about plainwire

plainwire is a documentary channel about the systems underneath ordinary life. Each episode takes one system, shows how it works and follows the money through it, to show who pays and who profits.

what an episode is

Episodes are narrated, with data graphics and archive footage, and no presenter on camera. Each one is built around a few numbers, and every number is set against the total it's part of.

what it isn't

plainwire isn't a news channel, and it doesn't react to the week's headlines. It isn't a finance channel either, and it gives no investment advice. An episode names a villain only when the documents do.

how an episode is made

Research comes first, before any script: filings, regulators' papers, court documents and data, with advocacy from every side labeled as such. The script cites a source for every claim, and the graphics are built from the same numbers in plainwire's own studio. When an episode is published, its article goes up here with every source linked.

who it's for

Anyone curious about where their money goes. Most examples come from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia, and the rest of the world comes in wherever it shows the system more clearly.

get in touch

Corrections, tips and press go through the contact section on the home page. The rules every episode follows are in the standards.