madison, Connecticut. Police at the time suspected Barbara’s estranged ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg, who had hundreds of thousands in unpaid child support, but after supplying DNA samples early in the investigation, he was cleared, and the case went cold.
Madison began the project as a film school student in 2013 and spent years turning the camera on his own family—interviewing his sister Ali and his aunt Jill, while trying (mostly in vain) to get his father, Jeffrey, to talk. As he digs, he uncovers buried secrets, including a local pyramid scheme that Barbara was deep in. Built from intimate and revealing interviews and home-video footage, Murder on Middle Beach doubles as a son’s raw attempt to grieve and find closure. Critics loved it, and the series still holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Two new, one old (and cold)
Outrunning death, covering it up, or finally making sense of it—these themes are prevalent in this weekend’s documentary selections on HBO Max. Whether these suggestions are hitting the nail on the head for you or not is up to you, but whatever you decide, just keep in mind that we here at How-To Geek keep scouring the streaming services weekly to uncover the truth behind the best movies and TV shows for you to watch.
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Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
